Full contact fandom - what it's like to go to a football game in Ohio

was enough not to return with children again. From the parking lots to the causeways to the stands and back, the most inappropriate, vulgar, and disgusting fans I've run into in a football stadium environment.

Although I hate Ohio fans (and having experienced a Michigan game in Columbus there is an extra layer to my hatred), I have to say your story would be just as applicable to Ford Field.

...scary and hilarious. Reminds me of the time I was at FedEx Field and the drunk Giants fan my then 9 yr old son and I were sitting next to kept getting louder and more obnoxious. So I decided to move down a row when those seats were vacated midway through the 4th quarter.

Drunk Giants fan then spilled his beer down my son's back (this is a Nov game mind you and it's cold). I turned around and said something to the effect of, "Hey, you spilled beer down my son's back!" looking for some sort of apology. The guy said, "So?" Even though I'm not a cartoon character, I'm sure there was visible steam flowing out of my ears.

In a split second I calculated my chances in a fight (he's drunk, I'm not, he's 10 yrs younger than me and bigger, he's one row above me and I've got a great shot at his onions and can then pull him down by his coat to pummel him, he's drunk and I'm not). Instead of that, I reached up and smashed his cup of beer into his face. Just then, another Giants fan rushed over and grabbed the guy, pulling him away from the confrontation and saving me from having to call my wife and tell her I've been arrested and could she come and pick up our son.  

My son is now 20 and I haven't been back to FedEx Field in the interim [insert joke about how pathetic the Skins have been during that time]. Even so, the level of drinking at NFL stadiums has become problematic and its made me way less inclined to schelp up there after shelling out big bucks for a few tickets.

Oh, and HTTR. Beat the Browns.

Very judo-esque.  Use the force generated by your opponent to defeat him.

Thanks for writing up and posting this story. I've been offered tickets to Bears games, but hearing a scenario like this doesn't make me want to go. I've been in a situation where I wrongly and mistakenly touched a teenage boy on the arm (as I came upon him riffling through pockets of my shorts in a locker room, when I came back from the pool.) I could have been charged with a felony, a mistake I'll never make again. Needless to say, in this litigious culture and society, direct confrontation has become very challenging. Yes, it would have been best to simply take a discreet walk to the security guards, and request that they have the offenders put out the cigarettes. 

However, I definitely don't get the non-involvement of the guards when the situation was escalating. It sounds like you handled this in the best way possible.

Talking about sons, it was challenging explaining to my boy why his football coach was suspended for yelling at the ref and going on the field regarding a missed call. It just doesn't reflect well to lose your temper and go postal on anyone at any time.

And I'm glad that the fan who fell off a balcony is OK. But I agree with Shoe that there is a lot of problematic drinking at sporting events.

I was pseudo involved (it was over very quickly) in a fight in the student section of the Big House when another Michigan fan spat on the girlfriend of one of the (27) guys I had tickets with. I've had a few other almost-fights and in every single one alcohol played a big role. Personally, I've never really enjoyed going to sporting events tanked. I want to watch and enjoy the game. I'll (and I have) pregame some, but never to the point where I wasn't there to watch the sport. (Not to say that I won't get drunk, I do. But for me, getting really drunk and going to sporting events are mutually exclusive. If I'm spending that much on a ticket, I'm not going spend half the game walking back and forth to the bathroom)

I don't know what the solution is, besides cutting people off or bolstering security, both of which cost money (lower beer sales, or higher security bills). But the extreme happened last night where 2 fans were shot.

http://espn.go.com/chicago/nba/story/_/id/8743783/two-chicago-bulls-fans-shot-philadelphia-win-76ers?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

It's definitely a problem.

First, I enjoy drinking a few before the game as much as anyone, but the amount of alcohol consumed by NFL fans is a problem.

