Iowa AD invalidates 200+ tickets purchased by Illinois Orange Krush for upcoming MBB game
reason cited
February 2nd, 2023 at 2:15 PM ^
orange you feeling krushed after that ?
February 2nd, 2023 at 2:31 PM ^
I saw this earlier, serves them right for using a non-profit designed to help kids.
February 2nd, 2023 at 3:09 PM ^
Yeah, sounds like the same kinda scam as that "Human Fund" Money for people, scam.
February 2nd, 2023 at 10:22 PM ^
the worst part was when they fundraised asking checks be made out to "Chicago All Saints' Hospital"...'but just abbreviate it so you don't have to write it all out'
February 2nd, 2023 at 2:24 PM ^
A simple look through the comments of the linked tweet shows Iowa's response. The Orange Krush group purchased the tickets as a group under the name of the Boys and Girls Club of Champaign to get a discount on the price. Because the tickets were purchased in a fraudulent manner, Iowa invalidated them and donated the 200 tickets to the Boys and Girls club of Iowa City.
Iowa did refund the purchase price when the Orange Krush contact admitted the fraud. I see no problem with what Iowa did.
Moral of the story - don't lie.
February 2nd, 2023 at 2:47 PM ^
Seems like the moral is - do lie.
They got their money back and the Boys and Girls club of Iowa city got free tickets.
February 2nd, 2023 at 3:07 PM ^
As a consequence, Orange Krush is forced to do a UFR of every Iowa snap on offense.
February 2nd, 2023 at 3:47 PM ^
That sounds like the easiest job ever. Cut and paste like 2 plays? Or 3?
February 2nd, 2023 at 2:26 PM ^
Technically Orange Krush is a non-profit. The discounted group tickets were for the group size, not because it was the boys and girls club. So it's not quite as bad as the Iowa ticket office is making it out to be.
That being said, they misrepresented who they were in order to try to game the system (Iowa would NOT have sold 200+ tickets to an Illini student section), and they got caught. No one's really morally reprehensible here or whatever, just a bunch of butt hurt.
February 2nd, 2023 at 2:30 PM ^
No one's really morally reprehensible here
Uhhh, I'd say it's pretty morally reprehensible to fraudulently pose as a children's orgranization
February 2nd, 2023 at 2:59 PM ^
Oh come on--I read this as basically a joke attempt to get past whatever filters Iowa's AD has set up to prevent opposing fans from doing this. If I'm reading this right, they weren't taking advantage of any discount they weren't already entitled to (by virtue of their size and, possibly, non-profit status), except for the fact that Iowa doesn't want opposing fans doing this as a matter of gamesmanship, not of any moral conviction.
Had they made it through, there would have been no real harm to the B+C Club, or any one else. I don't think "fraudulently posing as a children's org = morally reprehensible" is necessarily a bad heuristic, but in this case I think it's pretty harmless.
February 2nd, 2023 at 3:11 PM ^
One downside is that schools in the Big Ten are going to be suspicious whenever a charitable organization tries to buy a block of tickets, and probably demand extra verification from them now.
The Illinois student section apparently goes on one road trip per year, so they've probably pulled this stunt before.
February 2nd, 2023 at 3:21 PM ^
So about as harmless as Greg Brady stealing the Coolidge's goat mascot.
February 2nd, 2023 at 3:34 PM ^
well, yeah, it's clearly gamesmanship...on the other hand, if you get caught in such gamesmanship, you don't get to be pissy when the opponent tells you to go pound sand.
it's pretty rare when you get to say "won't someone think of the children," you know, unironically...but if i'm a boys and girls club that now has to jump through extra hoops because of a bunch of illini douchebags i'm pissed.
February 2nd, 2023 at 3:36 PM ^
They posed as children's organization in order to get into a place where they knew they wouldn't get in normally. That's a bad look
February 2nd, 2023 at 4:01 PM ^
I'm not even sure that they wouldn't have been able to get in normally. They are saying they got a discount just based on group size and not that they were a charity. I guess there's a risk that Iowa's AD just cancels their tickets if they find out they're students from Illinois rather than any other group.
