(above) DU fans turn their backs to the ice as Colorado College players are introduced
From: Denver Postby Mike Chambers
Some DU fans attending Saturday's regular-season finale at Colorado Springs were criticized for inappropriate behavior before the game. They screamed obscenities and booed while the public-address announcer introduced the Tigers' nine seniors in their final appearance at the World Arena.
"It was embarrassing, to be honest with you," Tigers coach Scott Owens said. "I would have been embarrassed if it (happened) up there. Kids that have been here four years and put their heart and soul in — I was extremely unimpressed."
Coach George Gwozdecky was in the DU locker room at the time, but upon being made aware of what happened, he said: "That's totally uncalled for. What a shame."
"It was embarrassing, to be honest with you," Tigers coach Scott Owens said. "I would have been embarrassed if it (happened) up there. Kids that have been here four years and put their heart and soul in — I was extremely unimpressed."
Coach George Gwozdecky was in the DU locker room at the time, but upon being made aware of what happened, he said: "That's totally uncalled for. What a shame."
62 comments:
This is priceless. The only way it would have been better is if Scotty and Ted Haggard had issued a joint statement reprimanding DU fans.
If there was ever a moment to start charging people $9.95 a month for visiting LetsGoDU this is it.
"Sreaming obscenities" is complete bullshit and a damn lie. Well maybe there was one "CC Sucks" chant thrown in for good meassure.
Doesn't Scotty have a WCHA playoff series he should be preparing for. I'd be looking to tighten up the defense and goaltending.
If I'm Coombes, I'd issue a follow on statement. "Due to the immature behavior of DU fans in the Colorado Springs, I've decided to ban Boone from all future hockey games at DU."
Owens is a complete idiot. DU went down there and whipped CC's ass. And this is his pathetic attempt to deflect criticism of his team. What a clown.
Congrats to the CC Seniors but welcome to college hockey you shmuck. CC Sux.
Owens has made it known that he has absolutely no love lost for DU and has said so in several interviews.
DG, you are right. He had better get ready for the end of his team's season.
Beam them up Scotty!
Owens is getting soft. Back the days when he played goaltender at Colorado Colege, DU fans used to throw chickens at him...
"Once, not so long ago, players who battled in the Colorado College-University of Denver hockey series dodged animals, dead and alive.
These were good times, at least in the view of for DU Alum Cal Sandbeck.
He was blessed with a great view of the insane era of the CC-DU hockey series. He served as a tough defenseman for DU from 1974 to 1978.
On one visit to The Broadmoor Arena, Sandbeck swears he saw a black swan, greased pigs and rats tossed on the ice. All were alive. Three fights broke out, and a referee was knocked groggy trying to restore peace.
All in one night. And, yes, CC and DU somehow managed to play a hockey game amid the anarchy."
Compare that to today where fans are criticized for booing and DU can't skate around with the Gold Pan after the game because CC players might get their feelings hurt. We're raising a generation of pussies.
I have told the story before of one of my visits to the Broadmoor arena. We were sitting in the CC student section and a fight broke out. They stopped the game and we were all thrown out of the arena. Of course the discussions moved to the arena parking lot.
Ah, the good old days when college hockey was not as civilized.
There is no question that some of the DU fan behavior in the Springs was a little tacky, but that's as far as I'd go. Had CC blasted DU on the ice, no one would be talking about this. Owens should be worried about his team, not what DU fans do. He's been around the rivalry for a long time, and this stuff is kindergarten stuff compared to 20 or 30 years ago.
Lighten up, Scotty.
Where was Scotty during the Senior pregame ceremony? We know from the article that Gwozdecky was in the DU locker room...you know; coaching his team.
Scotty most likely was in CC's locker room doing the same. So in all likelihood, he didn't see or hear the the alleged "obscenities."
Its pretty poor form for a coach to go to a newspaper and make false charges about our fans. Don't get me wrong, I love the indirect publicity for the Blog and its more "street cred" for our student section.
Another funny thing out of all of this. The comments in the Colorado Springs Gazette on Sunday weren't ripping on DU fans. They all wanted Scotty Owens fired.
No further questions. Next witness.
Even if the "worst" of this account is completely true, who cares? This isn't a "T-Ball league" for 5-year-olds where the "everyones a winner" parents insist that teams don't keep score...
