Lost in the story is how a team predicted to win the big12 is now tied for 8th place. What a disaster of a year for osu

If you look a the fans hand jester it sure doesn’t look like anything but a remorseful jester and not the type of jester made if some one would say go back to Africa.

Most likely IMO is that Smart knew he screwed up and the only out he had left was to lie and play the race card....


This isn't the first time Smart has lost his composure.

Just in case you were confused on this, you have no credibility left when discussing anything to do with OSU. This is not excusing Smart, so don't go down that rabbit hole. However, anyone on this board with half a brain knows you can't objectively discuss anything involving OSU without the hope that the next event will finally kill off "little brother" so OU can bask in the sun of all its glory. Get a life.

Aggie logic.....

A cheerleader trying to trip a player and earlier spit on a player = ok and applauded
Fans throwing snow balls at opposing team = ok and applauded
A fan calling a player a "piece of crap" = worst thing ever in sports. Fan should be suspended for life.

It's kinda hilarious how some are praising no racial slur but yet are perfectly fine calling other people "pieces of crap".

Something kinda stinks around here, kinda smells like...

Glad we are done with this story. The people have been punished and we can move on.

Aggie logic.....

A cheerleader trying to trip a player and earlier spit on a player = ok and applauded
Fans throwing snow balls at opposing team = ok and applauded
A fan calling a player a "piece of crap" = worst thing ever in sports. Fan should be suspended for life.

Who said trying to trip someone was ok? Really want to know that. That cheerleader should be removed from the squad and not eligible to return.

But hey, keep painting with broad strokes... you're bound to get something right with that.

Just in case you were confused on this, you have no credibility left when discussing anything to do with OSU. This is not excusing Smart, so don't go down that rabbit hole. However, anyone on this board with half a brain knows you can't objectively discuss anything involving OSU without the hope that the next event will finally kill off "little brother" so OU can bask in the sun of all its glory. Get a life.


The list of embarrassments coming out of OSU just keeps getting longer yet you’re so petty and blind that you talk about me..... You have no moral high ground at all. But most had to know that what you did was bound to happen for someone as poorly informed and thin skinned as you.
OSU owns this, so wear it.

Can we fire Ford yet? I'm starting #FireFord in case anyone wants to use it. This is just the latest disastrous turn of events for his program.

Orr May be a big d bag but I find it hard to believe he yells a racial slur at that moment with mics, cameras, and all the people surrounding him. Seems like Smart had a chip on his shoulder and heard what he wanted to hear.Seems to me you have a personal agenda and could care less what actually happened.

It's kinda hilarious how some are praising no racial slur but yet are perfectly fine calling other people "pieces of crap".

Something kinda stinks around here, kinda smells like...

Glad we are done with this story. The people have been punished and we can move on.

There is probably a lot more to be said by the big money pokes...
Traber was on the air tonight calling on the big OSU donors to buy out Fords contract.
Without Smart they lose more games and more support....

This isn't over.... If nothing else Smart is going to here many more not so nice things during his basketball career years from now.

That cheerleader should be removed from the squad and not eligible to return.

.That Cheerleader wasn't suspended but only verbally reprimanded according to published reports if I remember correctly.....

In any case the Cheerleader is eligible to come back.

But I hope he doesn't slip on a chewed on turkey leg or liquor bottle that video showed poke fans throwing....
Maybe Texas puts up another wall of plastic in Stillwater to protect them self’s

It's easy to sit around and say what Marcus Smart should or shouldn't have done. Mr. Orr is in his 60s, you're heckling a young man who is 19 years old. Some fans think that because the situation involved a player that he can get by with disrespect.



https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQUbBGCoJZdKwhYuWSoONRKU3WkMDLj3 TPSEK8ibSX5iIIL_Rd-_IGrdgULKAXetX2E-BuPZjU
Jeff Orr, Texas Tech Super Fan


There's no place in sports for these type of fans. Orr does nothing to advance the Texas Tech basketball program; sticking his tongue out at a Texas A & M player on a video of a previous game exemplifies that at 60,

this tub-in-a-bucket has never grown up.


http://www.thunderfans.com/vforum/images/smilies/okc.gif "Oklahoma City looks oh-so pretty... ...as I get my kicks on Route 66." --Nat King Cole.http://www.thunderfans.com/vforum/images/smilies/okc.gif

Seems to me you have a personal agenda and could care less what actually happened.

