Here's my take- First of all bottle throwing is wrong. Am I embarassed? Nah. At least our fans care- maybe too much. It does seem to me that ever since I left MSU as a student- 2000- that the brat population has steadily grown over time. Maybe I'm wrong, but that's the perception that I have. Sure, there are still BSU geeks and the like, but it seems like the upper middle class preppy crowd has grown by leaps and bounds. Not that that's a bad thing- but brats tend to act like, well...brats. And brats throw things at officials. At least this is how I'm trying to rationalize the bahavior of our fans.
That said, what's lost in all this is WHY the students threw water bottles in the first place. I mean, we've had disappointing losses before- like to Ole Miss last year, and nothing like this has ever happened. So, logic says that something caused this to happen, which in this case was horrible officiating. As I've said many times, I really don't know a whole lot about basketball. I honestly don't know enough about it to nitpick every call, but that has been done sufficiently. BUT my Dad was a basketball official for the MHSAA and MPSA for years. He loves basketball, and does know the rules. He said that there were many, many calls that the officials missed that were very simple, obvious calls to make on both sides. My point is this- our fans are tired of having games taken from them because of crappy officiating. Our guys played their asses off. And they deserved better. I don't think anyone is asking that all of the calls go our way, just call the game evenly. As all of you know, I am a Cardinals fan, and in the 26 or so years of being a Cardinals fan I can recall only TWO games in that entire time where I can say that an umpire affected the outcome of a game- the 1985 World Series Don Denkinger call, and a game in 1998 vs the Braves with an umpire that had just gotten called up from AAA. That's it. Now, as a State fan, I can recall crappy officiating from pretty much every Alabama/MSU football game and every UK basketball game. It's ridiculous.
Now, again I'm not condoning throwing things at players or officials. Those that did should be punished. But what I am saying is what about us? Why are we the only ones that HAVE to apoligize? Where's our apology from the SEC? Where's our apology from the officials? And I don't want the BS form letter that gets sent out after every Alabama game. I want a public apology, officials disciplined including pay suspended, and if it's warranted a forfeit to MSU. Yep, you read that last part right. If you want to be the best conference in America, you better have the best officials to, and they should be held accountable.
Now to ESPN- nice double standard. You talk about how classless MSU and West Virginia fans are, but yet, when you talk about LSU football, "It's a great atmosphere". I'm assuming that if we throw urine on people at Scott Field, we will be talked about in the same light.
That said, what's lost in all this is WHY the students threw water bottles in the first place. I mean, we've had disappointing losses before- like to Ole Miss last year, and nothing like this has ever happened. So, logic says that something caused this to happen, which in this case was horrible officiating. As I've said many times, I really don't know a whole lot about basketball. I honestly don't know enough about it to nitpick every call, but that has been done sufficiently. BUT my Dad was a basketball official for the MHSAA and MPSA for years. He loves basketball, and does know the rules. He said that there were many, many calls that the officials missed that were very simple, obvious calls to make on both sides. My point is this- our fans are tired of having games taken from them because of crappy officiating. Our guys played their asses off. And they deserved better. I don't think anyone is asking that all of the calls go our way, just call the game evenly. As all of you know, I am a Cardinals fan, and in the 26 or so years of being a Cardinals fan I can recall only TWO games in that entire time where I can say that an umpire affected the outcome of a game- the 1985 World Series Don Denkinger call, and a game in 1998 vs the Braves with an umpire that had just gotten called up from AAA. That's it. Now, as a State fan, I can recall crappy officiating from pretty much every Alabama/MSU football game and every UK basketball game. It's ridiculous.
Now, again I'm not condoning throwing things at players or officials. Those that did should be punished. But what I am saying is what about us? Why are we the only ones that HAVE to apoligize? Where's our apology from the SEC? Where's our apology from the officials? And I don't want the BS form letter that gets sent out after every Alabama game. I want a public apology, officials disciplined including pay suspended, and if it's warranted a forfeit to MSU. Yep, you read that last part right. If you want to be the best conference in America, you better have the best officials to, and they should be held accountable.
Now to ESPN- nice double standard. You talk about how classless MSU and West Virginia fans are, but yet, when you talk about LSU football, "It's a great atmosphere". I'm assuming that if we throw urine on people at Scott Field, we will be talked about in the same light.