Ludicrous Fan Behavior

[Eleven]

So this story just came to mind:

My father is a salesman, and, as such, spent many, many long evenings entertaining customers in the suites at the Aud (and later at the Arena).  (For those who have never had to entertain people in a suite:  It's work.  Hard work.  Not fun.)  The owners of the company he worked for are very wealthy Buffalo businessmen. You would recognize the family name in an instant.  So of course their sons (in their 20s) were a little on the rich brat side.  They used to take single dollar bills and float them down into the oranges just to watch the plebeians fight over them.  My father told me about this as an example of how not to behave in life.

Any other fun/interesting/disturbing stories out there?

[ubkev]

As I walked to my seats at the Ralph on a frigid, scratch that, freezing cold October night in 2009. I looked up and saw my seat. Not many people around yet, just me, my buddy and about 50 others smattered about the place. Just as I started walking up the bleachers to my seat I spotted a young couple, all bundled up sitting 3 rows directly behind my seat. He was holding her snugly, protecting her from the wind and the cold. Just as I took a step up, she leaned slightly forward and proceeded to vomit all over herself and the bench in front of her. 

The Bills lost that day. Cleveland 6 - Buffalo 3. Derek Anderson went 2-17 for 23 yards for the Browns. I have never returned.

[Weave]

Bruins - Sabres playoffs, 87-88 season.  Game 3.  Sitting with my GF (now wife) in the oranges.  Corner seats.  The Bruins up 2 games to 0.  Huge number of Bruins fans in the Aud and the atmosphere is CHARGED.

There were a number of fights in the stands that game.  During the 2nd intermission my GF had to use a restroom.  I walked her to the nearest restroom and waited for her in the alcove.  A fight between 10 or so Bruins and Sabres fans started up right outside of the alcove for the ladies room.  My GF opened the door of the restroom to leave and I slammed it shut on her.  There was a full on donneybrook going on just outside.  When security showed up and everyone dispersed i opened the restroom door.  Glad I didn't get swung at.  I was young and dumb and would have ended up in the middle of that mess.

There was a middle aged dad with his young son sitting a few rows below us.  Kid was maybe 10-12.  There was a group fo Bruins fans behind them and they were raucous all game.  By the start of the 3rd these guys were hammered and getting very loud and obscene.  Dad tried to get them to stop swearing and one of the Bruins fans kicked him in the head.  Everyone around them yelled for an usher and pointed out the kicker.  He was escorted out by security, but at some point must have broken free because a few minutes later we saw him on one of the platforms in the reds where the cameraman sits and he was doing his best Rocky imitation.  Security got him again and we never saw him again.

Nastiest game I've ever attended.  Fights in the stands every period.  It was a crazy scene.

[Neo]

1 hour ago, Eleven said:

So this story just came to mind:

My father is a salesman, and, as such, spent many, many long evenings entertaining customers in the suites at the Aud (and later at the Arena).  (For those who have never had to entertain people in a suite:  It's work.  Hard work.  Not fun.)  The owners of the company he worked for are very wealthy Buffalo businessmen. You would recognize the family name in an instant.  So of course their sons (in their 20s) were a little on the rich brat side.  They used to take single dollar bills and float them down into the oranges just to watch the plebeians fight over them.  My father told me about this as an example of how not to behave in life.

Any other fun/interesting/disturbing stories out there?

Twenty five years ago, or so, I was in a suite, in the Aud, entertaining clients at a Sabres game.  I’m a salesman, and entertaining is hard work.

My clients began floating single dollar bills into the crowd ...  watching people jump and grab them.  I asked them to stop, balancing career and propriety.  They laughed at me.

This is a true story. End zone, behind the goal.  Security came.

I am Eleven’s father.

 

 

Edited October 27, 2018 by Neo

[pi2000]

Got barfed on at Rich Stadium when I was 10, Cowboy game with my Dad.  Like full on all down the side of me. I want to say Gregg Bell broke a 90yard TD run and the Bills won.  They were 2-14 that year I think.

[bobs0108]

I was at a Sabres vs Toronto playoff in 313 late 90’s with my father (he took me to all playoff games and the finals games during the Hasek years at the HSBC).

We were killing them and I think it was a game 4 sweep. Their were a bunch of fights all over the arena and the security was starting to kick out the Toronto fans for whatever they could to keep it under control. 

