Classless Fans

[Firebird]

I generally don't like to get into classless fans debate. Usually, the insult is used only by fans of team that regularly get thrashed, and need to feel better about themselves. But what I saw this past weekend totally blew my mind. I have watched HS football across the state, and never seen this before.

At the 76th annual Battle of the Arroyo, Harlingen hosted San Benito in what proved to be a thrilling 29-22 comeback win for the Cardinals, their 56th win in the series. Harlingen was the hosting team.

The San Benito fans brought their own loudspeaker and PA system to the game. Not only did they use it, but they frequently used it while the home field announcer was either calling the game or making announcments. Take the following example, which is virtually verbatim, as happened at the game.

Home Field Announcer (pre-game): The Harlingen Band Boosters would like to invite both visiting and home fans to.. (interruppted, announcement inaudible)

San Benito PA: (Over Blaring Ozzy Osbourne) SAN BENITO ARE YOU READY!!!!!!!!!! LET'S RELEASE THE DOGS!!!!!!

Or this one:

Harlingen Announcer: Please stand for the playing of both school's... (interrupted)

San Benito PA: (Linkin Park Blaring) LET'S HEAR SOME NOISE FOR YOUR GREYHOUNDS, SAN BENITO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Finally, the worst:

Harlingen Announcer: And, at the start of the fourth quarter, the score is San Benito...(interrupted)

San Benito PA: (Metallica) YOUR GREYHOUNDS ARE IN FRONT AT THE END OF THE THIRD!!! LET'S RELEASE THE DOGS!!!

I should point out here that the announcer at Harlingen's stadium is the most non-homer announcer ever,literally. It has been a policy for years to do strict play by play announcing, with no hoo-rah or pump up stuff. He calls the game, and invites you to buy snacks from the band. That's it.

So anyway, in my mind that is the ultimate in classlessness. I have never before seen a team bring their own announcer to an away game. Maybe I am missing something-- is this now common elesewhere?? What say you, is this beyond acceptable support for your team?

[dragons08]

colleyville heritage has horrible fans, they booed our playing of the alma mater

[Reaganrattler07]

Yeah, I like non biased announcers. Just say the plays and thats it. But why did the visiting team bring their own PA system?

[Firebird]

Redskins88

I have no idea why they brought their own PA, other than to play heavy metal and to interrupt the hometown announcer. Like I said, classless. There is bad blood between the teams and towns, but this was ridiculous. I have never seen a visiting team do that before.

[dragons08]

im surprised security let them in

[Reaganrattler07]

Redskins88

I have no idea why they brought their own PA, other than to play heavy metal and to interrupt the hometown announcer. Like I said, classless. There is bad blood between the teams and towns, but this was ridiculous. I have never seen a visiting team do that before.

Hey, your from Harlingen...that's cool. But yeah, I think that is pretty classless. And playing the heavy metal...I've never heard of a visiting team do it. The one "home field" announcer i've heard is the one in Smithson Valley....

[Humblefied]

I don't know if they still do it, but the Woodlands used to bring extra PA's for their home so maybe they do it for their home and use those home ones for away too.

Anyway I agree, it was extremly unclassy. It's one thing to bring your band, but its another to bring a PA system to override the opponents. They are hosting their field so show some respect.

[Slim-Rob]

Hey, your from Harlingen...that's cool. But yeah, I think that is pretty classless. And playing the heavy metal...I've never heard of a visiting team do it. The one "home field" announcer i've heard is the one in Smithson Valley....

The funniest announcer I have ever heard was the guy from Copperas Cove. But then again some people said the announcer at La Joya was funny, but I was in Kansas at the time and the internet feed i was listening to kept buffering.

[pshsfan]

I get pretty annoyed when our student section chants BULLS**T! I mean yea it was a bad call, but come on. Everyone makes mistakes, including refs. It spawned from the Plano vs Plano West game last year. Lot's of rain delays and cold led to a very cranky crowd. When a terrible call was made BULLS**T got chanted fairly loudly. Since then some people start it up at nearly every game. Anybody who has dealt with that can trust that it isn't representative of the PSHS student fan section as a whole.

