Almost fought a old guy for telling us to sit down

Submitted by maizerage13 on
Went to the game in East Lansing yesterday and while waiting for the game i noticed that there were a lot of elderly couples in my section. I thought to myself, "damn! i want some young blood around me to cheer and high five with". During the game people in rows lower then us started to stand up which made everybody else stand up. I hear a "hey sit down, i cant see" from behind me and it was a elderly guy. I looked at him and said stand up then. He would continue to whine about people standing up and would i constantly replied stand up then. He eventually resigned to the fact that nobody was gonna listen to him. Then there was another guy in upper 40's to lower 50's to the right of the guy who was bitching. He then preceded to tell people to sit down because they can see just fine. Then heard the guy say to himself, "i guess they have never been to a football game before", lol. I just laughed and said no apparently YOU have never been to a game before to myself. Heres where its get interesting. After listening to this guy complain for over 2 hours about people standing and listening to his great insightful (sarcasm) play by play analysis AFTER EVER FRICKEN PLAY, i exploded. Fourth quarter, just before we made a game out of it, my little bro was standing up while both teams were on the sideline. I heard my brother say, "No i wont sit down, there is nothing happening". Then heard his voice get a little bit more nervousome and feeling threatened. I literally jumped out of my seat turned around, threw my finger in his face and said, "did you pay for our seats" in a very threatening way. then my dad turned around and said something to him too. As soon as i got up in his face he sat down like a little chicken shit that he was and didnt say anything for the rest of the game. I swear guys, it was a thing a beauty seeing this guys face afterwards. When we left the stadium we were talking about what happened while my dad was just happy as could be about what i did. He then told me that the man told my brother, "if you dont sit down i will make you". If i would have heard that i would of socked the man in his face. Im so not a confrontational guy and generally keep to myself, but i just flipped and when your threatening a love one you just done care anymore about what happens. I know that we talk about how old people kill the environment at games, so i just wanted to tell my story of this crisis. Go Blue!
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The King of Belch

October 4th, 2009 at 8:06 PM ^

I'm getting sick and tired of the "and the blue hairs can suck it" threads. Really--the older people ARE entitled to a pleasant game-day experience, and probably more so due to their age. They don't have to stand or scream like a 12 year old moron all game to prove they like their teams. As for the OP--the Shit head--you have proven to that man that Michigan Fans are dicks. I wish other Sparties would have banded together and beat the shit out of you and tossed you onto the field in your panties. You have no right to yell at someone like that and you probably only did it because Michigan was losing and your vagina was hurting. Congratulations on being a complete asshat. There is Asshole: yelling at the old guy Then there is mentally challenged Asshole: bragging about it. Have fun on your next birthday--turning 13 can be a blast!

Joined: 07/21/2009

MGoPoints: 8

mgoroger

October 4th, 2009 at 11:35 PM ^

So he did something seriously wrong and it makes it OK for you to call him all sorts of names? Really classy indeed! What if he IS 12 years old? The joker would be you in that case! Why can't you simply say what he did was unacceptable and maybe give him a chance to reflect? By the way, why didn't you post your comment at the end of the thread, following the normal order of posts? You just stuck a reply after the very first comment because you wanted it to be read didn't you? So how old are you since you like calling others all sorts of names, and have a strong desire for your late comments to be read by everybody?

Joined: 10/04/2009

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Magnus

October 4th, 2009 at 3:29 PM ^

Old people should be able to go to games without having to stand. There are seats in stadiums for a reason. The guy was a douchebag for telling your brother that he was going to make him sit down. That being said, if there are old people behind you, maybe you should sit down.

Joined: 07/17/2008

MGoPoints: 166007

HartAttack20

October 4th, 2009 at 5:18 PM ^

Good point, but I totally understand where the guy is coming from. The OP could've handled the situation a lot better, though. If people actually want people in front of them to sit down they should be polite about it. A please and thank you can't hurt your chances of getting a guy to make an effort to sit down more often to give them a chance to see.

Joined: 06/08/2009

MGoPoints: 1964

HartAttack20

October 4th, 2009 at 4:49 PM ^

I'm not cool with how the OP reacted really but at the same time if there are people in front of you standing you shouldn't have to sit just so the guy behind you can see and then you can't. We should not be fighting with our fellow fans, though. That's a little ridiculous. People don't have to go to games. There are seats for a reason, and I'm totally cool with sitting most of the time the defense is on the field and sometimes during an offensive drive, but people do enjoy standing and that's just the way it is.