Please tell us, kid. What did actually happen?

I think back to watching the bedlam football game. The fans are basically on top of the OU sideline. I guess it would be justified for a football player to go into the stands and start punching fans who called them names? Or wait, let me guess, the fans never once called any OU players a name, right? (And this is only an example, as I said earlier, this happens everywhere)

A few "fan" encounters when my parents have been to out-of-town games:

OU at Univ of Colorado (football): fans "spilled" beer onto their seats so when they sat down after a big play they sat in beer - and the snickering and fake apologies (drunk students, as I recall) made it pretty obvious the spill was intentional;
OU at Texas Tech: Derogatory language yelled at two 60+ year old folks because they were wearing OU colors. This occurred throughout the game.

I'm not saying OU fans don't have their fair share of this same brand of idiot, but I remember going to OU basketball games for many years and being embarrassed by the costumes and antics of our own Super Fan (Sooner Man). Comparing him to Jeff Orr, I most definitely appreciate Sooner Man a lot more now. He may have been goofy with the face paint and costumes, sitting in with the students, but he limited his antics to cheerleading and being a supportive fan.

Bottom line: this kind of thing happens at most types of major team sporting events. But in this case, where you are looking at the antics of a 60+ year old "fan" vs. a 19 or 20 year-old kid who's in a competitive game, I have to ask "Who is the adult in the room?"

OSU fans forget how awesome and great it was last year when Smart was doing back flips at Kansas after they won that game.

This video was after the "piece of crap" statement. Read his lips and tell me if he you think he said "I'm sorry" or "Go back to Africa..."


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ha3S3kwAQE&feature=youtu.be

Marcus Smart Pushes Texas Tech Fan - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ha3S3kwAQE&feature=youtu.be)

We'll never know what all was said, but obviously it was more than "piece of crap" because there's video of it.

The fan says your a piece of crap. Smart gets up and says. **** you. Then the fan says no thanks your not my type. And smart shoves Him.

The fan says your a piece of crap. Smart gets up and says. **** you. Then the fan says no thanks your not my type. And smart shoves Him.

I think you're right, this looks like exactly what that man is saying. I wonder why he didn't claim he said this, this is a solid comeback.

I don't care what the fan said. Nothing gives Smart the right to take a step out into the crowd and put his hands on a fan. Student sections yell profanities at players EVERY GAME. It's not like this is the first insult Smart has ever had thrown at him. Thomas Robinson (KU) had a group of Mizzou students that started a chant about his mother the week after she passed away. By some peoples logic, TRob would've been in the clear to bum rush the students up in the stands and whoop their a**es. Which nobody would've blamed him for. Instead he ignored it.

Smart is a guy who up until now was praised for his level head and leadership on the court. He didn't show either of those by retaliating with violence against an insult from a fan, and he didn't show either when he kicked a chair and had to be talked down by a coach behind the bleachers. That shows zero maturity on his part.

I think you're right, this looks like exactly what that man is saying. I wonder why he didn't claim he said this, this is a solid comeback.

I can't remember where, but I saw somewhere over the weekend where they were claiming that is what he said as well. It might have even been what the fan said to someone right after the game, but he didn't say that in his official apology.

And are people really saying this guy is a "super fan" because he flipped off an A&M player? Because that would make about 20% of all the fans in every arena an immature super fan.

Can we fire Ford yet? I'm starting #FireFord in case anyone wants to use it. This is just the latest disastrous turn of events for his program.

I don't know the sentiment on Travis Ford among OSU fans, but it has been a long running joke among KU fans that Travis Ford and Scott Drew are two of the most incapable coaches in the country. They load up their roster with talent and then never do anything with it.

I don't know the sentiment on Travis Ford among OSU fans, but it has been a long running joke among KU fans that Travis Ford and Scott Drew are two of the most incapable coaches in the country. They load up their roster with talent and then never do anything with it.

I am not a huge college bkb fan so I'm not the best person to assess this, but from a distance it sure seems to me the "rollup" of ALL this nonsense - eventually - has to go back to Ford.

Now, please understand, I'm not saying Ford is responsible for what Smart did, but Ford has to bear responsibility for this team flying apart at the seams not just on the court, but in conjunction with some off-court stuff, too. This was a pre-season NCAA/Final Four contender from everything I've read, and it looks to me like the wheels haven't just come off, the wagon has flown around the mountain, off the road, crashed, and rolled down the mountain into a steaming pile of unmitigated disaster. Smart's antics are just symptomatic of the frustrations of a season just lost. I don't see how Ford doesn't escape broader responsibility for a program that has just imploded in the course of a season.