This is a serious NCAA Division I competition. It's a 60 year old rivalry.
But, of course, I wouldn't expect those tree-hugging, granola-eating, pink-haired, barefooted hippies to understand the virtue of passionate competition. Especially since they've been reduced to hanging "participation banners" in their barn.
I absolutely hate CC. I don't give a crap if the CC senior class had their feelings hurt by the representatives of the "evil empire" from up north. I don't care if our fans suggested something about their mothers' army boot sizes or questioned the fidelity of their players' girlfriends. Or if they have girlfriends. Or if they could get girlfriends.
DG, you're dead on about the Ted Haggard reference, especially given the "holier-than-thou" culture down in the springs. God knows they've shown their ass on to us in Magness and been less-than-gracious hosts in the World Arena.
But, you're wrong about Scott Owens needing to prepare for a WCHA playoff series. CC went 1-3 against UMD (0-2 as visitors). Owens is beyond needing to worry about a game plan, he needs to worry about updating his resume.
CC Sucks. And, for one weekend only, Go Bulldogs!
Is this the same website that lambasted and continues to lambast UND fans for their behavior in the series against DU in Grand Forks last year?
The reaction on this board to Owens comments in light of your reaction to Ms Rizzo's comments a year ago is a bit hypocritical isn't it?
So let me get this straight:
1. DU beat the snot out of CC on CC's home ice
2. DU reclaimed the Gold Pan
3. CC has virtually no shot at making the NCAAs while DU is sitting pretty at #1
And suddenly DU fans are the scum of the earth?? Owens, your credibility is spiraling downward.
There's a significant difference between yelling things directed at opposing players and trying to make unwanted advances on a tv anchor. Let's get that straight. Even further, there's a big difference between yelling things at opposing players and putting a guy in the parking lot into a coma. The UND fans have gone beyond a simple rivalry and have actively tried to incite violence. When they visited Magness this year, a drunk NoDak fan in the student section was drunk enough to try and throw a punch at me. I sidestepped him and his drunk ass fell down the stairs, but the point is still that they are absolutely classless.
As far as the CC fans go, they can be pretty tasteless at times, though nowhere near as bad as UND. My last trip down there, my friends and I were sitting in front of a kid who chanted "F-U DU" the entire game. Kid probably didn't even know what the F stood for, and all his dad did was roll his eyes.
Rizzo is a reporter who had to endure sexist comments in the course of doing her job.
Some hockey players were booed World Arena on Saturday night.
You can't figure out the difference?
HAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA
Dear Scotty Owens,
The only thing you should be "embarrassed" about is how your team played on Saturday night. I was certainly "unimpressed" by the way those CC peewees played.
I propose a cut in your salary to refund the tickets for the poor CC fans who had to watch their team just get beat like a drum.
Love,
Me
The DU fans that did step over the line a bit were DU students.
UND fans that step over the line tend to be full-grown adults.
Big difference.
I still can't stop laughing about this.
Really Scotty? Really??!?
"You don't need class when you're #1.... You wanted the best; you got the best.....it's good to be King"
- Gene Simmons, co-founder of KISS
Let me give you an example of the "Ceremony."
Announcer: "Player A was a four year player at Colorado College. He was a 'Penalty Kill Specialist' with no goals or assists during his career at CC. He killed 5 of 6 penalties for the Tigers."
DU fans: "Booooooooooooooooooooo"
Player A skated out to center ice.
No video highlights, no music, just Senior after Senior skating out to center ice and waving their sticks to a chorus of "boos" in front of a few CC fans.
Because CC players aren't good enough to turn pro early, including their first round draft choice, Billy Sweatt. This went on for 10 minutes.
Many DU fans complained of sore throats after the Ceremony. I'm not sure if it was from the carbon monoxide from the three Zambonies or the 10 minute booing session.
It wasn't just students booing. DU Alums and fans booed as well. I salute you Mr.- Hard - Working - DU - Hockey - Fan - Who - Ruined - CC's - Senior - Night.
What garbage. Compared to what I've heard in the past the DU section was clean, extremely smart and witty with their chants, and freakin loud. No F bombs or racial crap... just witty stuff like Carbon Footprint. The seniors should feel lucky we didn't start the Where's your trophies?
Owens is a dbag just trying to direct attention from a team that compared to recent years was a embarrassment to the school. His job is probably on the line now and is trying to find anything to blame.
