Cong. on the win.....

[lionfan03]

I hope we can show you what Southern hospitality is about next weekend when you visit Florence. I was not impressed with "Northern" treatment of our fans and athletes. In fact I was horrified.

Beginning at the top....placing our UNA fans directly behind the student section in the nose bleed area was in poor taste. We would rather have been in the corner near our cheerleaders and away from constantly rude, harrasing UND fans.

The treatment of our cheerleaders from start to finish was shameful. The fans constantly harrassed them and the "security" refused to deal with any of it. Their answer was to tell the girls to "ignore" the harrassment. They were the brunt of crude sexual jokes, cussing, and worse all night. The rude student section constantly harrassed our players with racial slurs all night also.

In no way were we treated in a manner we are accustomed to when traveling to Southern sites. We were simply there to support our Lions and should not have had to put up with the harrassment and worse.

I won't ever be back to North Dakota if this is an example of the type treatment that can be expected there.

[Diggler]

The visiting team is always placed behind the student section. Doesn't seem like a good idea to me either.

But how could the cheerleaders have constantly been harrassed from start to finish? They were on the field for the first half and there were not even spoken to. In the second half I can not speak for. What kind of racial slurs were there? Maybe there are some moron students. In fact there are. But I know for a fact that no racial slurs were used around me. In fact there was no swearing. None. We were too busy yelling and screaming to swear. We made many drug references though.

Also you should've stopped throwing all that damn confetti on us.

[gvfootball.com]

If I even hear one racial slur come out of the mouth of ANYONE this weekend...

[lionfan03]

Yes, they were on the field, being harassed by the bottom rows of students. Even the ND cheerleaders warned our cheerleaders before the game to stay away from the student section due to past actions of the students toward visiting cheerleaders. Unfortunately, the college decision makers placed the UNA fans directly behind that section.

The confetti was a fun thing, just to make the game more fun for us. Bring some with you to Florence and have fun with it. By the way, we got more on ourselves than on you guys!

[Diggler]

The cheerleaders were always pretty much in the endzone when they were on the field, correct? If so, then the idiots who were saying things to them weren't students. I was right on the edge of the student section and we pretty much left the cheerleaders alone. We may have said a couple things to them like they sucked, they were ugly, but that is about as far as it went. We were making fun of that big boy, #51 and Hall. But again it was nothing bad. This game was the most we have left the players alone. We hardly made fun of them at all. We were too into the game to worry about them.

[SiouxMeNow]

Beginning at the top....placing our UNA fans directly behind the student section in the nose bleed area was in poor taste. We would rather have been in the corner near our cheerleaders and away from constantly rude, harrasing UND fans.

It's called homefield!!! and NOSEBLEED??? The AL seats 13,000....does your nose bleed at 60ft above sea level? C'mon -- tell me if the situation were reversed..you guys would have said..."We hope y'all do as well as you can!!!" to the fans. YOU GUYS HAD SEATS ON THE 40 YD LINE for crying out loud! We should have put you out in the parking lot as far as I'm concerned...THAT BEING SAID...frankly - I was suprised UND did as well as they did but on another level, not really. The UND coaches (Yes, even our own "Bubba" - defensive coordinator Kyle "Bubba" Schweigert) are masters at breaking down another team and devising plans to combat them. The other big factor was the home field, obviously! 10,000 screaming fans in a small enclosed dome are like 20,000 outside and it definately caused UNA problems. Bottom Line - UND's offense did what it had to do, gambled on occasion, and won. UNA was taken out of their game, and couldn't recover in time. NOW - (I know this is getting long) a couple personal notes...I met and talked to both Will and Coach Hud at the practice on Friday and can't say enough about their sportsmanship. Will is a very fine young man and a great athlete - you should be very proud of him. Coach Hud was extremely polite and forthright about the NCAA problems. Kudo's to him as well. Even at the postgame press conference - when losing teams tend to talk a little smack about the conditions or the opponent - the maintained the highest level of dignity in admitting they were outplayed saturday. You should be very proud of your team and the players and coaches...UNA has gone up many notches in my book because of their conduct today - best of luck in the future!

[lionfan03]

No way you could have heard everything in that place. You were lucky if you heard the person next to you.

It happened, and more than once. That was one of the main reasons they left the end zone and came up to the concourse to cheer. Of course the harrassment followed them.

What I can't understand is why the security would not respond at all. Their comments included....what do you want us to do, throw out the whole student section. That's what it would take......

In other words, that behavior was considered normal and acceptable there.

Not so in Alabama. We support our team, but draw the line on behavior such as what was seen today. You won't ever see that on a continual basis here. Sure, there are bad apples everywhere, but the school has an obligation to deal with those type problems. Obviously ND hasn't chosen to discipline those involved.

