Fan Conduct

[TRidge 18]

Gate city was dropping n bombs all game last year when radford played there. Didnt say much this year as hard to talk while getting curb stomped

[Deleted Account 5,203]

I’ve had multiple lives when it comes to experiencing fans.  I’ve experienced them as a student; I’ve experienced them as a fan; and I’ve experienced them as a broadcaster.  
 

As a student, I’ve never had a half-full beer can thrown at me anywhere but Mount View, so that’s in a class by itself.  Most know enough to leave kids alone.  They don’t.

As a fan, probably Gate City.  Very inhospitable place.

 

As an announcer, most groups go well out of their way to make us feel welcome.  Special shout-outs to Riverheads and Colonial Heights for going well above the call of duty.  A few of the press boxes have been memorable in a bad way, such as Princeton (incredibly cramped) and Richlands (separated by a plywood board and surrounded by hundreds of dead flies) and Marion (7 miles from the field).  But the staff at each and every one has been pleasant.  Except one.  That honor goes to Central.  Both times I have been there, the administration has gone well out of their way to inconvenience us to the point where we have to have our administration handle it with them.  

 

[Real Sasquatch 1,865]

I have had a few bad experiences with Princeton fans that has soured my opinion.  Sorry Tigers.   

[Hokiebird7 1,416]

Hands down pulaski fans are the worst I've ever heard

[BigWinners 1,643]

Breathitt County, yeah that shit was wild. 

 

GC fans used to be really rough and sitting with the opposing fan base is not a great idea. 

Wise/Central just sucks all around, won't find many M7 teams/fans that are complimentary towards them. 

[Melvin 22]

4 hours ago, goose111874 said:

Or sitting 80 yards from the field at Central

Made my first and last trip to Central about 6 or 7 years ago. We got there about 15 minutes before kickoff, as I usually stand at the fence anyway. I didn't realize I was going to need binoculars to watch the game. 

[BearsFan88 117]

14 minutes ago, BigWinners said:

Breathitt County, yeah that shit was wild. 

 

GC fans used to be really rough and sitting with the opposing fan base is not a great idea. 

Wise/Central just sucks all around, won't find many M7 teams/fans that are complimentary towards them. 

Gate City’s fans made a lot of people pull against them. 
 

Any fanbase in the town of Wise is difficult to like. 

[SXSW 557]

17 hours ago, Liam McPoyle said:

Back in the day, there was no place worse than Gate City.  Hostile and aggressive fans would sit next to the visitors' section, circle the track, or hang around the opponents' side concession stand. They'd incessantly taunt and harass adults, children, cheerleaders, band members, and football players. The old steam engine train whistle (The Blue Cannonball) was parked nearby, which only incited the crowd even more.  Basically, the only Gate City people not found in the visitors' section were law enforcement and GCHS Administrators. 

Legion Field is a tough place to play, the stands are right on top of the field and contact is easy because of the condensed space. The seating arrangement is odd also at GC, the press box side is all reserved seating and the rest of the fans have to go to the other side to sit and the conduct by fans borders between inhospitable and down right obnoxious! When the stadium is full and rocking I could see the intimidation on the opposing team. Legion Field is (was) no different back in the day from Bullitt Park or Riggs Stadium or Pennington. As a Blue Devil Alum the worst place I was ever treated was Powell Valley and Appalachia. 

[stu_bean 1,058]

I know when I went to Central last year, I didn't really know where to park or go to since had never been there.  Asked a simple question to somebody directing traffic and they gave a real smartass response to me.  Remember all our fans and bus drivers complaining about the cost of the concessions down there.  Like everyone else said not being able to see anything beyond the near sideline almost makes it pointless to go there for the game.  Also remember some comments being made as I was leaving the game since I had to walk back around to the home side parking lot.

[BearsFan88 117]

3 hours ago, stu_bean said:

I know when I went to Central last year, I didn't really know where to park or go to since had never been there.  Asked a simple question to somebody directing traffic and they gave a real smartass response to me.  Remember all our fans and bus drivers complaining about the cost of the concessions down there.  Like everyone else said not being able to see anything beyond the near sideline almost makes it pointless to go there for the game.  Also remember some comments being made as I was leaving the game since I had to walk back around to the home side parking lot.

Parking at Walmart High School is ridiculous. 
 

 

[UnionGuy2017 182]

Central. Central. Central. 
 