Michigan, as far as I can tell, doesn't require your group to be anything specific. Like these guys could have said "oh it's a corporate outing" and it probably wouldn't have been a problem.
Instead they decided to go full asshole and impersonate a children's charity and with a group size of 200 made up of a bunch of theoretical children, I'm sure Iowa wanted to do some kind of honoring of the "kids and volunteers" which is how this all blew up.
February 2nd, 2023 at 5:31 PM ^
There are really two reasons they pretend to be other organizations.
- Less chance they get stuck in the nosebleeds. Iowa likely would've sold them the tickets, but probably put them in the cheap seats out of view of the cameras and maybe spread them around.
- Once they get the "good" (or gooder) seats, they can do their silly "wear opponents colors, then reveal the orange krush t-shirts to SHOCK AND AWE the opposing fan" thing.
What probably happened is that the Iowa AD contacted them ahead of time to get additional details so they could be announced and put on the jumbotron or something, but realized it was all a ruse.
February 2nd, 2023 at 2:32 PM ^
I'd say impersonating legitimate charities is morally reprehensible, even if the organization doing the impersonation is also a non-profit.
February 2nd, 2023 at 2:54 PM ^
Agree - non-profit does not mean charity.
February 2nd, 2023 at 3:13 PM ^
Yeah, only fraud, not a big deal, right?
February 2nd, 2023 at 2:27 PM ^
I do appreciate that Illinois coaches, AD, and fans all maintain their asshole brand so well
February 2nd, 2023 at 2:30 PM ^
what a weird story. i mean, props to the illini for trying to travel well. that's what makes atmosphere. but buying them under a fake boys and girls club banner is...pretty dumb. you're gonna get caught, and you're gonna get roasted, even if you get the tickets.
February 2nd, 2023 at 3:05 PM ^
I was at the game at Crisler during the Amaker era (I think it was a Dee Brown Illinois team) where they came and stood all around the concourse in Michigan shirts and then suddenly ripped them off and started cheering. They apparently also posed as some sort of charity group that time and got a picture with Tommy Amaker that the UM AD offered them.
I get the excitement and fun of it from Illinois' perspective, but I also understand that Iowa has no interested in being punked and being the butt of their joke.
February 2nd, 2023 at 4:17 PM ^
Came to post the same thing, I was also at that game. I distinctly recall their "reveal" like they were David Copperfield just having made the Statue of Liberty disappear (when really all they had done was wear a school shirt to an away game). Congrats on that, I guess.
February 2nd, 2023 at 2:32 PM ^
It's a PR battle at this point. Iowa's going to win this one decisively.
I do love how The Orange Krush refers to themselves as "the nation's premiere student section."
Oh, really ........... who decided on that? Besides the Orange Krush just bestowing that honor on themselves?
February 2nd, 2023 at 2:41 PM ^
"the nation's premiere student section"?
Yeah, but are they the THE nation's premiere student section?
Also, a truly premier student section would know that "premiere" refers to a first performance.
February 2nd, 2023 at 2:46 PM ^
LOL .... I want to live in a world where the Orange Krush invades Columbus next year while using the "THE" branding. Get out the popcorn .......
The spelling error - that wasn't them, that was on me.
February 2nd, 2023 at 9:34 PM ^
Yeah, but are they the THE nation's premiere student section?
No.
tOSU(tm) has that covered.
February 2nd, 2023 at 2:48 PM ^
Likely not THE Boys and Girls Club. Sorry, I guess THE is trademarked so they would just be "nation's premiere student section" anyway.
February 2nd, 2023 at 2:49 PM ^
Oh, really ........... who decided on that? Besides the Orange Krush just bestowing that honor on themselves?
Seems on-brand (see 2021 MBB)
February 2nd, 2023 at 3:23 PM ^
Alright, show me the unwritten rule where you can't give yourself a nickname. After all, it worked so well for the No Fly Zone in EL. And I do believe the Cowboys branding themselves as America's Team has made more people dislike them than root for them.
