BIG NEWS! BIG NEWS!
After booing on the kickoff of the second half of thursday’s game against North Carolina, Rutgers fans continued to boo on almost every play from scrimmage throughout the rest of the game. (Those fans that actually stayed and didn’t leave early to beat traffic)
RUTGERS!?! This is same program that was easily one of the worst programs in all of college football for decades prior to the last few years and with fans with credentials nowhere close to fans with these credentials. This is not hyperbole. This program was Duke-like in their futility. It sure doesn’t take long for fans to get ridiculously irrational with a little success.
As Ismael pointed out in our comments section, you couldn’t help but be intrigued with the manner in which the ESPN announcers first ignored the boos and later casually explained that the Rutgers fans expected greatness. REALLY? RUTGERS?! Not only do they EXPECT greatness; ESPN seems to feel as though this traditionally horrible program DESERVES to expect greatness.
I find ESPN’s position on this deplorable.
Does anyone remember ESPN’s broadcast of Clemson’s drubbing of NC State in Carter-Finley on a Thursday night in 2005? This was the game when the braniacs running the scoreboard decided it would be a smart idea to put a commercial featuring Chuck Amato’s on the scoreboard in the second half of another embarrassing performance by the Wolfpack. The boos that cascaded from the stands – OBVIOUSLY focused only on the coaches as opposed to the amateur athletes on the field – was met with immediate criticism and disdain from the ESPN announcers. Fascinating.
The sell-out State crowd booed once that night as loyal fans remained in their seats late into a 4th quarter to watch our team fall to a miserable 2-5 record; Rutgers fans booed their entire team for the entire second half as their fans started leaving early in the 3rd quarter to watch their team only fall to 0-2. Why the inconsistent judgement from the ‘world wide leader’? Back in 2005 the Charlotte Observer added this nugget to their reporting of the situation:
N.C. State has great football fans. It’s not easy to fill up a stadium on a Thursday night, when fans have to work and those from outside the area have difficulty getting to the game on time. But there weren’t many empty seats at Carter-Finley.
Don’t forget, this was the classic experience that was followed by Lee Fowler’s ridiculous “open letter” to fans isued on the Friday after the game; a move that was so unique that it was reported all over the country as evidenced by this report in San Diego where NC State gets about as much coverage as the island nation of Bumamba.
Of course, we all are waiting with anticipation to read the open letter from Rutgers’ Athletics Director that is surely to come later today.