I think back to watching the bedlam football game. The fans are basically on top of the OU sideline. I guess it would be justified for a football player to go into the stands and start punching fans who called them names? Or wait, let me guess, the fans never once called any OU players a name, right? (And this is only an example, as I said earlier, this happens everywhere)

Don't agree with you, okcboomer:

Many posters agree that you can't ever justify any actions of violence in the Marcus Smart incident. OU won against Oklahoma State in annual Bedlam football clash; whereas, the Cowboys were losing to the Raiders in a hostile environment in Lubbock. When you win the game, you're in a better position to rise above the occasion.

Saturday, February 22, Texas Tech at Oklahoma State (Big 12 Network) 12:30 pm


http://www.thunderfans.com/vforum/images/smilies/okc.gif "Oklahoma City looks oh-so pretty... ...as I get my kicks on Route 66." --Nat King Cole.http://www.thunderfans.com/vforum/images/smilies/okc.gif

Can't we agree that neither side was right? A player should never voluntarily enter the stands and touch a fan, no matter what he or she is doing or yelling. I don't think many people would disagree with that. Marcus Smart is being punished for that action, and rightly so. However, it should also not be acceptable for "fans" to verbally harass players at a sporting event held in a public or private institution of learning. My son instructed me yesterday that the right to freedom of speech does not extend to "fighting words". Malicious heckling, to me, should fall under the umbrella of fighting words and be grounds for ejection of a ticket holder, at the least. If I were a university president or athletic director, I would not worry about losing a few season ticket holders by protecting my athletes from mean-spirited immature "adults" - and I use the term adult loosely. Tolerating such behavior sends a terrible message to the kids we are supposed to be guiding towards adult behavior. Most fans would welcome the removal of a few jerks.

Can't we agree that neither side was right? A player should never voluntarily enter the stands and touch a fan, no matter what he or she is doing or yelling. I don't think many people would disagree with that. Marcus Smart is being punished for that action, and rightly so. However, it should also not be acceptable for "fans" to verbally harass players at a sporting event held in a public or private institution of learning. My son instructed me yesterday that the right to freedom of speech does not extend to "fighting words". Malicious heckling, to me, should fall under the umbrella of fighting words and be grounds for ejection of a ticket holder, at the least. If I were a university president or athletic director, I would not worry about losing a few season ticket holders by protecting my athletes from mean-spirited immature "adults" - and I use the term adult loosely. Tolerating such behavior sends a terrible message to the kids we are supposed to be guiding towards adult behavior. Most fans would welcome the removal of a few jerks.



I understand where you're coming from and what your point is.

But people in college are not kids (advanced high school kids don't count). They are adults; you keep referring to the teaching of the youth like these are middle school kids learning about right and wrong. This is adults playing sports in front of thousands of people multiple nights a week. And more specifically, we are talking about a player who could eventually play a game for millions of dollars and be set for life.

This was simply a heat of the moment situation that would have gotten to the majority of people in his situation.

But people in college are not kids (advanced high school kids don't count). They are adults

I could really care less how old a person is. Still no one that is arguing that this is normal has answered my first question. What other part of life in America would this be acceptable to do? And why is it totally normal in this environment?

Is it really that much different than an arena chanting "ref, you suck!" or people specifically booing and heckling certain players as a whole?

Really the only thing different between the two is groupthink. A single person heckling is frowned upon more than an entire group of people doing the same thing. You cannot punish individuals for being passionate, even if it is annoying and at inappropriate times.

Everything is relative when it comes to heckling.

What do you mean what other part of America? Do you know how big sports are in America? People tattoo themselves, sports are very much a large part of many Americans.

Is it really that much different than an arena chanting "ref, you suck!" or people specifically booing and heckling certain players as a whole?

Really the only thing different between the two is groupthink. A single person heckling is frowned upon more than an entire group of people doing the same thing. You cannot punish individuals for being passionate, even if it is annoying and at inappropriate times.

Everything is relative when it comes to heckling.

What do you mean what other part of America? Do you know how big sports are in America? People tattoo themselves, sports are very much a large part of many Americans.