As stated above, even an extremely simple question will get you rude responses. We could go on and on. It’s just to be expected there at this point. 

[jarhead24219 440]

The county seat , new field that cost at least 4-5 million but was described as 2 million donation ????? ROTC started at Powell Valley but moved to Central, weight lifting equipment donated by TJones and J Jones stolen and moved to Central , new baseball facilities at Central , new tennis courts and swim team and future swimming pool moved to Central all the while nothing given to Eastside or Union???? I guess that’s what happens when the lawyers and republican leaders kids go there. Yet only the girls bring home the state titles

[SwvaOG 600]

Wow, who knew that disdain for Central is the tie that binds the board together.  😂

[Gridiron60 2,554]

7 minutes ago, SwvaOG said:

Wow, who knew that disdain for Central is the tie that binds the board together.  😂

Richlands has been replaced 😂😂😂

[SwvaOG 600]

11 minutes ago, Gridiron60 said:

Richlands has been replaced 😂😂😂

Yeah, at least Richlands was born out of their winning…lol

[Wolf1207 239]

I think what annoys most people about Wise is that the fans and parents act like they are all high society. In reality, they are just as big of rednecks as the rest of us! 

[Wolf1207 239]

1 hour ago, jarhead24219 said:

The county seat , new field that cost at least 4-5 million but was described as 2 million donation ????? ROTC started at Powell Valley but moved to Central, weight lifting equipment donated by TJones and J Jones stolen and moved to Central , new baseball facilities at Central , new tennis courts and swim team and future swimming pool moved to Central all the while nothing given to Eastside or Union???? I guess that’s what happens when the lawyers and republican leaders kids go there. Yet only the girls bring home the state titles

That’s one reason citizens need to pay attention when re-districting takes place. Some higher ups over there had told me that Wise was able to get control of the BOS because of the one done in 2010.

[BearsFan88 117]

3 hours ago, SwvaOG said:

Wow, who knew that disdain for Central is the tie that binds the board together.  😂

Wise is a small town wanting to be a big city. UVA Wise is a small college wanting to be a big college. 
 

The arrogance is overwhelming. 

[BoBob 223]

I'm sure when people are referring to "poor fans" they only are experiencing a small portion of that fan group.  Hard to label a fan base as bad I guess. 

I know just in the last year we experienced some poor fans. 

One I personally witnessed was a Radford fan who before the national Anthem was over  (while it was still quiet before any clapping) started yelling about the Bobcats and what they were going to do to the Raiders.  This fan then proceeded to walk around the field to the victors side and yell at the refs and us (the chain gang) about how we better not cheat and what she would do.  Same fan got into verbal altercation with one of our fans (one we don't like to claim most of the time, to be fair) at half time to the point the police had to step in and tell her to go back to the visitors stands.

 

I heard that some of the Graham fans (and players)  were yelling at some of our fans as they left the the semi-final game last year.  

I know during warmups for that game I saw a player look at one of our fans and grab his crouch and make oral sex gestures.  NOW...............  I can almost say for sure that this female fan was doing her share of taunting in order to bring about this kids of responses from this player. 

 

I know Appomattox like i said has some fans who don't represent in the correct manner.  In fact at one point someone from the community put a post on facebook about people not representing the team as Coach Smith wants the team viewed. 

 

We all got them!!!!  LOL!

[BearsFan88 117]

33 minutes ago, BoBob said:

I'm sure when people are referring to "poor fans" they only are experiencing a small portion of that fan group.  Hard to label a fan base as bad I guess. 

I know just in the last year we experienced some poor fans. 

One I personally witnessed was a Radford fan who before the national Anthem was over  (while it was still quiet before any clapping) started yelling about the Bobcats and what they were going to do to the Raiders.  This fan then proceeded to walk around the field to the victors side and yell at the refs and us (the chain gang) about how we better not cheat and what she would do.  Same fan got into verbal altercation with one of our fans (one we don't like to claim most of the time, to be fair) at half time to the point the police had to step in and tell her to go back to the visitors stands.

 

I heard that some of the Graham fans (and players)  were yelling at some of our fans as they left the the semi-final game last year.  

I know during warmups for that game I saw a player look at one of our fans and grab his crouch and make oral sex gestures.  NOW...............  I can almost say for sure that this female fan was doing her share of taunting in order to bring about this kids of responses from this player. 