Joined: 06/08/2009

MGoPoints: 1964

TIMMMAAY

October 5th, 2009 at 9:47 PM ^

If there were just one old person at the back of each vertical row-by your logic-the whole stadium would have to be seated, so that everyone could see. I would have sat at some points to appease him, but never would I sit the whole time for anyone. The OP seems like he's probably a 17 year old, being tough. Also, to the OP: Thanks, you really showed him, now he'll tell everyone how classy "that M fan" was...

Joined: 09/08/2008

MGoPoints: 56285

TinCup

October 4th, 2009 at 3:45 PM ^

I found nothing exciting or interesting about this story. I have been to many games at Spartan Stadium, Breslin, etc., so I know how tensions can flare. But I think you were wrong for getting in that guys face. You sound as if you totally over reacted. Just my opinion....

Joined: 10/13/2008

MGoPoints: 27

Section 1

October 4th, 2009 at 3:54 PM ^

1. If there were many rows of people standing up in front of you, I don't understand why anybody would pick on you to yell at. 2. I don't understand why it would be such a point of pride on your part to fight with somebody over the issue of standing up to cheer at a football game. Why has it become so fashionable and such an article of faith that people must stand for an entire football game*? *I say again, as I have before, that I am prejudiced. I am prejudiced against the "Stand Up!" tradition because it is so closely attached to Notre Dame football. I hate everything about Notre Dame -- all of its traditions, all of its supporters, etc. Whatever they do in Notre Dame Stadium -- including their tradition of standing -- is enough of a reason to make me not want to do it. As a purely personal matter, I acutally like to stand up at games, for a good part of the game. I'm in good shape, I like to stretch my legs, I do a lot of walking on game days, and I usually feel more than limber enough to stand. But it does annoy me if I am sitting down, and somebody in front of me just wants to stand up because they feel like it, and can't sit down upon a simple request. If I were blocking the view of someone behind me, and somebody yelled to me about it, my reaction would be to a)immediately sit down, watch the game and b)issue a hasty apology to the person whose view I was blocking. I'd go back to watching the game, which is what I was there to do, which is why I bought a ticket and why I was in the stadium that day. Not to get into any fistfights. I think the people who want to stand up for the whole game in Michigan Stadium should raise several million dollars and make a huge pledge to Bill Martin and the Athletic Department, in order to reassign 10 or 15 thousand seats, and give them a Section to stand up in. That way, everybody is happy.

Joined: 06/29/2009

MGoPoints: 16535

Section 1

October 4th, 2009 at 6:39 PM ^

I honestly don't know whether that goes on at Michigan. I can't think of any major donors who I see on the Michigan sidelines, but that's not proof of anything. I know for a fact that there are lots of donors who are given sideline access at other schools, incluidng some Big Ten schools, and I see no scandal in it whatsoever. Of the people I'm aware of, they are HUGE donors. Flying-the-AD-to-away-games-in-the-Gulfstream kinds of donors. Donors with their names on stadiums. I'm guessing that you knew that, just by virtue of your having made the comment.

Joined: 06/29/2009

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Double Nickel BG

October 4th, 2009 at 5:16 PM ^

that boosters/donators aren't people that want to stand up? Because the way your saying it is you are putting people who donate money into a higher class than the average fan. IMO thats dumb. If you want to donate money to the AD, good for you. Should you get some free swag? Sure, why not. But to think that your on a whole different level than everyone else that pays 200 bucks to go to a game is ridiculous. How about people that want to sit donate more money to have an area specifically made for them? I enjoy standing, but I also don't mind sitting between tv timeouts and such.