No, I'm not sure how big sports are in America. Please enlighten me.

Just because sports are huge in here doesn't mean you should be allowed to treat other people like **** while they're not allowed to do anything back. My entire point is why is this an acceptable practice and why do people defend it, like you are now?

Is it really that much different than an arena chanting "ref, you suck!"

And yes calling someone the N-word is a little different than saying ref you suck. I hope that is a joke.

Heckling and taunting is far, far worse in other countries.

Try going to an English soccer match sometime... I've heard people shout "I hope your mother gets cancer" and make monkey noises when black players possess the ball. Just last week, they were looking through video tape trying to find someone who threw coins at opposing players. Before there were cameras everywhere, this was very common, as were fights before, during and after matches.

I even heard similar, repulsive things at a British ice hockey game, with only a few hundred people in attendance.


In general soccer fans in other countries make American fans in any sport look like monks.

It's all sad. It takes a lot of the enjoyment out of sports, and demonstrates how sad the lives of people are who belittle others for their own personal entertainment. Small lives, sad behavior. It's probably akin to bullying, which is frequently done in an attempt to hide low self-esteem.

And yes calling someone the N-word is a little different than saying ref you suck. I hope that is a joke.

Oh, sorry I didn't realize you were sitting next to this fan during this altercation. He said he did not use a racial slur, Smart says he did. So you are just taking the "kid's" word for it when it just happens to be he is the one who has something bigger to lose? Everyone knows racial slur would be the defense, it is entirely the 'smartest' thing to claim. Immediately when it happened live, I said aloud that it willbe his best defense for the media if he claims that the guy called him a racial slur. Smart is actually intelligent, he knew he messed up immediately and his best defense was to (potentially) lie.

Taking his word to the bank is foolish, as is taking the fan's. All we have is a situation to observe.


No, I'm not sure how big sports are in America. Please enlighten me.

Just because sports are huge in here doesn't mean you should be allowed to treat other people like **** while they're not allowed to do anything back. My entire point is why is this an acceptable practice and why do people defend it, like you are now?

I am not defending it, I am simply enlightening that this isn't an isolated issue that occurs so seldomly that you can "punish" fans. Chanting ref you suck, is a direct heckle to the ref who made the call. The only difference here is an entire arena of people versus an individual.

I cannot answer why it is acceptable. It has been happening since sports were developed if I had to guess. Therefore it has become commonplace. Why do people in OK pray before major sporting events? Probably because that is how it has been for a long time. It is almost like you are asking why tradition and culture exists.

It's all sad. It takes a lot of the enjoyment out of sports, and demonstrates how sad the lives of people are who belittle others for their own personal entertainment. Small lives, sad behavior. It's probably akin to bullying, which is frequently done in an attempt to hide low self-esteem.

It's not just the fans.

I loathe trash-talking and chest-thumping and almost all players do it now. And when did celebrating a score turn into a largely furious display of yelling, pushing teammates around and looking like something out of an anger management class?

Of course, many grew up seeing this and think there is absolutely nothing wrong with it, just like I never thought a TD dance was a big deal and my dad almost had to stop watching sports because to him, it was atrocious behavior.

And yes calling someone the N-word is a little different than saying ref you suck. I hope that is a joke.

The only person who has claimed the fan said that is Smart. And Smart is smart enough (no pun intended) to know that the media would minimize the severity of his actions if he made that claim. The only words that any audio/video of the incident has shown that the fan said is exactly what he told the media he said. I'm not trying to side with the fan, but I'm most certainly not going to immediately agree with what Smart says without any proof. The guys entire season has gone downhill with the combination of him gaining a rep for flopping, him flipping out and kicking the chair, OSU falling to 4-6 and most certainly out of contention for the Big 12 title, and then this. He has been frustrated for several games in a row, so its not much of a stretch to assume he would shove someone who says something to him point blank when his team is about to lose again.

Saying "you're a piece of crap" is no different than people booing a player or yelling at a call the refs make. They're all forms of belittlement, and I don't know a single person who has gone to a game and never booed a call or yelled at something that happened during the course of that game.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with showing passion for your team when you're there in person to support them. Most people know the difference between booing a call or yelling minor things and crossing that line and being inappropriate, and there is no proof that line was crossed in this situation. The players play with energy, and they feed off of the crowds energy. Players feed off of that negative energy too. This is just a case of an extremely frustrated player getting heckled at the wrong time.

