Stephen Oh & Jonathan Lee
AccuScore Analysts

Last week, I went to the Cal-UCLA game expecting the Bears to come into the Rose Bowl and walk out with a convincing victory.  Before the game I had thought Cal was one of the best teams in the country, with DeSean Jackson, one of the best players in the country.  I left the game convinced this season was the spawn of Satan.  I also left the game appalled with UCLA fans.

At halftime I watched as hundreds of fans left the game.  The score was 14-13 Cal.  What person in their right mind would leave a game at halftime, not only that, why would someone leave that early during a good game?

I was so furious I decided to dedicate this week’s 7 in ’07 to the worst fans in college football.  I have scoured the internet, listened to personal accounts, and of course used some of my own personal biased to come up with the sorriest sack of seven in college football.  And I’m not proud of it.

In no particular order:

7) Arizona – There is one thing I hate more than anything in a fan, and that is a fair-weather fan.  While Arizona may have one of the best basketball fans in the country, I have seen first hand the “fair-weatherness” of the Arizona football fan.  I was there in 1998, when the Wildcats had their best season ever, going 12-1, including a victory over Nebraska in the Holiday Bowl.  There was never an empty seat in the house during that season.  In fact, I think they oversold the joint in the student section.  It was so packed, people were standing chest-to-back rather than shoulder-to-shoulder.  Then, I watched for the next four years as the crowds continued to get thinner and thinner.  Student sections had more empty space than people, and no one could care less.  That is intolerable, and things have not changed.  Fair-weathered fans, regardless of my ties, deserve to be on the list.

6) Miami – The Orange Bowl is half empty unless they're playing FSU or UF.  The students don’t go to the games.  The remaining “fans” care more to talk about what Miami used to be rather than what they are now.  Don’t bring up the current state of the team or you might get shanked.  The neighborhood around the Orange Bowl makes The Los Angeles Coliseum’s surrounding area look like the suburbs.

5) Texas – Two words. Cow Bell.  Having Texas come to your stadium is like having a 3-hour migraine.  Then, there’s the incessant arrogance that fills the game as Texas fans rant and rave about how great their state is.  Why is there not this much love for the other Texas schools?  Why don’t I see more Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Rice, TCU, SMU, North Texas, Houston, and so on fans?  Is it because people in Texas are just as much the bandwagon fans as others?  I think so.  The true Texas fans I give props to, but the one’s who cheer for the Longhorns simply because they are the best school in Texas, is why they land on this list.

4) Notre Dame – If there’s one thing I hate more than fair-weather fans, its college football fans who never attended the university.  Notre Dame has a slew of them.  The Irish also have a ton of fans who don’t really know much about football other than Notre Dame used to be really good.  I’ll give you one example, the Irish faithful continue to contend the reason for their struggles this year is Ty Willingham.  Ridiculous.

3) Ohio State – The Buckeyes have a great home-field advantage.  Ohio State fans are faithful, and cheer their team through thick and thin.  They make this list for one reason.  They are the most arrogant group of fans I have ever come into contact with.  Here’s an example of an atypical Ohio State fan:
    
    When God created sports fans he gave some insight, some
    intelligence and others are just the others. The ones who got
    the insight went to THE Ohio State UNIVERSITY because
    they knew a team like the BUCKEYES never rebuilds but
    only reloads. The ones who got intelligence went to THE OHIO
    STATE UIVERSITY or became OSU fans beause (sic)they saw
    the benefit of having a great team with great tradition and as
    a result they became even more intelligent. The rest are like
    Waillele (sic) Sallas and they are just the others, too bad isn't it?

2) USC – It’s not so much the alumni or the students that bother me so much, it’s the fans with no affiliation to the University.  I know, once the team starts to lose, these fans will be gone in a second.  They cheer when they want, they talk trash to opposing teams’ fans, and have an air of arrogance as if they had truly gone to USC.  At the USC-Arizona game, I overheard a fan, after a Mark Sanchez completion, say, “We’ve found our Quarterback.”  I thought that was pretty profound.  The next pass was incomplete, “Bring in Booty!” was over heard.  Ladies and Gentleman your USC fans.