February 2nd, 2023 at 4:03 PM ^
Sure, give yourself a nickname. But if your nickname has a "we're better than you" tinge to it (as "nation's premier student section" does), ideally you live up to it.
"America's Team" --- it was the NFL Films folk that bestowed that nickname (back in 1978). They were on TV all the time, that was its genesis. Tom Landry hated the nickname initially, FWIW, because he thought other teams might feel slighted by it. He eventually changed his mind.
The Cowboys have lived up to it, though. They STILL are the most popular team in the NFL. They draw the largest crowds in the league for their training camp, despite having it 1000+ miles away from Dallas (Oxnard, CA).
February 2nd, 2023 at 2:37 PM ^
That's a wonderfully condescending letter for a bunch of liars.
February 2nd, 2023 at 2:40 PM ^
Once the AD peeled the rind off the deception and exposed it, they had the juice to do something about it. Definitely avoided a sticky situation from the Orange Krush.
February 2nd, 2023 at 3:43 PM ^
come now let's not beat this situation to a pulp
February 2nd, 2023 at 4:19 PM ^
It just doesn't seem appealing to pose as a kids charity, any way that you slice it, it's a bad look.
February 2nd, 2023 at 2:44 PM ^
Seems like the Illini student section often hides behind a fake group to get access to away games. This time they got caught red handed posing as a children's organization so they've got no leg to stand on here. I'll give them this- it's definitely on-brand for Illinois basketball to whine about stuff they have no grounds to whine about
February 2nd, 2023 at 2:44 PM ^
Yeaaa.. I dont know man, any time you want to deny willing travelling fans access, it feels wrong. But, they committed fraud for the discount so thats fair.
I think the best solution would have been to offer them full-rate option. I'm sure they would have taken it. You could even have contacted the actual B&G club of champaign to make sure they dont want some of that allocation first.
I think in general, we should encourage big travelling student sections. Maybe Iowa dont want 200 strong illini embarrasing them on TV so they used the local charity organisation as a prop.
February 2nd, 2023 at 2:52 PM ^
It sounds like the game is sold-out already potentially? Not sure they can come up with 200 seats, and definitely not seats that are all together.
February 2nd, 2023 at 2:47 PM ^
Surprised anyone would travel to see a team that hasn't reached the sweet 16 since 2005.
February 2nd, 2023 at 3:11 PM ^
So Illinois just got dunked on?
February 2nd, 2023 at 3:25 PM ^
Nothing radiates small dick energy more than Illini basketball and their fanbase. Like, I was flipping through channels the other day, alighted on the ILL vs OSU basketball game and almost forgot to root against the Buckeyes - that's how much UI annoys me.
February 2nd, 2023 at 3:37 PM ^
if the krush were on their game, they'd print up 200 orange tshirts with "Boys and Girls Club of Cedar Rapids" on the front and "Thank you Iowa Athletic Dept." on the back and send them to the boys and girls club of Cedar Rapids asking them to wear them to the game.
February 2nd, 2023 at 4:11 PM ^
I don’t know, it sounds like they sunk 1/5th of their budget into this so they might not have the funds for a quick 200 custom t-shirts right now.
February 2nd, 2023 at 3:42 PM ^
Illinois comes off looking like idiots. Love their whiny, self-righteous letter, too. That does seem on brand.
February 2nd, 2023 at 4:05 PM ^
Whenever I think the Illini have reached the basin of childish immaturity (i.e. Whitman letter, Bertie whining), they somehow find a way to further their descent!
February 2nd, 2023 at 4:31 PM ^
Cleansing the arena of opposing fans is a bad look. Using a charity as cover to disguise your allegiance is a worse look. The lack of awareness in the krush letter is appalling.
February 2nd, 2023 at 4:39 PM ^
I give them credit for trying. The travelling Krush is quite impressive. I've seen a good CoY presence at Munn from time to time but I think the Krush is the best organized.
February 2nd, 2023 at 4:43 PM ^
Their AD will write a letter declaring that they are a Boys and Girls Club and should settle it.
February 2nd, 2023 at 4:44 PM ^
Local paper here says they got stuck with a bill for $6000 for bus rental to make the trip as well …