He said he did not use a racial slur, Smart says he did. So you are just taking the "kid's" word for it when it just happens to be he is the one who has something bigger to lose?

Yeah I'm sure all he said was "You're a piece of crap" like he is claiming. Ok.

It's not just the fans.

I loathe trash-talking and chest-thumping and almost all players do it now. And when did celebrating a score turn into a largely furious display of yelling, pushing teammates around and looking like something out of an anger management class?

Of course, many grew up seeing this and think there is absolutely nothing wrong with it, just like I never thought a TD dance was a big deal and my dad almost had to stop watching sports because to him, it was atrocious behavior.

You mean like a player taunting fans by doing back flips on the court after a close game? Yea me too

Can't we agree that neither side was right? A player should never voluntarily enter the stands and touch a fan, no matter what he or she is doing or yelling. I don't think many people would disagree with that. Marcus Smart is being punished for that action, and rightly so. However, it should also not be acceptable for "fans" to verbally harass players at a sporting event held in a public or private institution of learning. My son instructed me yesterday that the right to freedom of speech does not extend to "fighting words". Malicious heckling, to me, should fall under the umbrella of fighting words and be grounds for ejection of a ticket holder, at the least. If I were a university president or athletic director, I would not worry about losing a few season ticket holders by protecting my athletes from mean-spirited immature "adults" - and I use the term adult loosely. Tolerating such behavior sends a terrible message to the kids we are supposed to be guiding towards adult behavior. Most fans would welcome the removal of a few jerks.

Totally get what you're saying. But how in the world can this be policed? You're dealing with thousands of people who say things a probably shouldn't.

Yeah I'm sure all he said was "You're a piece of crap" like he is claiming. Ok.

there is new video out that supports that

Yeah I'm sure all he said was "You're a piece of crap" like he is claiming. Ok.

Serious question...... Do you really think Orr called him a n----- when he's surrounded by cameras, mics, and people? And if so, are you saying that everyone around him is going to say he didn't say it?

Totally get what you're saying. But how in the world can this be policed? You're dealing with thousands of people who say things a probably shouldn't.

Exactly. What's said by one that generates indignance among a thousand is said by a thousand in joyous concert without a second thought.


Malicious heckling, to me, should fall under the umbrella of fighting words and be grounds for ejection of a ticket holder, at the least.

What's "malicious heckling?" What's the magic line that says, for example, "The Ref Sucks" is okay, but a drunken old fan saying "you're a piece of crap" isn't? I loathe what this idiot fan did, but no way do I agree that it constitutes "fighting words." There's an old axiom in the law that holds "mere words cannot provoke a battery." No matter what this rube said, it didn't justify Smart going into the stands.

The only way this works is if we start having an "acceptable words" police at every sports function, and we start delineating what and when you can and can't say thing X versus thing Y. No thanks.

The Big 12 (and most other universities) have established at least some general guidelines of appropriate fan behavior, and those who violate are at risk of having their tickets revoked (which is only a threat to season ticket holders, in reality), but at the same time, public institutions have to be careful - toss someone out for saying the "wrong" thing (whatever that might be in the eyes of whatever arbitrary guard, security guy, decides) you're begging someone to file a suit for a state entity curbing their free speech rights.

Heckling and bad-mouthing the other guys is a part of sports, and when you get right down to it (from a world perspective), Americans are rank amateurs at it. And, frankly, we've got better things to do than to start policing it.

If Marcus Smart could shove someone when surrounded by cameras, mics and people, then yes, I think someone could use a word like that. Other players have said they have been routinely called the n-word, and one I know said Tech was one of the places it was more common. It will end up Smart's word against Orr's. It's even possible Smart thought he heard something he didn't. That happens in noisy arenas, and if you've heard the word routinely before, you might assume someone is using it again if they're screaming at you. At this point the punishment has been meted and, as far as I'm concerned, they're both guilty of something not acceptable.

If Marcus Smart could shove someone when surrounded by cameras, mics and people, then yes, I think someone could use a word like that. Other players have said they have been routinely called the n-word, and one I know said Tech was one of the places it was more common. It will end up Smart's word against Orr's. It's even possible Smart thought he heard something he didn't. That happens in noisy arenas, and if you've heard the word routinely before, you might assume someone is using it again if they're screaming at you. At this point the punishment has been meted and, as far as I'm concerned, they're both guilty of something not acceptable.