1) UCLA - Last week’s exodus from the Rose Bowl is unpardonable.  I don’t care if it is just a few rotten apples, they represent the Bruins, and they represent poorly.

This week's Accuscore Top Ten 

Questions or Comments.  Email Wai at wsallas@accuscore.com

TrackBack URI for this entry

Comments (23)

Subscribe to this comment's feed

Jimmy54 said:

You can't blame fans for being arrogant, and thinking that their team is the best, thats the essence of fanhood. You can't put a teams fans on this list for supporting their teams too much. That's what a fan does, he supports his team. Whats your idea of a good fan? How do you have an article on the internet about sports. You sir are awful. Find a better profession, because the fact that you hold this position is a slap in the face to the sanctity of sports.

March 01, 2008

Mo said:

Todd, I agree that Colorado fans can be a little finiky, but you are way off on the left wing wacko crap.( I'm a Golden, CO resident) Get a grip. Wailele happens to be a very talented, imformed writer, he is on the right path and ansending! okole puka! MO

October 31, 2007

Brock said:

This is retarded, you don't like ND fan's because they didn't go to the school!!!!! Nice argument there buddy and were not all blaming Willingham man. This article is crap, true fans are ppl who cheer there team through thick and thin. GO ND

October 26, 2007

YOU MUST BE STUPID said:

The fact that you claim you have been going to games since 1988 and you have never heard a cowbell at a game tells me you must be def. I went to one game last year and it was the most annoying sporting event I had ever gone to. Every f-ing person had some kind of bell and all they could do was hit it off the beat of the band. TERRIBLE

October 26, 2007

twilliams said:

I think college fans in general, especially college football fans, are going to be more intolerable than, say, NFL fans. This is especially true of those at the top. The reason? There's no clear cut way of determining who is number one, so you have 10 teams at the top with similar records, and they all think they are the best team in the country, and can't make a case, or don't want to make a case, for the other teams. I grew up an hour outside of State College, so I went to a lot of Penn State games when I was younger. I'd easily say they're my team, although I went to a small division 3 school. However, I'm more of an "NFL prospect" fan. I like the NFL more, so I like following the people who will come to the draft. I'd say the three teams I follow the most are USC (because of the NFL talent), Penn State (because I've been following them since I was little), and Virginia Tech (because I live near them now, and know a lot of VT fans.) Penn State is my favorite team though, and I'm only a "fan" of the other two because I keep an active interest in their teams. I agree with you on fair-weather fans, I hate them as well, but I don't think the rule should be that you went to the university, as long as you grew up in the area, and don't flip around on your "favorite team."

October 26, 2007

michigan sucks said:

futuristo what are u smoking everyone nos people from california are pretty boy pussies u wanna learn how to drink some beer and play football come to ohio

October 25, 2007

michigan sucks said:

nevermind ur retarded ohio state fans arent insucer there confident, and notre damn fans are not polite there all jerks who are stuck in the glory days when notre damn had brady quinn thats was there best team in how long and what did ohio state do beat them?

October 25, 2007

FUTURISTO said:

BRUIN FANS RULE! I was at that game as well Mr. Sallas. And what I saw was a lot of very polite drunk people, Corn Holes, and cheap beer... So, what if they left early... all I care about is if they were drunk... and from my estimations, they passed with flying colors! What more do you want from a football match!!!

October 25, 2007

jek said:

The "article" reads like a failed 6th grade paper. And this guy's mocking those without educations? Learn some basic english, fool. THEN start running edumacation smack.

October 25, 2007

Big Pappa A said:

You spelled 4 words wrong, again.

October 25, 2007

TEE said:

Beautiful. LOL.

October 25, 2007

PLK said:

It is an interesting analyis you make about fans that never attended the University....Being from LA- growing up with the history and traditions of USC football makes me a fan. They have a lengendary fan base that remains from year to year- Of course we have even more attendance when we have a winning season. But you fail to consider that LA has no pro football team so in fact the town has a very loyal attendace when you consider it is split between UCLA and USC- put that attendance together and any NFL team would salivate at that- hell- USC's attendance alone is better than most NFL team attendance- and you wonder why fans are looking for the next great QB? Just what kind of fan are you?