It's funny how a small group of 300 people went in to a building of 6000+ people and drowned out every single CC fan in the building. Come on CC step your game up. I remember back when it was intimidating to go in there... apparently not anymore. Last three times we went we've owned your building... not just on ice but in the stands.
The Owens' criticisms may be exaggerated, but I believe in a code of conduct for any fan in an opponent's arena. Cheer for your team and sit down. The stuff our fans were doing, and they paid for tickets had have rights, too, could have gotten someone injured. Go to Boston, New York, Chicago, or Philly and NOT adhere to the code, and you will take your health in your hands.
For cripes sake, Sants Claus got booed in Philly one year. You want to hear boos come to a Yanks/Boston, Rangers/Flyers or Rangers/Islanders game. This was child's play.
Sweatt was a second-rounder.
CC put on a half-assed boring ceremony and the crowd booed. No different than booing a shitty theater production on Broadway. :-)
Does DU score seven goals & bench Howe without the crowd? I guess we'll never know, but it sure was funny.
Nothing the DU fans did at CC was anywhere near the level of CC's denial of Denver's right to share the Gold Pan with its fans.
My mistake on Sweatt.
I think he was projected to be a first rounder and then fell to the 2nd round.
You guys are all pathetic. Anyone who thinks it's okay to boo another team's seniors (who deserve respect for their accomplishments, whether you think much of their accomplishments or not) lacks good taste and I'm ashamed for them. So go along, get ready for playoffs. I hope you play some team from MInnesota at the Final Five again and have everyone in attendence boo you, just like last year.
Chambers (as I imagine you read this site for comments as the traffic to your own blog is lacking)... congratulations on driving traffic to your stories with inaccurate assessments of true fan support. There is no one from DU who will deny booing during the introduction of the CC seniors, but cheering obscenities is far from the truth. Perhaps CC could have been more prepared with some excitement to their senior introductions to get their fans excited and 'on their feet' for their seniors who they have seen play for four tireless years.
Furthermore, the classless association of the 'party bus' further explains your ignorance to fan support. In my time as a DU student I have never been so honored to be a Pioneer surrounded by so many of my classmates who were excited to be supporting their fellow Pioneers. Perhaps fan bus or student bus or other designation would be more appropriate.
Sara... we've been booed all year. What more I'd expect it when playing anywhere outside of Colorado. Hell when the Final Five comes it will pretty much be home ice for any other team besides us. The Final Five is monopolized by Minnesota, and North Dakota is always expected to bring the whole circus down. You really think we care what other fans really think of us? You think we are not use to it?
As a DU grad who had to put up with a lot of weak spirit, I'm proud to see a growing number of hard core hockey fans being brought up at Denver. It may not be as big as Minnesota or Wisconsin but they are getting better every year and I hope their "behavior" translates into next season where new traditions are started.
Yeah - Denver fans better shut up... people in glass houses should not throw stones, right? CC is a MUCH better team. Just look at the rankings. Look at the polls..... why are DU fans so arrogant? Tigers' have won a hell of alot more Championships than the Pioneers ever will.........
Sorry Scott Owens; you're a much more successful WCHA coach, and your program is setting the standard by which all others' are judged. God Bless Colorado College - the WCHA Masters!
DU hockey in the early 70s... I was a regular in the student section from 69-73. It was during that time that the hail of raw chicken began. Occasionally, water balloons filled with paint would hit the ice. The old DU arena was a wild, rockin' place.
Road trips to the Springs... one night, a DU player was in a fight, pounding a CC guy. The DU player was ejected. As he was leaving the ice, a CC student threw beer on him. The DU guy launched his stick at the student, then headed into the stands. It took police to pull him back.
Coombs would fire Gwoz and dismiss the team. Murry ARmstrong just sent another player on the ice and won the game.
Sounds like a bunch of Trust fund babies making excuses for their bad behavior. I thought the du fans walked on water? Glad you all can participate by being classless fans.