[Diggler]

I heard that one of your players that was suspended it was because he took something of his roomates, nothing illegal, to help him stay up to study or something like that. This was second hand, but the guy who told me said he was told by a parent of a UNA player, who is a minister. So I believe him. Do you know if this is true or am I just looney?

There is something goofy here as where the cheerleaders were for the first half is about 30 yards from the student section. It ends in the section that you were in. As far as the students who were taunting them in the 2nd half, those are the morons who tailgate, get drunk and then make asses out of themselves at the game. It is unfortunate.

[lionfan03]

[it's called homefield!!! and NOSEBLEED??? The AL seats 13,000....does your nose bleed at 60ft above sea level?

We should have put you out in the parking lot as far as I'm concerned...

...I met and talked to both Will and Coach Hud at the practice on Friday and can't say enough about their sportsmanship. Will is a very fine young man and a great athlete - you should be very proud of him. Coach Hud was extremely polite and forthright about the NCAA problems. Kudo's to him as well. Even at the postgame press conference - when losing teams tend to talk a little smack about the conditions or the opponent - the maintained the highest level of dignity in admitting they were outplayed saturday. You should be very proud of your team and the players and coaches...UNA has gone up many notches in my book because of their conduct today - best of luck in the future!

By nosebleed section, I meant the top seats available in the arena....a common phrase to describe such.

I agree with you on Coach Hud and Will being class acts. We are looking forward to next year. Only losing 7 starters as seniors and having a large portion of the starters being sophomores, I think the best may still be ahead.

However, your comment about placing the visiting fans in the parking lot if you could choose shows your own lack of class.

[lionfan03]

I heard that one of your players that was suspended it was because he took something of his roomates, nothing illegal, to help him stay up to study or something like that. This was second hand, but the guy who told me said he was told by a parent of a UNA player, who is a minister. So I believe him. Do you know if this is true or am I just looney?

I believe it is true. He is a straight arrow type guy and the tests were done the week before finals week at UNA. It was extremely unfortunate for him and for UNA. Not only the loss of him playing today but the press and sigma of "drugs" that has tainted his name.

[Smoggy]

Be thankful the students weren't harrassing you more. Many a team has been dumb enough to put benches right below our students. Many a time have I seen players from an opposing team mouth off to our fans and act cocky. Many a time I've seen players throw water and other things at our fans. If you play sports, you better expect to be razzed.

I've never heard racial slurs used at our games before. It's a big deal if they were. Don't generalize all the fans and people because of a couple of idiots. At the same time get over the way the students act. I can name hundreds of worse student sections and various athletic contests.

You're lucky to get those seats at the forty. Normally the visiting fans are stuck in the end zone where the team comes out. I've been to places that seat worse than that.

When you are a visiting fan, you better have thick skin. BTW, how did you hear what was being said to the chearleaders when they were on the field?

[lionfan03]

They were on the plane with us returning from the game.

I would rather have been in the end zone area than directly behind the rude students.

What happened today was beyond simple razzing....and besides since when does the excuse....they did it first......or everyone else does it.......make anything acceptable? Sounds immature.

[PCM]

Will Hall showed great class by coming over to Coach Lennon after UNA scored its last TD and shaking his hand. I was very impressed by that.

Lionfan03, I am sorry to hear that you had such a negative experience at the game in Grand Forks. I really hate to hear about such things because it reflects poorly on our university and our community.

Unfortunately, some who attend sporting events around here think that they should be able to say and do almost whatever they please. I am usually berated when I complain about the behavior of our fans, but I continue to believe that it's possible to demonstrate good spirit and employ good sportsmanship at the same time.

[Diggler]

I still don't understand how the students taunted the cheerleaders in the first half when the cheerleaders were so far away. What exactly were the students/whomever saying?

As cali says, don't judge everyone by a couple of drunken schmucks. I certainly don't say anything to cheerleaders unless they bring it upon themselves. And even then I don't say derogatory things. I am actually suprised by this, because as I said it seemed to me that this was about the best behaved the students have ever been. No one around me swore or did anything. I guess there was that one bullsh^t chant, but that was it.

I gotta say that the fat cop who came running out with UNA was freaking hillarious to see. Somehow just the way he ran was one of the funniest things I have ever seen.

[D2Football]

There is an NCAA rule mandating a certain number of tickets for the visiting team between the 30 or 40 yard lines.

[Smoggy]

I probably would rather be in the end zone section as well instead of next to our students. I don't get into that stuff, but I don't have a problem when it's directed at the team, as long as it isn't a bunch of swearing or racist things being said. I don't like it when it's directed at fans, unless they are being jerks. I'm not saying you were being jerks and deserved it either.