[cougardude]

Yeah, I like non biased announcers. Just say the plays and thats it. But why did the visiting team bring their own PA system?

I was wondering the same thing about the visiting team PA system. :rolleyes:

[zippy]

San Benito brought that PA to the playoff game against SV last year. I did not see, or talk to any fans from there, but they did have that thing playing very loud before the game. However during the game, I do not remember hearing it. It could be that it was a playoff game, or it could be that their game was over in the first quarter.. I dont know. They did pack the house however. IMO, I dont think a visiting team should be doing this, but I dont think the home team should either.. Im that type of person. Just play some football.

[AllenEagle06]

I remember a few years ago when our band was standing on the sideline getting ready to perform their halftime show, PESH's student body was throwing things at them. One guy nearly got hit by some kind of sharp object. I was one unhappy freshman. :mad:

[zippy]

SV brings one, but it faces SV fans. They do not play music from it either. The cheerleaders use it to amp. their cheers. You cant hear it on the other side of the field.


I don't know if they still do it, but the Woodlands used to bring extra PA's for their home so maybe they do it for their home and use those home ones for away too.

Anyway I agree, it was extremly unclassy. It's one thing to bring your band, but its another to bring a PA system to override the opponents. They are hosting their field so show some respect.

[Tut]

Last year some "fans" booed katy's choir singing the national anthem. (I won't name the school because it was a small part of the student section.)

Security at Harlingen must be pretty lax to allow the speaker throughout the game. It should have been gone after the initial interruption. :eek:

[zippy]

your HS has hockey? ;)

I remember a few years ago when our band was standing on the sideline getting ready to perform their halftime show, PESH's student body was throwing things at them. One guy nearly got hit by some kind of sharp object. I was one unhappy freshman. :mad:

[dragons08]

your HS has hockey? ;)
most schools have it dont they? i know carroll does

[zippy]

Carroll has everything possible, but no, most dont have it. Do they play in the Stars rink?

most schools have it dont they? i know carroll does

[AllenEagle06]

your HS has hockey? ;)
Yes, as you all may know, our band can easily perform ice. ;)

[planocat05]

I get pretty annoyed when our student section chants BULLS**T! I mean yea it was a bad call, but come on. Everyone makes mistakes, including refs. It spawned from the Plano vs Plano West game last year. Lot's of rain delays and cold led to a very cranky crowd. When a terrible call was made BULLS**T got chanted fairly loudly. Since then some people start it up at nearly every game. Anybody who has dealt with that can trust that it isn't representative of the PSHS student fan section as a whole.

yea they started to chant brock mansion sucks and he wasnt even playing in the game.

lets face it tho every school has classless fans even PLano and it might be classes for me to say that another team is classless but any team who plays Allen knows it not really the fans that are classless but the darn band. The band is huge and its purpose is to inturupt the opposing teams huddle making it impossible to hear. classless or clever? i dunno but its really annoying.

[pshsfan]

yea they started to chant brock mansion sucks and he wasnt even playing in the game.


I've been in the student section for every game and I have never once heard Brock Mansion sucks. I have heard PUT BROCK IN! chanted plenty of times though.

[AllenEagle06]

yea they started to chant brock mansion sucks and he wasnt even playing in the game.

lets face it tho every school has classless fans even PLano and it might be classes for me to say that another team is classless but any team who plays Allen knows it not really the fans that are classless but the darn band. The band is huge and its purpose is to inturupt the opposing teams huddle making it impossible to hear. classless or clever? i dunno but its really annoying.
The directors do it on purpose mainly to try and cause fumbles or falsestarts. It works sometimes so you can file that under the 'clever' category. ;)

[GoOwls]

Carroll has everything possible, but no, most dont have it. Do they play in the Stars rink?