Oh we don't walk on water... we skate on it. ;)
Here's is Chambers' posting from his Blog on Saturday night:
"Before I get to the scoring, I’m going to take a minute to blast the DU fans sitting in the northeast corner. I know the party bus sold out and there undoubtedly was some drinking involved by students, alumni and other adult Pio fans in the section, but come on, have some class. The visiting fans booed and yelled “CC (stinks)” when the Tigers’ nine seniors were being honored pregame. When each guy’s name was introduced, the booing overshadowed the applause. I probably wouldn’t mention this if CC hadn’t worked so hard to clean up its fan behavior at the World Arena. Right after the seniors were honored, the big screen showed Scott Owens’ taped speech about the importance of being respectful to visiting teams and their fans. You didn’t see CC interfere with DU’s senior ceremonies last night. This was just wrong."
---------------
Here's how Dave Ramsey of the Colorado Springs Gazette saw things:
"The Evil Empire of the North manhandled the Tigers, 7-3. The Tigers surrendered six goals in the first 30 minutes. In one long blur of humiliation, CC was buried by its archrival.
The Tigers listened most of the night while Denver fans chanted nice things about the Pioneers and mean things about CC.
It was ugly.
No, let me correct that. This game traveled to realms far beyond mere ugly.
The DU crowd roared, mocking those CC fans wondering if it could get any worse."
No institutional memory at the Denver Pest, and denial in the Springs...
Another interesting bit of trivia from days of old...
In the old DU arena, there was one penalty box shared by both teams. Now that created some tension...
Gasp...... Poor fans at DU?
Once again the editor of this blog continues his ways as a classless hack. He points fingers at other "bad" fans and defends his own. Not a big suprise.
Pretty obvious that DG has never particpated in anything as an athlete.
2:48.....yawn. You've blabbed the same crap before. Get back to playing grab-ass with your friends at recess.
I sat in front of the student section Saturday night. I was amazed at the enthusiasm and school spirit. I heard nothing offensive or obscene. And believe me, I`m easily offended. I don`t even like going to an R-rated movie.
It is the JOB of the student section to be the "7th man." It is NOT their job to have good manners, or even to show "class." A good student section will boo everything about their bitter rival. Even the Zambonis. Even the seniors. If they didn`t, WCHA fans from other teams would be criticizing the DU fans for lacking spirit, as they often do on this blog.
This is why many of us go to the DU-CC games, to experience the unique atmosphere of a 60-year rivalry. I personally don`t boo the other team`s goalie, or their seniors. But I expect nothing less from a traveling student section who is excited about their team and is getting into the spirit of a bitter rivalry.
If the home team does not like their seniors being booed, I suggest scheduling the ceremony for another game with a different opponent.
Mike Chambers knows exactly what he's doing here. He wrote a masterpiece on the improved Magness Student Section for the Post last week, and a few days later, castigates many of the very same people for boorish behaviour in Colorado Springs. With nearly 40responses here, and probably a few more on his blog, Chambers is actually fanning the flames and building the rivalry to greater heights, which is in his long-term interests, and frankly all of us benefit from a hyped up rivalry.
I don't know if Mike got to experience the rivalry in the 80s, 70s or 60s, but it's clear that things had become a little sterile from student standpoint. CC's students don't even cheer. Even if our folks were a little out of line (and they were), at least they made the trip and cheered hard all game for their guys.
Now if I remember correctly these were the bulk of the chants we did...
"Where's your students?"
"SIV!" <- when we scored
the occasional "CC sucks"
"DU fight song" after we scored
"Lets go Denver"
"It's all over"
"We can't hear you..."
I talked to a lot of CC fans during that game and they didn't complain about anything we said.
I was there, too. I took the DU students' booing the CC seniors as a sign of grudging respect for a group of players who have pretty much terrorized DU for the last three years or so. The CC players were laughing out there, so I think they picked up on the envy.
DU students have nothing to be ashamed of. Rivalries, especialy 60 year old intense ones like DU and CC need some hate stay rivalries. Without the odd boo here and there, it's just another hockey game.
I was there, but showed up just after the booing. Not a fan of the booing. That was a ceremony honoring the hard work of seniors for 4 years (3 of which they kicked our ass) and we should have applauded them, not booed.
With that said, the students and everyone else were freaking awesome. I didn't have a problem with any of the other cheers and thought they were clever, well timed and LOUD! While the booing made me a bit uneasy, I applaud the overall effort by the student section and I'll say it again, were freaking awesome!!
I feel like I'm listening to an episode of South Park. You guys are so smug you like the smell of your own farts.
OMFG This is ridiculous. Since when is booing such a big deal? Stop being such pussies CC.