No it would be smarts word (although publicly he has never said this ) against the fan the audio recording(that supports the fan). And all the people sitting around the fan That didn't hear the n word. Including tech staff.

With all due respect there is zero, nada, 0 evidence that Orr said a racial slur other than Smart. Again, you're thinking all those people around him ( keep in mind there are mic and camera guys there that don't even know him) are going to back him after saying a racial slur?

Exactly. What's said by one that generates indignance among a thousand is said by a thousand in joyous concert without a second thought.



What's "malicious heckling?" What's the magic line that says, for example, "The Ref Sucks" is okay, but a drunken old fan saying "you're a piece of crap" isn't? I loathe what this idiot fan did, but no way do I agree that it constitutes "fighting words." There's an old axiom in the law that holds "mere words cannot provoke a battery." No matter what this rube said, it didn't justify Smart going into the stands.

The only way this works is if we start having an "acceptable words" police at every sports function, and we start delineating what and when you can and can't say thing X versus thing Y. No thanks.

The Big 12 (and most other universities) have established at least some general guidelines of appropriate fan behavior, and those who violate are at risk of having their tickets revoked (which is only a threat to season ticket holders, in reality), but at the same time, public institutions have to be careful - toss someone out for saying the "wrong" thing (whatever that might be in the eyes of whatever arbitrary guard, security guy, decides) you're begging someone to file a suit for a state entity curbing their free speech rights.

Heckling and bad-mouthing the other guys is a part of sports, and when you get right down to it (from a world perspective), Americans are rank amateurs at it. And, frankly, we've got better things to do than to start policing it.

I think heckling and bad-mouthing are a part of sports to SOME people. Doesn't make it right. I consider it poor sportsmanship on the part of players or fans. What's obscenity? What was said about it? "You know it when you see it". Malicious heckling probably falls into the same category. You know it when you hear it. I don't think fans should be able to use the n-word when yelling at players. I'm fine with anyone who says that being ejected. I KNOW that's malicious heckling when I hear it. I am talking generically here, since we have no evidence Orr used the n-word. I do have it on good authority that it is used regularly during sporting events and, as I said, someone who had a reason to know said Tech was one of the places where it happened more often.

Again, we're not talking about professional sports. We're talking about institutions of "higher" learning that are funded by the public so our children can be educated and learn to be responsible adults. I have 4 kids and am a pediatrician. I strongly believe a 19 year old is closer to a child than an adult. Clearly some 60 year olds are closer to a child than an adult. I don't want my children being educated that jeering and heckling, especially when demeaning, are not only acceptable, but an expected "part of sports". That's an education I don't want them to get. Just my opinion, obviously.

With all due respect there is zero, nada, 0 evidence that Orr said a racial slur other than Smart. Again, you're thinking all those people around him ( keep in mind there are mic and camera guys there that don't even know him) are going to back him after saying a racial slur?

I am not one of the people saying that what Marcus Smart did was in any way acceptable. If there is absolutely no evidence that at the time or previously during the game Orr did not use a racial slur, then that makes Smart even more wrong. However, it is also possible that he thought he heard a slur. Noisy building, screaming fans, upset person. Anyone here ever misunderstood something that was being yelled in a noisy building? Again, that in no way makes what he did acceptable. I have never said that it did. I don't think we have anything to argue about.

Totally get what you're saying. But how in the world can this be policed? You're dealing with thousands of people who say things a probably shouldn't.

Again, how would you police this? Who would be the authority on what can be said and what can't?

To me the video shows the flopper is the liar.

Yeah, that flop was really bad. Could've won the game. Interesting how little was said about it. Would've cost him a lot of coin if he was in the NBA. I guess it's ok to do in college. But hey, let's focus on the fans.

I would not allow people sitting behind the visitors bench to yell at the players. I would tell the visiting coaches or trainers that they can text guest services, just like you can text guest services at a Thunder game, and they could ask the person who taunts to leave. If this was a consistent problem, that person could be offered a season ticket at a different location if the university wouldn't want to drop them as a season ticket holder. Most of the people elsewhere in the arena can't be heard by the players and I think it would be very unrewarding to taunt someone who can't hear you.

If a person were yelling at or taunting a visiting ticket holder in the stands, I would again give the visitor the opportunity to text guest services. The person who responds would have the ability to make a determination as to who the offenders were and make a determination as to what to do.