The actions weren't right by our fans. We are known for having rowdy students and I guess I've seen it rattle players which works to our advantage. You'll see a much better and friendlier display of the way our fans behave if you go to the game next weekend.

Don't any of the places you play at or your own team have students that harrass the other team?

[lionfan03]

Then put the visitors on the opposite side of the student sections......or move the student section......

something should be done to prevent this type happening.

It hasn't happened at any of the other Division II schools we visited this year....and I went to every game.

Valdosta was the worst, with the student sections close to where we were, but not in front of us between us and the sideline or the cheerleaders.

And their security dealt with the problems....even the monkey.

[Smoggy]

They could've moved the students, but the students would have been in an uproar. They've sat there since the opening of the stadium. I think even where you sat there are many season ticket holders. Are playoffs in fb a seperate buy for tickets, or are they included for season ticket holders?

[lionfan03]

They are separate......not included in season tickets at UNA. I am assuming it is the same in all the DII schools.

By the way, I have 4 good seats for the Championship game......I don'k know if I am going or not now.

[RD17]

It's funny. My seats are just to the south of the student section and I exited the Alerus Center through the same exit as a bunch of the UNA fans. I struck up a conversation with a couple of older UNA supporters as we were walking out and they said they thought it was a great atmosphere and they enjoyed the game even though the wrong team (for them) came out on top.

If you want to talk class, I noticed a few UNA players refused to shake hands with the UND players after the game. #21 and #40 just stood on the sidelines, waited for the hand shake line to clear out, and then joined the rest of the UNA team at midfield.

[jeffrow]

Here is my experience with Grand Forks. Last night, we hung out at Dagwoods' til about 1. I got to spend alot of time with Craig Riendeau who I met when you guys came down for the championship game in 2001. Craig is a great guy. Everyone at Dagwoods was cool as hell and we had a wonderful time.

Now, let's talk about Alerus. I was on the sideline doing radio for UNA.

The first thing I got to say on the radio was I wonder if anyone realizes they have 10 fingers because they only knew how to use two of them.

I get the homefield advantage thing, I really do, but you guys stepped over the line. Our players were subjected to racial slurs which is way over the line. I am coming back for the press box at halftime and get cussed up and down by a guy just because I have on a purple shirt. We were spit at be someone on the mezzanine....I could go on and on and on, but what's the point. Guess you just say it's homefield.

I will tell you this though, when you guys were here (Florence) in 01, you were treated with nothing but super hospitality and made to feel part of this community, wished I could say the same....

Our players showed class in defeat as they have all season long with wins, I couldn't be more proud of this team.

Jeff Whitten

UNA Radio / D2Football.com

[lionfan03]

Not trying to make excuses, just a statement of fact...

#21 is a freshman, he will learn. And Coach Hud will make sure of it. I can't say for #40, I don't remember who he is without looking it up.

[Diggler]

Don't be silly. Who here has defended people spitting on you or using racial slurs? Just imagine the roles were reversed, how much would you like it if UND fans made blanket statements about how all UNA fans are horrible people? You'd probably take a bit of offense to it I would think. I attend mostly hockey games on the road and I'm always subject to taunting, I shrug it off as no big deal. Maybe it was different today, but I didn't hear any swearing, fingers or racial taunts. That doesn't mean it didn't happen, it does mean it didn't happen around me though. So not all of us are the anti-christs.

[star2city]

Beginning at the top....placing our UNA fans directly behind the student section in the nose bleed area was in poor taste. 

For NCAA playoff games, the I believe the NCAA has set the visiting fan seating arrangement.

They were the brunt of crude sexual jokes, cussing, and worse all night.  The rude student section constantly harrassed our players with racial slurs all night also.

In the past, I've have been critical of another school (which shall remain nameless) for their fan behaior. Racial slurs and certain other crude jokes are totally unacceptable, and if this happened, as a UND fan I would like to apologize.

In no way were we treated in a manner we are accustomed to when traveling to Southern sites.  We were simply there to support our Lions and should not have had to put up with the harrassment and worse.

As a UND fan living in the South, there seem to be differences in fan behaviors and expectations at football games. In the South, students get all dressed up and there's a big emphasis on all the pageantry and formality. In the North, a football game is seen as an opportunity for the fans let loose and intimidate the opponent. By what you described, a few UND fans crossed the line in their eagerness to make a difference in this game.

[jeffrow]

I didn't blanket, I said the ones I experienced from the field. As I said, we had a great time at Dagwoods hanging with a bunch of UND people. I never implied all UND fans. I apologize if I made a blanket statement, wasn't intended.

Jeff