Nothing smells better than watching CC stink up World Arena on Saturday night. :-)
5:32.......your mom likes to smell my ass biscuits. What's the big deal??
Isn't it ironic, that for years DU fans have been ripped for sitting on their hands. Now they get ripped for showing some passion.
Ironic. YES.
And its so much sweeter. :-)
Go DU
At 48 comments and counting.... I bet DG is wishing this was a pay-to-post site! Once again, DG strikes a nerve - and good for him! Atleast somebody has the balls to do what he does.... mostly all from Texas, mind you.
Let me check my Tigers Suck-O-Meter...... yep; just as I thought... it's still pegged to the CC Sucks side
I wasn't there. But I think CC Sucks and North Dakota swallows!
Being a former player (and unfortunately never higher than tier level in club hockey), we had some good rivalries with other clubs. Being introduced and having other teams fans boo at you, kinda made the game more fun. I would always get a chuckle out of it and then try to give them something to really boo about later (scoring goals, hitting their players, etc). I'm sure if you ask the players, it probably didn't bother them. It probably bothered them that they could have heard the boos over their fans cheering. I'm not saying it was the greatest thing in the world for us to do, yet it's a rivalry and its hockey. These guys shouldn't be soft and worry about getting booed by the rivals fans. I didn't get to see the game, did the CC fans boo after that first period? If I were a CC fan (thank God I'm not), I certainly would have shown my displeasure. Would Owens have said it was "tasteless" for his fans to do that and not support his team the right way? And, if CC won, this wouldn't even be an issue now
dave hakstool pitches and scotty owens catches....
When 300 visiting DU fans outcheer 7,000 home CC fans, I think the problem is more with the home fans than the visitors. If CC fans actually cared, they would have drowned out the DU fans and the boos never would have been heard in the first place. The fact that they let 300 DU fans rule their arena is truly telling.
We have some pretty funny videos from the DU Student Section on Saturday night that are in the pipeline and we will post tonight. Stay tuned. :-)
CC fans were doing the same things on Friday at Magness, they just weren't very loud cause there were like 20 of them.
"You didn’t see CC interfere with DU’s senior ceremonies last night."
When the CC fan in front me shot off his mouth during the introduction of the seniors, he got walloped in the back of the head. Needless to say he didn't open his mouth for the rest of period then moved to the visitors section for the rest of the game.
Did Chambers even watch the game? There is no way he could have watched that game and not made Chevy a star. My guess is that he was out getting stoned with his old CC frat buddies. The pitty award to Testwuide was just sad.
CC Sucks and so does Mike Chambers.
Chambers went to the U of Northern Colorado, not CC.
Chambers is awesome. He does a great job covering the Pioneers and is passionate about the team. It's not just a job for him. He stirs the pot a bit for various reasons (I'm sure readership is one of them), but he's entitled to his opinion. The only people that seem to believe that it was perfectly fine to boo the CC seniors were the people that were doing the booing.
I'm not personally too offended by the booing, and don't think that it was classless, but felt a little uneasy and wouldn't have personally done it.
and about Testwuide getting a star over Chevy. Who the hell cares? Also, Testwuide had two goals on his home ice on senior night and Chevy let in three. Chevy did play awesome and he's an incredible player, but getting pissed off at the Testwuide pick is a waste of time to me. People picking the stars almost always try to spread the love if at all possible.
Chambers is "old school" when it comes to hockey. He obvious hated the booing.
I thought it was great. It was spontaneous act and there was a pent-up energy in DU fans & players that evening worthy of a playoff game.
If you ever want to know how a college hockey team is going to play, watch for subtle clues in the student section. If they are amped up, odds are the team is too.
Students are going to be on break and FCS-Rocky Mountain is not going to televise the game this weekend, so there may be a let down.
Lets hope the Boyz make it to Detroit and we can get things cranked up again.
"Chevy let in three"
You read the box score and didn't watch the game, eh? Were you smokin somethin out back with Mike? Chevy was in Hobey form. Wow.
CC Sucks and so does Mike Chambers.
Hey DU nice playoff round IN Denver you guys can't even full your own building. And if Owens was an idiot he would get fired like yours did. Oops too soon? And where did your goalie go? Oh back home. He is more helpful for you there apparently because he scores for CC. Good try fags
Post a Comment