It would be easy to tell ticket holders that this type of behavior would no longer be tolerated and what the consequences would be.

Something like this happened at a Thunder game I was at. There was a problem with a fan who was drunk and screaming expletives. People sitting around him tested guest services and he was escorted out of the arena. It happened very quickly and quietly.

I also had a very unfortunate experience at the SugarBowl when OU played LSU. We unfortunately and inadvertently bought tickets in the LSU section. I was there with my 13 year old son. LSU fans stood around us and screamed at us, including obscenities. They threw beer on us. Luckily, a very kind LSU fan who had tickets in the OU section came up to us and offered to trade tickets with us. It was one of the most miserable experiences of my life, and I know it was for my son as well. I wouldn't wish that kind of behavior on any player, and no one was even screaming racial epithets at us. Perhaps that has colored my attitude. Had I been able to call someone to come over and somehow make that behavior stop, I would have.

^

There are countless similar stories from that LSU game.

It sounds like one of the worst demonstrations by fans in the history of American sports.

I know I personally could not take that sort of thing... As bad as this sounds -- and I'm a huge fan -- I would have probably just completely left.

part of osu's student section is literally 2 rows behind the visting bench. If you try to tell me nothing gets screamed to the visting bench in Stillwater you must be very naïve. if the fans will throw snowballs and turkey legs on the Ou football team after the game in December, who knows what they will throw or say on saturday

I am not a huge college bkb fan so I'm not the best person to assess this, but from a distance it sure seems to me the "rollup" of ALL this nonsense - eventually - has to go back to Ford.

Now, please understand, I'm not saying Ford is responsible for what Smart did, but Ford has to bear responsibility for this team flying apart at the seams not just on the court, but in conjunction with some off-court stuff, too. This was a pre-season NCAA/Final Four contender from everything I've read, and it looks to me like the wheels haven't just come off, the wagon has flown around the mountain, off the road, crashed, and rolled down the mountain into a steaming pile of unmitigated disaster. Smart's antics are just symptomatic of the frustrations of a season just lost. I don't see how Ford doesn't escape broader responsibility for a program that has just imploded in the course of a season.

Absolutely. It's not just one thing, and unfortunately, it's very coach-related. Ford can't figure out a working scheme in the absence of Michael Cobbins which is BIG. Lack of discipline has become an issue. They've lost the fans again after finally winning them back after the Eddie fiasco - ! - and I for one am still pissed that Eddie was fired not helped. I will never forgive Holder for what he did to Eddie Sutton who has remained a pillar of support for the program.

And I am tired of the slumps, the evident lack of coaching over the years, never going far into the Tourney or conference championship, and perennially under achieving. With the tradition, facilities, and talent Ford has he should've been fired long ago. We were considerably better back when Sean Sutton was passing out on the sidelines. I gave Ford a chance, did his stupid Ford's Fjord as an undergrad, and listened to him speak at FCA stuff. It's time for him to move on.

I guess the next time a student athlete assaults his girlfriend we should focus sharply on what she said that triggered the violence.

What is it about sports that makes normal reasonable people go coo-coo for cocoa puffs.

To Al's credit he indicated on WWLS that OSU tried to perpetuate the race card to get people on their side.

That's fair an accurate IMO and its a further indication of the propaganda that OSU does.... but they are finally being called out on it now by Al.
Up until now few in this sports market would dare make such a strong allegation about OSU.

You mean like a player taunting fans by doing back flips on the court after a close game? Yea me too

Or kind of like OU players taunting and flipping off the crowd after bedlam this year. Not sticking up for Smart because his antics have become very annoying but dont act like the school you root for doesnt do these things. Same goes for the rest of the OU fans who conveniently forget the actions of their own.

part of osu's student section is literally 2 rows behind the visting bench. If you try to tell me nothing gets screamed to the visting bench in Stillwater you must be very naïve. if the fans will throw snowballs and turkey legs on the Ou football team after the game in December, who knows what they will throw or say on saturdayTo add to your point its been reported by a local sport talk show host that OSU fans have also spit on OU athletes with some regularity.