Since the Stars moved here, there has been a rising interest in Hockey. One the Stars Center got built and a few other rinks, the teams started. Last time I checked there was about 20-25 cities around the metroplex that fielded teams in a league that was loosely related to the school or school district, but not so as to fall under the jurisdiction of the UIL. I remember that at first, Garland and Mesquite fielded a team together, but now each city has it's own team. There are even a couple of girl goalies!!!

[GTown02]

Since the Stars moved here, there has been a rising interest in Hockey. One the Stars Center got built and a few other rinks, the teams started. Last time I checked there was about 20-25 cities around the metroplex that fielded teams in a league that was loosely related to the school or school district, but not so as to fall under the jurisdiction of the UIL. I remember that at first, Garland and Mesquite fielded a team together, but now each city has it's own team. There are even a couple of girl goalies!!!Isnt the Garland team called the Garland Flames or something similar? One of my friends in HS played for them...

[CyFallsMom]

I guess that is why Cypress Fairbanks district doesn't allow any noise makers or pa systems to be brought into the game at all. We are all checked and have to go through metal detectors before going into the game. That would annoy the heck out of me. The most biased (but funniest) announcer I have ever heard was the one out in Magnolia...He would get SO excited when they scored but when we scored, he would announce that hot dogs were only $1.00 down at the concession stand - we were very entertained by that guy.

The worst fans I personally had to ever deal with were the Memorial Mustang crowds. I went to Spring Branch years ago and was in the drill team. It was 20 degress at one game and we were on their sideline freezing and waiting to go on the field. The fans on their side started cussing at us and throwing drinks and other items at our hats to knock them off and we had to just stand there and take it and then perform.

[AHS Mustangs]

A few years ago I remember Aldine playing Spring at Thorne Stadium, and the Spring drill team brought a PA system because the band was a marching contest. Of course, the PA system was way louder than the band would have been, but they only played music from the band as I remember. When they scored, they had a tape of the fight song, but they did not go overboard with it. As far as biased announcers, the worst I have been to was when Aldine played Humble in 96 at Turner. It was a close game and everytime they would get a first down or a touchdown, he would yell "Doesn't it feel good to be a Wildcat?" I have said it before, the most unbiased is Bob Allen at Thorne. Many of you know him from the Astrodome as he has a contract to announce there during the playoffs. He gets excited for both teams, even though he taught at Aldine Sr. for many years and his daughter even went there. He is the best I have ever heard.

[Dargason]

any team who plays Allen knows it not really the fans that are classless but the darn band. The band is huge and its purpose is to inturupt the opposing teams huddle making it impossible to hear. classless or clever? i dunno but its really annoying.
Agreed! Fantastic band, but they ought to show a little more class. Just because they are loud enough to disrupt the game doesn't mean they should.

If they keep doing it, maybe someday another school will place a giant PA on the other side of the field pointing directly at the band and crank it up whenever the band starts playing. Wouldn't that be "clever"?

[SLCDad]

The directors do it on purpose mainly to try and cause fumbles or falsestarts. It works sometimes so you can file that under the 'clever' category. ;)No offense to the Allen fans, but their band is very annoying. It's not enjoyable hearing that monster size band playing as obnoxiously as they possibly can. I think a band should be motivational and entertaining; not a distraction or an annoyance.

On the other hand, their half time show is very impressive.

[KTCheer]

"SV brings one, but it faces SV fans. They do not play music from it either. The cheerleaders use it to amp. their cheers. You cant hear it on the other side of the field."

I don't believe that you have ever sat on the other side of the field, because I can tell you from when Katy played SV in San Marcos in 2002, we could definitely hear everything the cheerleaders were yelling on every single chant or cheer. Aren't megaphones normally used by cheerleaders to amp their cheers?

[pack0808]

When Lufkin played at PA Memorial this year the PA announcer basically did play by play and when Memorial did something good he became really loud and excited. Not classless, i just though it was a bit annoying although funny at times.