My mother-in-law is a huge Redskins fan (I sadly, yet proudly, am a Lions fan). Last year, I my wife and I bought her two tickets to a game at FedEx on Christmas Eve. Unfortunately, I drew the short straw and had to go to the game. There were drunken idiots all around us who were drunk when they arrived and proceeded to drink beer after beer after beer and were also spilling it everywhere (and these were not the cheapest seats). Eventually the two morons in front of us got in a shouting match with two morons behind us and it nearly became a racially charged drunken brawl right next to my mother-in-law (who is a small woman in her 60s).

We eventually just moved seats because the place was empty, but security was nearby and did absolutely nothing to calm the tensions between these idiots. If I remember correctly, eventually another fan intervened and talked both sides down.

My brother has stopped going to Lions game at Ford Field because he says there always are drunken idiots ruining the game for him and his son.

I have been to hundreds of UofM games, and just don't see the level of drunken stupidity and combativeness that I have seen at NFL games. And it seems whenever there is a drunken idiot at Michigan Stadium, the ushers and AAPD seem to descend pretty quickly to take care of the situation.

The NFL is not going to cut beer sales, but they need to police their stadiums better.

I've lived in NE Ohio all of my life outside of my years at OSU and have never been to a Browns game (not a NFL fan) but your story does not come to a shock to me base on others I've heard. I know this isn't helping the cause any more or less but your story reminds me of the 8 year old Jets fan that got tackled. However, fans attacking/provoking fans is new.  

OP. NO /s. On a side note, it seems that security for the Browns, and therefore the Browns themselves, could find them in a litigous situation. If the secutity guard did nothing as you say and the situation was allowed to escalate to where a guy fell over a guard rail on to fans below, it wouldn't be a stretch for someone to see some culpability there amirite?

I've also abandoned the idea of being able to have an enjoyable time with my son at Ford Field.  We have season tickets to UM football and basketball...and we go to quite a few Pistons/Tigers/Red Wings games.

While I've certainly seen unruly behavior at each of the other venues, the crowd at Ford Field is - by far - the most consistently obnoxious. 

I don't mind the atmosphere at Ford Field so much if I'm just with my buddies, but it's so reliably unruly that I'm not sure why anyone would take their kids to a Lions game.  I've watched games in suites and from the club seats, and it's still pretty bad even in these higher-rent areas of Ford Field.

Growing up in Ohio when the Brown's had the original DawgPound nothing surprises me about their fans.

But the ultimate fan expereince is to attend a minor league hockey game in Texas on 50 cent beer night.  I have been involved in a fight between the opposing players and the fans when they knocked down the glass between us at the end of the game when a water bottle/beer can throwing fight ensued.  But best of all was the night we were walking out after the game and one drunk dumbass took on two drunk dumbasses. It started in the second period with jawing during the game. The two shoved the one as they were walking out. The one called the two a bunch of redneck bitches. They jawed back and forth until the one told his wife/girlfriend/whatever "Baaaaby, hold my glasses". At which point the two "redneck bitches" bum rushed him and started beating the crap out of him. The whole time his boy was yelling "don't beat my daaaaddy". Then the wives/girlfriends/whatever got into it and went to the ground. After a minute or so, a couple of us broke it up. No, I did not go to the women, I pulled the guys apart. God Bless Texas!!!

I went to the OSU game this year and had zero problems. Everyone, except one dude, was friendly. This was in an entirely OSU section of the stadium. Also, I was wearing Michigan gear and being very open about it. The tailgating wasn't bad either.

I read this thinking this sounds just like an Mgrowold story, sure enough I scroll back up to see that it is.

I feel like your title is trying to make a derogatory point about Ohio. I don't see where "Ohio" works in here. You encountered some really drunk assholes. Those are at every NFL stadium.

My impression is that the frequency with which opposing fans have cups of urine poured on them at the Shoe is much greater than it is most places.  I've never been to a game in Philly, NYC, Oakland, and a number of other places, though, so I don't know...A tangential thought:  The best fans I've been around are KC Chiefs fans, who (at least in the '90s) were really loud but not rude to opposing fans.   

The entire situation could have been avoided by handling it one of two ways...

1) You could have said nothing to these fans directly and simply gotten an usher to come down and ask them to extinguish their lung darts.