I would not allow people sitting behind the visitors bench to yell at the players. I would tell the visiting coaches or trainers that they can text guest services, just like you can text guest services at a Thunder game, and they could ask the person who taunts to leave. If this was a consistent problem, that person could be offered a season ticket at a different location if the university wouldn't want to drop them as a season ticket holder. Most of the people elsewhere in the arena can't be heard by the players and I think it would be very unrewarding to taunt someone who can't hear you.

If a person were yelling at or taunting a visiting ticket holder in the stands, I would again give the visitor the opportunity to text guest services. The person who responds would have the ability to make a determination as to who the offenders were and make a determination as to what to do.

It would be easy to tell ticket holders that this type of behavior would no longer be tolerated and what the consequences would be.

Something like this happened at a Thunder game I was at. There was a problem with a fan who was drunk and screaming expletives. People sitting around him tested guest services and he was escorted out of the arena. It happened very quickly and quietly.

I also had a very unfortunate experience at the SugarBowl when OU played LSU. We unfortunately and inadvertently bought tickets in the LSU section. I was there with my 13 year old son. LSU fans stood around us and screamed at us, including obscenities. They threw beer on us. Luckily, a very kind LSU fan who had tickets in the OU section came up to us and offered to trade tickets with us. It was one of the most miserable experiences of my life, and I know it was for my son as well. I wouldn't wish that kind of behavior on any player, and no one was even screaming racial epithets at us. Perhaps that has colored my attitude. Had I been able to call someone to come over and somehow make that behavior stop, I would have.

Come on. Now that may work for basketball games but no way it will work for football. Are we talking all sports or just basketball?

Or kind of like OU players taunting and flipping off the crowd after bedlam this year. Not sticking up for Smart because his antics have become very annoying but dont act like the school you root for doesnt do these things. Same goes for the rest of the OU fans who conveniently forget the actions of their own.

No OU athlete has ever attacked a fan at a sporting event.
OSU and or Smart lied about what happened and continued to miss lead or even lie to everyone on Sunday.

Smart could have had criminal charges filed on him but the Tech the fan and perhaps other for assault and battery according to what I have read elsewhere.
Huge,,huge difference.

And its not like this is Smart first loss of composure.

Or kind of like OU players taunting and flipping off the crowd after bedlam this year. Not sticking up for Smart because his antics have become very annoying but dont act like the school you root for doesnt do these things. Same goes for the rest of the OU fans who conveniently forget the actions of their own.


Oh so after getting bombarded with insults for 4 hours, getting spit on and getting food thrown at them, trying to get tripped by cheerleaders they should have just done what Marcus did and jumped into the crowd and started pushing people?

Or kind of like OU players taunting and flipping off the crowd after bedlam this year. Not sticking up for Smart because his antics have become very annoying but dont act like the school you root for doesnt do these things. Same goes for the rest of the OU fans who conveniently forget the actions of their own.

Again, that is the point. It happens everywhere. It is was it is.

Oh so after getting bombarded with insults for 4 hours, getting spit on and getting food thrown at them, trying to get tripped by cheerleaders they should have just done what Marcus did and jumped into the crowd and started pushing people?

The fact of the matter is, most of OSU's fans publicly condemned those actions as out of line. I don't support anything like that regardless of what team is playing. It's an embarrassment to sport in general. I know most of you got up in arms about that incident when it happened at bedlam because it was against your team but everyone else should just blow it off when it happens.

And to point out, those players didn't come up in the stands and push anyone but they did their fair share of taunting and flipping students off.

Like I said, it's an embarrassment to the game and anyone who defends it, I lose a ton of respect for.

The players do more trash talking to each other than any of the fans. Clearly none of you have been close enough to the court to hear what these guys say to each other. This is at the HS, college, and professional level. Sports are emotional, and if you're at the top of your game then you're playing with a lot of emotion. All of you who are telling everyone to take the emotion out of the game have clearly never competed at that level of competition. The crowd feeds off the players, and the players feed off of the crowd. I'm not advocating for emotion like what goes on in soccer matches in Europe, where there are riots and violence. But there is absolutely NOTHING wrong with people getting fired up for their teams. I don't really know what else to say.

And I would guarantee you that if you polled athletes, they would much rather be playing in an arena where everyone is yelling at them than play in an arena where everyone is nice and polite. It's called motivation. The only time the players don't like it is at the end of the game if they're about to lose.

This is the same guy who flipped out, kicked a chair, and then yelled at a coach and had to be calmed down to go back out to the bench. How is it so hard to believe he would push someone, point blank, over a small insult?