The one Toronto fans behind us started getting rowdy so security  went up to get him and the group he was with so nothing would happen. The one guy went to run and a Sabres fan grabbed him so security could get him. The Toronto fan took a swing and all hell broke loose. The Toronto guy got smashed and a guy went up 10 rows to beat the shite out of him I still remember how the punch sounded like when he hit him. 

The security kicked out the Toronto fans and the guy that went up 10 rows. The other 5-6 Sabres fans that hit the guy got to stay. 

Is it bad that I kinda miss that kinda of stuff and that to me was the best rivalry. 

[Sabel79]

The Ralph, 1997.  Bulls-Pats.  Pats won 1000-3 as I recall.  In front of us a dude in all Pats gear, waving a Pats flag, would pull down his pants and dance around in his Pats boxers whenever they scored.  

;th quarter, the natives behind us had had enough, the pelting with whatever they could throw begins.  Predictably, girl having nothing to do with any of this gets crushed in the back of the head with a full beer can.  Pats fans scurry off, upper and lower lever Bills fans commence brawl.  Everybody is awful.  

[Taro T]

'82 home/season opener in Rich vs the Fish way up in the nosebleeds.  Only 2 years after the streak had finally ended & Fishies were on their way to their 4th straight over the Bills since that September '80 season opener.  And this was the beginning of the Kaye Stephenson era, so they weren't just losing, they were getting shut out.  And the natives were getting restless.

A Fish fan from over the west side of the Niagara was cheering a bit too boisterously for those around him.  He'd been wearing an orange & white hat w/ the aquatic mammal trying to prevent brain injuries as it leaps through orange hoops (yeah, it isn't jumping through a hoop, that's supposed to be the sun, shut up, we don't care ;)) on the front.  Since the game was NOT entertaining to the locals, they decided to play a game of keep away instead.  And what better to play with than an ugly orange hat with a short bus riding porpoise trying to jump through a hoop on it?

So, a few guys grab his hat and he starts jumping around to try to grab it, unsuccessfully.  He can't really get too far at first as he's stuck in his row.  "Hey, that hat cost me 2 dollars!"  "Sure buddy, but that's Monopoly money & only a buck 50 in real money."

 

This went on for about 5 minutes, with the drunks' new Canadian friend getting more & more agitated & now moved to an aisle trying to chase the hat up & down & back up the upper bleachers.  The hat finally makes it to the top row (where our seats were) and the guy who had the hat at the time flipped it over the top just before the Fishie fan could get there.  

"Oh, so close.  JUST missed the garbage can."  He and his buddies yelled down to the disgusted fans filing out of the stadium early & asked them to "put the hat where it belongs, in the trash!"  And somebody did pitch it.

This ticked the hat owner off more & a shoving match started with him getting the worse of it as it moved to punches.  Security came up.  Asked what happened, and everybody said the Canadian started it.  He starts shouting about his hat & how this wasn't right/fair.  The lead security guard tells him to come with them for his own safety.  He doesn't want to go, so 2 guards each grab an arm & start escorting him down the stairs.  At least 4 times he got punched in the back of the head, one of which caused him to stumble.  Security's reaction was to yell at the guy "what, are you drunk?!"

Did not see him again after that.  No idea where they relocated him to nor whether he got his cap back from the trash can.

Winner?

Edited October 27, 2018 by Taro T

[LTS]

After freezing my arse off tailgating for a Bills game I was standing in the corral waiting to be herded through the gates to the impending Bills slaughter when some fool decides that he wants to do his best hail mary attempt on the dumpster that is full of glass bottles.  From somewhere waaaaay downtown a bottle comes screaming in and crashes perfectly into the dumpster full of beer bottles.

Well, quite predictably, a dumpster full of glass being impacted at high speed by more glass will probably end up causing some damage.  Lucky for me that it hit the side of my head only 1/4 inch behind my right eye... I mean, I got to pull a piece of glass out of my head and get it "fixed" at the stadium medical center so I had that going for me.

It was pretty much at that point in life I stopped paying attention to the team or its "die-hard" mafia. 

I don't remember what year it was.. perhaps around 12-15 years ago. I've turned down free tickets to attend games since then. No thank you.  I went to one game since then and it was "required" as a "business" trip.  I hated every moment of it and soon thereafter found myself a new job for that and many other reasons.

