Fellow Wildcat fan, NMU Asst SID and Hockey-L member (gee, we will
have to actually meet sometime! :-) Justin Doherty said:
 
> Regarding Steve Christopher's posting on the story about the NMU fan
> and Minnesota's assistant coach going up into the stands after him...
>
> Having been there and having witnessed most of what went on at the
> St. Paul Civic Center that night, I have to say that yelling Golden
> Chokers and using profanity at Minnesota's players and coaches as
> they were coming off the ice was not a particularly sportsmanlike
> thing to do.
 
Justin - I think this is a masterpiece of understatement!
 
       However, bad as that type of behavior is (slight paraphrase)going
> up into the stands after a fan and swinging your stick (hitting the
> railing, as a Gopher player did -- I was surprised when I saw who the
> player was that did this) is totally out of the bounds of acceptable
> conduct (win, lose or draw), especially when the NMU fan made no
 
Agreed--but so is the former.
 
> physical contact (to my knowledge) with any Minnesota personnel.
 
That's part of the problem with this sort of thing.  It's obvious
that these "fans" engage in this sort of thing only because they
feel they are protected from retaliation (by the glass, security
whatever) - in other words, it's not only boorish, it's cowardly
 
> We've all been in many different college hockey rinks and verbal
> abuse is, unfortunately, part of the game.  In my mind, yelling
> Golden Chokers is no better or worse than yelling "Sieve" at a
> goalie.  What's the difference?  Players and coaches unfortunately
 
Although several months ago I indicated I dislike the "Sieve" "cheer"
quite a bit, I do see a difference.  Once an opponent has been
defeated, to heckle him, particularly so heinously, is kicking someone
when they're down.  Yelling "Sieve" at a goalie, particularly if he's
only given up one or two goals, is really just ribbing.  Now, yelling
"Sieve" at one who's had the misfortune to give up 8 goals IS rubbing
it in.  From some of the posts I've seen here, at least some fans STOP
yelling "sieve" when things get that out of hand.
 
> have to be thick-skinned enough to ignore this type of behavior from
> so-called fans.  I hope nothing more comes from this incident than
> apologies from both sides.
 
I completely agree with you on your hopes for what else may come from
this.  Unfortunately, as I understand it, while the coach has publicly
apologized to both his institution and the other individual, the "fan"
has not indicated any remorse whatsoever.
>
Justin - I really wasn't clear enough in my comments.  I definitely do
not approve of the players' threatening the fans, nor of the coaches'
trying to go into the stands, even if the original intent is only to
prevent an altercation.
 
However, what I was trying to emphasize that some so-called "fan"
behavior is totally unjustified and an embarassment--AND THERE IS NO
REASON FOR IT TO OCCUR!  Particularly in this sort of situation--
what's the old saying, "The only thing worse than a bad loser is a
bad winner!"?  For gosh sakes, NMU WON the game, so the "fan" can't
even use the excuse of being frustrated and angry.  Furthermore, he
was deliberately inciting a bunch of (young, too boot) people who
were in the most incitable possible state.  Why?!
 
As far as I'm concerned, there's two points here:
 
1.  We owe it our sports and our institutions to attempt to educate
    and influence (and at the very least not tolerate, much less
    encourage) this kind of totally inappropriate behavior.
 
2.  Organizations should develop and enforce policies and rules which
    attempt to control this kind of thing.  Anyone who gets up on the
    backs of chairs, or climbs railings, to lean over the glass and
    harass players and coaches, should be ejected from the building.
    And yes, we see this kind of thing occasionally in Lakeview Arena,
    and it shouldn't be allowed.  Those few "fans" who are so turned
    off by such a rule aren't worth having on "our" side anyway.
 
At least those are my opinions.
>
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                     *      Steve Christopher, NMU       *
                    *  "Go 'Cats!''Goin' for it again in  *
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