 

I know Appomattox like i said has some fans who don't represent in the correct manner.  In fact at one point someone from the community put a post on facebook about people not representing the team as Coach Smith wants the team viewed. 

 

We all got them!!!!  LOL!

Most definitely. The bad fans ruin it for the good fans. 
 

There have been times when football players have behaved badly. 
 

-According to some Gate City fans, in 2001 some Powell Valley players were flipping them off. I don’t remember. It wouldn’t surprise me if some Gate City fans were provoking them. But as a player you have to learn how to tune out hecklers. 
 

-In 2015 Union hosted Graham second round of the playoffs. There were Graham players acting like jerks, making rude gestures toward the Union fanbase. Some of the Union fans could have been instigating it. I didn’t see anything. But as I have previously stated, you have to learn to tune out hecklers. 
 

Athletes need to avoid getting into power struggles with opposing fanbases. 
 

Fans need to learn to keep their mouths shut. 

[SwvaOG 600]

1 hour ago, BearsFan88 said:

Most definitely. The bad fans ruin it for the good fans. 
 

There have been times when football players have behaved badly. 
 

-According to some Gate City fans, in 2001 some Powell Valley players were flipping them off. I don’t remember. It wouldn’t surprise me if some Gate City fans were provoking them. But as a player you have to learn how to tune out hecklers. 
 

-In 2015 Union hosted Graham second round of the playoffs. There were Graham players acting like jerks, making rude gestures toward the Union fanbase. Some of the Union fans could have been instigating it. I didn’t see anything. But as I have previously stated, you have to learn to tune out hecklers. 
 

Athletes need to avoid getting into power struggles with opposing fanbases. 
 

Fans need to learn to keep their mouths shut. 

Maybe the G-Men were expressing their frustration with having to hear a train whistle blown through their snap count.  🤷🏻‍♂️  Too, soon??  😂 

[UnionGuy2017 182]

1 hour ago, BearsFan88 said:

Most definitely. The bad fans ruin it for the good fans. 
 

There have been times when football players have behaved badly. 
 

-According to some Gate City fans, in 2001 some Powell Valley players were flipping them off. I don’t remember. It wouldn’t surprise me if some Gate City fans were provoking them. But as a player you have to learn how to tune out hecklers. 
 

-In 2015 Union hosted Graham second round of the playoffs. There were Graham players acting like jerks, making rude gestures toward the Union fanbase. Some of the Union fans could have been instigating it. I didn’t see anything. But as I have previously stated, you have to learn to tune out hecklers. 
 

Athletes need to avoid getting into power struggles with opposing fanbases. 
 

Fans need to learn to keep their mouths shut. 

I’ve said it before, that 2015 Graham game was a heck of an environment and extremely fun as a spectator. 10-0 Union and 5-5 Graham. Graham gave them a great run until the RB (Jamorya Cousin??) got injured in a believe the 3rd quarter. 

[Jags52 346]

1 hour ago, BearsFan88 said:

 Fans need to learn to keep their mouths shut. 

This part right here. Fans for the most part are adults. Talk crap to other fans who are also adults. Say what ever you want to the coaches that is just part of the job. Heckle the officials not that it helps but if it makes you feel better go ahead they know what they signed up for. Dont say a word to the players.. These kids are 16 17 years old you are a grown ass man let them play. Now the players shouldnt be talking to fans either but at the same time they are playing an emotional game and are still children. I blame the dude that had one too many natty lights before the game and "paid his 6 dollars" 

[PV8 8]

19 hours ago, jarhead24219 said:

The county seat , new field that cost at least 4-5 million but was described as 2 million donation ????? ROTC started at Powell Valley but moved to Central, weight lifting equipment donated by TJones and J Jones stolen and moved to Central , new baseball facilities at Central , new tennis courts and swim team and future swimming pool moved to Central all the while nothing given to Eastside or Union???? I guess that’s what happens when the lawyers and republican leaders kids go there. Yet only the girls bring home the state titles

I assure you, T and J jones never donated any weight equipment to Powell Valley or Union. 

[Duke2015 451]

1 hour ago, PV8 said:

I assure you, T and J jones never donated any weight equipment to Powell Valley or Union. 

Not sure what they donated or not but heard many complaints from the BSG folks about the 2 never giving back to the community after many helped them along the way but I’m from Appy so don’t know the full story