 

[Sabres Fan in NS]

2 hours ago, ubkev said:

As I walked to my seats at the Ralph on a frigid, scratch that, freezing cold October night in 2009. I looked up and saw my seat. Not many people around yet, just me, my buddy and about 50 others smattered about the place. Just as I started walking up the bleachers to my seat I spotted a young couple, all bundled up sitting 3 rows directly behind my seat. He was holding her snugly, protecting her from the wind and the cold. Just as I took a step up, she leaned slightly forward and proceeded to vomit all over herself and the bench in front of her. 

The Bills lost that day. Cleveland 6 - Buffalo 3. Derek Anderson went 2-17 for 23 yards for the Browns. I have never returned.

Barfing was not really what I expected here.  Nope.

[Scottysabres]

3 hours ago, Eleven said:

So this story just came to mind:

My father is a salesman, and, as such, spent many, many long evenings entertaining customers in the suites at the Aud (and later at the Arena).  (For those who have never had to entertain people in a suite:  It's work.  Hard work.  Not fun.)  The owners of the company he worked for are very wealthy Buffalo businessmen. You would recognize the family name in an instant.  So of course their sons (in their 20s) were a little on the rich brat side.  They used to take single dollar bills and float them down into the oranges just to watch the plebeians fight over them.  My father told me about this as an example of how not to behave in life.

Any other fun/interesting/disturbing stories out there?

Can't say I have any real life stories...….HOWEVER...…...

During that 1.6 billion dollar lottery draw, I "DREAMED" of winning, getting all of us a corporate box, and pissing off the box deck on Leafs fans below during Sabres/Leafs home games below us.....

Does that count?

[Sabres Fan in NS]

I'll have to think a bit about the worst things that I have done.  I'll get back to you.

Edited October 27, 2018 by N S

[Andrew Amerk]

1. The 2006 Playoffs. Game 6 against the Canes. Briere scores on the PP in OT to tie up the series. Nail biter of a game. If Canes scored instead, series would’ve been over. Sabres fans are in one of those drunk/happy/rowdy moods. Walking through the crowded hallway to leave, you can hear an altercation happening inside one of the bathrooms, and people are trying to herd to see what is going on. This poor guy in a Canes jersey is on the floor getting kicked and peed on by multiple Sabres fans. Not only did his team just lose, but had to have that happen to him. 

2. March 2011. I plan a road trip with my gf at the time to visit some of the major cities east of us, one of which included a Sabres game in Boston. Yes, we went to the game in full Sabres gear. Right from the moment we sat down for warmups, the guy sitting behind us is heckling. I smiled and nodded and tried going about my own business. As the game progresses, he is getting drunker and begins a constant barrage of your garden (get it?) variety of cuss words. IIRC, there were a handful of fights on the ice (I want to say McCormick in a couple, maybe Grier in one, and forget who else) - which is only amplifying this dudes dickish behavior. Sabres win in OT on a Boyes goal, at which point the dude decides to spit a fresh hot loogie onto the back of my neck. My GF gives me the “please don’t” look, but it’s too late. I stand up and feed him a knuckle sandwich that knocks him into the seats behind him. Next thing I know I’m getting swarmed by Bruins fans and security drags me away to answer some questions. I explain I’m from out of town and what happened, gf co-signs the story, and they escort me out. My Hasek jersey sustained a few rips and tears and had to be retired.

3. Bills game, maybe 3 years ago? Think they were playing the Bucs. They gave away some sort of posters at the game that people didn’t seem to care about, as many of them ended up being tossed around as oversized paper airplanes. IIRC, some made it onto the field during the game. During warmups, an elderly lady maybe 10 rows down from us gets clocked in the back of the head. She turns around laughing about it, hoping to spot the culprit. She then gingerly tosses the airplane along, just as everyone else is doing - security sees this and “detains” her. I’m not sure what they did with her, but I never saw her return to those seats. Anytime that guard showed his face for the rest of the game, he was met with very loud booing. 

Edited October 27, 2018 by Andrew Amerk

[IKnowPhysics]

At the December Ralph game, dude in front of me straight up pissed his snow pants, turned around and apologized for pissing his snow pants, and continued watching the game.