[Tut]

Agreed! Fantastic band, but they ought to show a little more class. Just because they are loud enough to disrupt the game doesn't mean they should.

If they keep doing it, maybe someday another school will place a giant PA on the other side of the field pointing directly at the band and crank it up whenever the band starts playing. Wouldn't that be "clever"?

PA's and bands are two totally different things. Bands are part of crowd noise while PA's are manufactured. Any good band which is there to support it's team will do it's part. Bands blaring is within UIL rules. (don't know about PA's)

[Fleeman93]

I thought it was against UIL rules to have noise makers. I'm sure it is ok for the cheerleaders or band directors, but I don't think fans are supposed to have any kind of noise makers.

[TxLawDawg]

Hey, your from Harlingen...that's cool. But yeah, I think that is pretty classless. And playing the heavy metal...I've never heard of a visiting team do it. The one "home field" announcer i've heard is the one in Smithson Valley....


What do you mean by your statement that SV has the only "home field" announcer that you've heard? I'm not knocking your statement, I just don't understand what you mean by "home field"?

[JC73]

Hey, your from Harlingen...that's cool. But yeah, I think that is pretty classless. And playing the heavy metal...I've never heard of a visiting team do it. The one "home field" announcer i've heard is the one in Smithson Valley....

I'm sure he was just aweful and classless, like everything and everyone else at SV, Right? ;)

[JC73]

What do you mean by your statement that SV has the only "home field" announcer that you've heard? I'm not knocking your statement, I just don't understand what you mean by "home field"?

He simply hates SV and will take a jab at them any chance he gets.

[SLCDad]

What do you mean by your statement that SV has the only "home field" announcer that you've heard? I'm not knocking your statement, I just don't understand what you mean by "home field"?Virtually all of the announcers in pro sports are huge supporters of the home team. Not quite as much at the HS school level. The Fossil Ridge announcer is a huge homer.

[reed35]

if you watch any game at Clark field in Plano, you will know who is at QB. Every play starts with " at qb is " or "qb'ing is ". very annoying.

Band noise is part of football. UIL says it must be song, not just noise.
Good teams play through it.

[PESHfan]

I remember a few years ago when our band was standing on the sideline getting ready to perform their halftime show, PESH's student body was throwing things at them. One guy nearly got hit by some kind of sharp object. I was one unhappy freshman. :mad:

There's no excuse for bad behavior from any fans, but you obviously know that Plano East and Allen are huge rivals. Your band and fans have also been known to throw things at the band kids from Plano East. Were you at the game last year? Remember the Allen student who jumped onto the field and ran the full 100 + yards through the middle of the Plano East half-time performance? We actually gave the police a standing ovation and applause when the student was finally removed from the game. To the credit of the Allen administrators, that student was brought over to Plano East and made to personally apologize for what he had done. Your football players also need to stay off the field while their opponent's band and drill team are performing. Two years ago your football players came out to the 30 yard line to practice before half-time was over. They were only about 10 yards away from the drill team, and had no business being past the endzone. Everyone on the East side kept yelling "Get off the field" to them.

Allen, by far, has the worst crowds at any game. Sorry, but that's the same opinion of many other schools, and not just Plano East.

:o

[PESHfan]

The directors do it on purpose mainly to try and cause fumbles or falsestarts. It works sometimes so you can file that under the 'clever' category. ;)

Is that because the Band Director doesn't think the football team and coach can win without his annoying behavior? I sure hope they get a sideline warning tomorrow if they pull that with East again.

:cool:

[Oiler99]

THis may b about classless fans but tonite we played alvin and they were the most classless team i have ever played. I was kickin and jus goin back to get my tee and a guy hits me from behind and then the next kick he follows me all the way across the field talkin trash and beggin me to turn around. The were sayin racial slurs and hittin late every down but we let the score do the talkin 56-0 at end of the 3rd and they ran the 4th strait through no stoppin and they had the nerve to call a 3 timeouts at the end

[SFAlobo]

Carter fans can be pretty rough...a couple of years ago we got into arguments with them because Longview brought so many fans that we had to sit on their side.(I guess they had reason to be, they were getting an early exit as usual.), but pretty pointless to me.