Joined: 02/04/2009

MGoPoints: 398

Section 1

October 4th, 2009 at 5:40 PM ^

"I know that we talk about how old people kill the environment at games, so i just wanted to tell my story of this crisis." So it is a "crisis" that "old people" are "kill[ing] the environment at games"? Anyway, I never said anything about anybody being on a different level. In my section in Michigan Stadium, it is NOT routine to stand up for most of the game, as it is in the student sections. That's the way I like it; that's the way most people in my section like it, I think. Although I haven't asked all 2300 of them. You can sit down in my section, and get a pretty great view of the game. If you stay seated, everybody behind you, including people and small kids who can't stand for all or even most of a game, can see, too. Some of those people, believe it or not, are in the cateory of "the average fan" that you mentioned. If you want to stand up for the whole game, I don't mind a bit if you try to make an arrangment for a Section like that with the Athletic Department. As I said before, get together a large enough group, and large enough donor fund to grab the attention of Bill Martin.

Joined: 06/29/2009

MGoPoints: 16535

Section 1

October 4th, 2009 at 6:16 PM ^

1. People who sit don't bother anyone else. People who sit are easy for the Athletic Department to accomodate and to assign their seating. 2. People who stand force everyone behind them to stand, or else not see the game that they paid to see. Standing creates problems. Some people can't see. Few if any children can see. People start to do dangerous things; standing kids up on the bleacher seats, etc. 3. I didn't neccessarily suggest that people who want to stand need to pay more for their tickets. All that I was suggesting is that if you want the Athletic Department to do something for you, and if you want them to rearrange the stadium seating with thousands of people whose season ticket priority is a precious thing to them, for the benefit of a group of people who want to stand (and who would block the views ofe veryone in a section behind them) then yeah you're probably going to have to make it worth their while for that kind of trouble and effort and inconvenience. Perhaps you could get them to arrange for Rows 75 and up in a few sections, moving those season ticket holders to equivalent-quality seats elsewhere. I don't know. But it's not my problem, either. 4. People in my section (acccording to my completely unscientific poll, based only on sitting there for more than ten years) mostly sit, and occasionally stand, and most patrons like it that way. And, mostly, they are in those seats by virtue of choice, and many years of season ticket seniority and many years of donations to the university and the Athletic Department. I'd say that they have every right to be there. There's nobody that has any more right to be there. To answer your last point, those people HAVE paid for a section that suits their preferences.

Joined: 06/29/2009

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Double Nickel BG

October 4th, 2009 at 6:20 PM ^

more sections than just yours. I'm willing to bet that there's a good percentage of season ticket holders that love to stand as well, so why should those ticket holders be forced to move to a section when they have made many donations and have seniority. So going by your stance, those boosters that like to stand HAVE paid for their section too.

Joined: 02/04/2009

MGoPoints: 398

Section 1

October 4th, 2009 at 6:26 PM ^

Because if they stand up, in any significant numbers, they force the whole section behind them to stand. Sitting blocks no one's view. Everyone can see. Everyone is accomodated. Standing blocks the views of everyone behind you. Standing forces your choice on everyone in the section behind you.

Joined: 06/29/2009

MGoPoints: 16535

psychomatt

October 4th, 2009 at 11:58 PM ^

"and many years of season ticket seniority and many years of donations to the university and the Athletic Department" I have had season tickets since the early 90s and give tons of money to the university (general fund, law school, athletic dept). The difference is, I do not think I am owed special treatment in return. I have ok seats, not great but ok. I stand when I can and try to be respectful of the "reasonable" requests of persons behind me to sit when I can, but the problem with people like you is your attitude. I have dealt with people like you for nearly 20 years. It is never a polite request to sit down because my son cannot see. It is ALWAYS an obnoxious pretending to be critical to the program alum who yells "sit down" every time I stand up. I have two things to say to you. One, there is a waiting list of 10,000. Two, take some of your money and buy a big screen flat panel. You will be much happier. P.S. That death panel idea is looking better every day.

Joined: 08/25/2009

MGoPoints: 3425

jmblue

October 5th, 2009 at 3:58 PM ^

Where are you getting this idea that ND fans stand all game? That is absolutely not true. ND fans are just like us - they sit and are relatively subdued.

Joined: 11/07/2008

MGoPoints: 102800

CPS

October 4th, 2009 at 5:20 PM ^

I am prejudiced against the "Stand Up!" tradition because it is so closely attached to Notre Dame football. I hate everything about Notre Dame -- all of its traditions, all of its supporters, etc. Whatever they do in Notre Dame Stadium -- including their tradition of standing -- is enough of a reason to make me not want to do it. I'm with you. The forward pass can go to hell!

Joined: 10/20/2008

MGoPoints: -405