October 25, 2007

imua808 said:

the worst fans are the Kamehameha high school in Hawaii ... hands down!!

October 25, 2007

Texas said:

As a Longhorn grad, i have been attending home and away games since 1988. The Texas Longhorn fans do NOT use cow bells. I've traveled to NUMEROUS away games and have NEVER heard or seen what you have stated above. Aside from The Showband of the Southwest (UT Band) who carries a few bells, fans do not carry them around. Please tell us which game you CLAIM you were at that caused such a headache. My guess is, your school was getting hammered by the Horns which was the true cause of your 'headache'. Most likely, you were hung-over. Hook 'Em!

October 25, 2007

The Prophet said:

Anytime you write about fans you will hit someone's spnial cord. Its the cord that allows you to walk, run, play and do what you want. That is why they are called fans. Some definitions would be any device or machine used to setup up a current of air for ventilating or cooling; some fans are there just to vent or let air out. Others are a person enthusiastic about a specified sport. No definition on how they are to act. Some are full of air others and just enthusiastic. But the true fan is the one that is loyal whenter winning or losing for they are the 12th person on the field. Which one are you the readers?

October 25, 2007

fred stutzmann said:

you are killing me!! ND sucks because they suck! they consistantly play the toughest schedule in the country, every year. no oush overs at all!! they need to rebuild fom the ground up. true ND fans will realize thzat. what about my warriors?

October 25, 2007

Robb said:

Notre Dame fans are polite. Give me a break. They are the most impolite people on the planet. The ND student body is very polite and are true fans of their team. The old grumps that fill the stadium are NOT polite.

October 25, 2007

Evil Ben said:

with the author. To a point. One of the people I work with grew up in South Bend and attended ND games throughout his childhood. But he attended a different college, mostly because of his specialty. I think we can put him in the "true ND fan" column, because that's his team. Even this year, with them losing so many games I wears his ND hat on Saturday nights as we watch the games unfold. I also agree with the author that fans should have class. Acting like jerks to the opposing team and/or their fans is just lame. Now, I'm not saying you can't make fun of your friends' favorite teams, but leave the strangers alone. They don't need to be leaving a stadium they're visiting feeling the local fans are bad apples. I'm an Oregon State fan myself. I've been one since graduating high school. In the 90s I never got to see any Beaver Football games because I wasn't in Oregon and no one wanted to put them on the air because of their record-losing-season streak. so I had to contend myself with clips shown during other games and looking at their scores in paper/internet the next day. Now I'm delighted to get to see them on the air (5 more years before I can move back to Oregon) and see my team in action. The last thing I ever want to hear is someone coming away from Reser Stadium with a bad experience as a visiting fan (well, unless they're a duck fan!)

October 25, 2007

Rick G said:

You write "The neighborhood around the Orange Bowl makes The Los Angeles Coliseum’s surrounding area look like the suburbs." Make up your mind, is this article about fans or should we critique ALL of the neighborhoods around ALL of the stadiums around the nation? Or did you just run out of things to say?

October 25, 2007

Todd said:

Colorado fans are the worst hands down. A bunch of left wing wacko carpet baggers who throw bottles, slash tires and start fights.

October 25, 2007

nevermind said:

Ohio State fans are not arrogant, they are insecure, and it’s a big difference. The “THE” Ohio State University is beyond lame, and it is indicative of their whole culture of insecurity camouflaged as arrogance. Who are they afraid they are being confused with Ohio University? At least Notre Dame fans are polite, OSU fans are lousy winners, worse losers, and generally just intolerable to be around.

October 25, 2007

Pam said:

Seriously dude, your OSU rants are pathetic at best.

October 25, 2007

Todd said:

This may be the lamest thing i've ever read. On your list you have teams that have too many fans and too few fans. Too little spirit and too much spirit. who the heck are you Goldilocks? do fans need to be "not too hot, not too cold, but just right." I have no idea who you are or how you got this job, but you should change careers.

October 25, 2007

Name

Title

Comment

Add Comment