[wide-e-wide]

THis may b about classless fans but tonite we played alvin and they were the most classless team i have ever played. I was kickin and jus goin back to get my tee and a guy hits me from behind and then the next kick he follows me all the way across the field talkin trash and beggin me to turn around. The were sayin racial slurs and hittin late every down but we let the score do the talkin 56-0 at end of the 3rd and they ran the 4th strait through no stoppin and they had the nerve to call a 3 timeouts at the end

Dude sounds like quite a punk.
Of all the people on the field...he wants to pick on the kicker?
That's pitiful.

[AllenEagle06]

There's no excuse for bad behavior from any fans, but you obviously know that Plano East and Allen are huge rivals. Your band and fans have also been known to throw things at the band kids from Plano East. Were you at the game last year? Remember the Allen student who jumped onto the field and ran the full 100 + yards through the middle of the Plano East half-time performance? We actually gave the police a standing ovation and applause when the student was finally removed from the game. To the credit of the Allen administrators, that student was brought over to Plano East and made to personally apologize for what he had done. Your football players also need to stay off the field while their opponent's band and drill team are performing. Two years ago your football players came out to the 30 yard line to practice before half-time was over. They were only about 10 yards away from the drill team, and had no business being past the endzone. Everyone on the East side kept yelling "Get off the field" to them.

Allen, by far, has the worst crowds at any game. Sorry, but that's the same opinion of many other schools, and not just Plano East.

:o
Oh yeah! I almost forgot about that. He he... I guess every team may have one or two fans who do some crazy shtuff. Then again, you never know what to expect at an Allen/PESH game...

[sendero]

Hey, your from Harlingen...that's cool. But yeah, I think that is pretty classless. And playing the heavy metal...I've never heard of a visiting team do it. The one "home field" announcer i've heard is the one in Smithson Valley....

San Benito brought the same setup in the Alamodome last year. It was so loud you could hardly talk to each other across the field.

You will hear a "home field" announcer tonight at Judson especially when Jose Mendoza gets a carry. Sounds like he is announcing a fighter in the ring :)

[odessapermian.com]

Speaking of announcers, we played at Carrollton (Stanridge Stadium?) a few years back, and every time we were on offense, and coming up to the line, the announcer would start giving scores of area games. Imagine an announcer reading numbers over a loud PA while you're trying to check off at the line of scrimmage. And it wasn't subtle at all- he would read off a list of area game scores, and then 2-3 plays later (assuming we were driving down the field) he would read the same scores again. Too obvious. I've never seen anything like it before or since. Oh well, we won anyway. :D





.

[Favpack]

Redskins88

I have no idea why they brought their own PA, other than to play heavy metal and to interrupt the hometown announcer. Like I said, classless. There is bad blood between the teams and towns, but this was ridiculous. I have never seen a visiting team do that before.
That's a security issue FB - the admin. should tell them to leave that noisebox home next time around.

[PESHfan]

No offense to the Allen fans, but their band is very annoying. It's not enjoyable hearing that monster size band playing as obnoxiously as they possibly can. I think a band should be motivational and entertaining; not a distraction or an annoyance.

On the other hand, their half time show is very impressive.


No kidding. A blind (and even deaf) person would know which team has the ball when they are at an Allen game. The band sits there and does absolutely NOTHING when their team has the ball. The minute the other team gets the ball they pounce into ear-drum busting LOUD music. After three hours of this, I don't even want to have the radio playing on the way home. Somehow they feel that louder makes them better.

Warning to the people from Cedar Hill! Bring ear plugs to your game on Thursday. YOU CAN'T EVEN HEAR YOURSELF THINK WHEN THAT BAND PLAYS!