2) You could have went up to them yourself (not your wife), and quietly, without bringing attention to them asked them to stop as it is not allowed or better yet, it is interfering with your experience.  By yelling out "please put out your cigarette - no smoking" loudly (Twice), your wife did two things.  First, she embarrassed them.  Men being scolded by a woman that isn't their wife or mother in public adds fuel to the fire, and second, she made the situation "public", which gave them a stage to act like assholes and show you some "Cleveland hospitality".  She called out their "manhood", and two lowlifes like that are not going to take that lightly.

It is unfortunate, and it sucks, but the way you guys handled it was not ideal.  The good thing is that there was no further physical altercation, as you would have also been arrested... which is common protocol in an NFL venue when a fight breaks out, and that would have been worse than the second-hand smoke.

Why is it that drinking makes some men laugh a lot and for others it makes them angry and violent.  If drinking makes you angry and violent than you should join AA.  

And then there is this explanation:

On NPR:

"After male fruit flies are spurned by females not interested in mating, they drink twice as much alcohol as those who just had sex with a receptive female. They may compensate by drinking to normalize their sort of reward system.

In humans and fruit flies, rejection reduced the levels of neuropeptide F, and mating increased the levels. And we were able to show that reducing the levels of neuropeptide F leads to enhanced drinking. The converse, elevating levels of NPF, led to reduced drinking.”

So they have determined that if your getting laid you're less likely to become an alcoholic and if not your more likely. 

MGrowOld, I guess we know who’s been getting some between you and your opponents.

My wife collaborates with the CDC to administer a large scale survey to determine what influences the decision to begin smoking.   She is second author on recent research that showed a large drop in heart attack admission at the local hospital after a smoking ban went into effect; work that has been replicated internationally.  She now studies third hand smoke (the brown grimy residue let on surfaces after people smoke).  (Spoiler alert)  It, too, is harmful.

As a result I have had many similar confrontations.  Unfortunately, I am 5' 10", 200 pounds, and in the worst shape of my life.  You couldn't have handled the situation much better.  Keep not fighting the good fight and know you are not alone.

Sound like a few games I've been to at the Joe to watch the Wings in the 1980's.  Fights on the ice and in the stands at the same time!

Yea if you are going to get drunk just know how to handle yourself.

Drunk people that aren't having a good time are just brutal.

My family and I were at the Frozen Diamond hockey game at Cleveland Indians Stadium this past January (Michigan  a 4-1 winner over tO$U)  when some young 20's tO$U fans above us start throwing snowballs at the Michigan fans, two 40's women) below us.  

Very classy.

So I turn and stare - they won't look my way.  I turn back around and within a few minutes they are throwing snowballs at me.  I turn around and they won't make eye contact.  Again the snowballs start.  I stand up and turn around - there are about 4 or 5 of them - and the yelling match starts.  

Eventually they start moving over to the asile, I assume to visit me.  Sure enough four of them are coming my way.  I'm 58 years ond and workout daily, but the odds are not good.  After an extended shouting match, they back down and leave.  I see why - there are about 5 or 6 Michigan guys coming out of the stands standing behind me and coming down the asile towards me.  We're all older, but the odds are with me.  Not one Michigan guy says a word to them, but most ask me what happened.  

5 minutes later one of our guys sends the beer vendor down with a free beer.

The Team.  The Team.  The Team.

Go Blue!

I commend you on keeping your cool with an angry drunk yelling at you face-to-face.  That is a no-win situation, especially when your family is around.  I personally can't imagine taking the family to a football game.  I have never been to a pro game, but every college game I've been to there has been multiple incidents close by and it's just not worth the risk.  I never go to a game unless I am a) with the home crowd or b) with someone that is with the home crowd and knows the ropes so to speak.  I've always only gone with male buddies in our 20's & 30's...never with women, the elderly, or children.  I just don't trust other people.  I hope that your wife has learned the lesson of how bad of a situation her comment put you into.  Her comment really forced you to have to deal with the consequences of her behavior.  I totally understand her frustration, I'm sure she'd agree it wasn't worth it.