[dragons08]

No kidding. A blind (and even deaf) person would know which team has the ball when they are at an Allen game. The band sits there and does absolutely NOTHING when their team has the ball. The minute the other team gets the ball they pounce into ear-drum busting LOUD music. After three hours of this, I don't even want to have the radio playing on the way home. Somehow they feel that louder makes them better.

Warning to the people from Cedar Hill! Bring ear plugs to your game on Thursday. YOU CAN'T EVEN HEAR YOURSELF THINK WHEN THAT BAND PLAYS!
660 this year, i was talking to an allen band mom, she told me, 660 marching, and they dont have freshman out there! thats fricon insane!

[CLFalcon2006]

THis may b about classless fans but tonite we played alvin and they were the most classless team i have ever played. I was kickin and jus goin back to get my tee and a guy hits me from behind and then the next kick he follows me all the way across the field talkin trash and beggin me to turn around. The were sayin racial slurs and hittin late every down but we let the score do the talkin 56-0 at end of the 3rd and they ran the 4th strait through no stoppin and they had the nerve to call a 3 timeouts at the end

Me and my friend almost got into a fight after the Lake-Alvin game when a bunch of Alvin fans surrounded us and started trash talking. Mind you this was at Lake and we were just walking to my car when 8 of them gathered around me my friend and my freshman sister. Luckily a guy threatened to call the police so nothing happened. Theres an example of a classless fan if you want one.

As for the SV cheerleaders amp thing, we definetley heard them on the Lake side during the semifinal game last year.

The worst homefield announcer I've ever heard was during this weeks Bellaire-Clear Lake Volleyball playoff game. He would break out his "Monster truck rally, were better than you, voice" and say things like "RRRRRRachel last name with the Kill. Point BEELLLLLaire, I bet lake didnt see that coming!" then when we beat them he responded with "Clear Lake wins the game, BUT congragulations Bellaire girls on a great season, dadada, Bellaire stuff, Bellaire stuff, dadada, goes on for at least 5 minutes, nothing about Lake even though more than half the crowd is from Lake, and we must ask that everyone vacate the premises".

Worst football announcer is in Alvin, says nothing about the other team the whole night and does that same AAAAAALLLLLvin thing like the Bellaire guy i talked about above.

[PESHfan]

660 this year, i was talking to an allen band mom, she told me, 660 marching, and they dont have freshman out there! thats fricon insane!

Not that it makes a HUGE difference, but they include their 75 Drill Team members when they give you their "Escadrille" number.

I've been to several Marching Festivals over the years for my kids. Once a band gets much larger than 300-350, there are too many people on the field to have a truly impressive program. While the sheer size of their band is impressive, that's about it. Color Guard had great difficulty staying together when we saw them.

The volume will blow out your ear drums too.

[rancher52]

I actually enjoy "home-field" announcers as it should be part of the home field advantage. As for competing PA systems, I think the UIL may have something to say about that.... I know they have certain requirements and statements that have to be made so I would think they regulate that to some extent.

[AllenEagle06]

660 this year, i was talking to an allen band mom, she told me, 660 marching, and they dont have freshman out there! thats fricon insane!
I'm not sure who's mom you were talking to but the band does include freshman. And yes, the color guard and drill team do put it over 600.

[KTHoC]

That should have been confronted by the Harlingen security and stopped. Those are not fans, they are trouble makers. The fans need to set a good example to the kids and not act disrespectful to their opponents, home or away!

[zippy]

Wow, thats odd. I have sat in the press box with the window open before, and I never heard it. These were at places with one press box on the home side (visitors) I have also been toward the endzones and never hear it. Sometimes they have it up WAY too loud, but turn it down when they figure it out.


"SV brings one, but it faces SV fans. They do not play music from it either. The cheerleaders use it to amp. their cheers. You cant hear it on the other side of the field."

I don't believe that you have ever sat on the other side of the field, because I can tell you from when Katy played SV in San Marcos in 2002, we could definitely hear everything the cheerleaders were yelling on every single chant or cheer. Aren't megaphones normally used by cheerleaders to amp their cheers?