[North Buffalo]

When I was 17 went to a Bills game with my Dad, 3-4 drunk Jerks front row upper bowl start spraying lower bowl including us with beer.  Lotta Dads with kids in our section.  One Dad took exception went up asked them to quit. Lady spit on him... he slapped her back, one of the jerks tried to punch him He grabbed the guys head over the rail standing below and just wailed on him.  Security came and everyone pointed at the 4 drunks... The father snuck off in the confusion and waited for security to clear.  Came back to his seat and everyone in our section gave him a standing ovation.

Edited October 28, 2018 by North Buffalo

[Rox11]

Massachusetts born & raised, Sabres fan all my life. 2001-02 my friend bought us tickets for Sabres vs. Bruins, $95 excellent seats. Turned out to be 'Family Day' at the game, a couple and their two youngsters sitting right in front of us. I had a Sabre sweatshirt on, small logo. 2 guys sit down right next to us, each holding 2 beers. Buffalo comes out on the ice, I stand up and cheer/clap. The guy on the other side of my friend leans over her, glares at me, and asks what I am doing. I basically said 'cheering for my team'. I was told, 'you're in BOSTON!' as he almost spilled his beer. The Mom (?) in front of me was stunned. Buffalo was down 3-2 after 2 and we left.  I'll never go to another game in Boston again and it's just 1& 15mins away.

 

 

[North Buffalo]

Lol in Bastan fans are something else... only place in the US the dominate gene is drunk redheaded irishmen.  Been to one game at Garden back when Drury and Briere were there and one at Foxboro...  only time I thought maybe redheaded irish were a cult... No bad experiences though..

[Eleven]

1 minute ago, North Buffalo said:

Lol in Bastan fans are something else... only place in the US the dominate gene is drunk redheaded irishmen.  Been to one game at Garden back when Drury and Briere were there and one at Foxboro...  only time I thought maybe redheaded irish were a cult... No bad experiences though..

Drunk redheaded Americans who think they're Irish...

[North Buffalo]

I will say idiot a couple of seats down put his beer on top of boards, we got front row seats because Bruins were bad that year and Hank got checked into boards keeping puck in right in front of us.  Needless to say his beer went all over him.

Edited October 28, 2018 by North Buffalo

[spndnchz]

Good God where do I start? Toronto arena?

[R_Dudley]

Bills football game tailgate. Been coming home for 1 game a year for last 20+. We were playing the NYJ in a  Oct. game, like 15 yrs ago, and we always tailgated in one of the old farm lots off California Rd. when we were allowed to cross the creek and come up the back side of the stadium lot. Crappy Bflo fall day when a sudden snow/sleet front comes in.

Always stayed after the game to wait for traffic to quiet down and continued to tailgate. Boys will be boys drunk, playing touch football, turns into push football and with alcohol eventually tackle. A lot of people did fires in that lot when crappy and cold and the lot was pretty thinned out.  I just caught a long pass and was showboating what was touchdown when one of my nephews tackles me into what was some left over fire covered in a bit of snow but still a lot of hot coals going underneath. 

I get up and spike the ball talking trash and a couple of the other guys around yell your on fire while I'm acting like TO..  My buds proceeded to tackle me again and roll me on the ground while I peel off my outer jacket.

Thank god for layers...so the bills lost and I lost a jacket, a couple months later a box comes in the mail, a friend memorialized  a piece of my burnt jacket in a plaque from that game day, Coals 1, me 0.       

[Weave]

Anyone else remember the guy that was hit in the head with a thrown beer bottle in one of the Rich Stadium parking lots?  I think it was maybe 25 years ago.  Black couple walking through the lot post-game and someone sailed a beer bottle at him and hit him in the head.  He managed to get home but died shortly after getting home from a hemorrhage presumably from that beer bottle.  Was all over the local news at the time.

Noone ever came forward and noone was ever questioned about the incident.  That incident soured me on the tailgating scene at the stadium forever.

Edited October 28, 2018 by Weave

[North Buffalo]

I was at a game years ago when Broncos Linebacker Randy Gradishar was hit in the head with an ice ball from about 25 rows up. TG he had his helmet on but still stunned him.  Security came and got the guy. We were about 40 rows up.  Scary. 

PS Bunch of Canadians drunk weaving and cutting folks off post game. friend who took me called cops.  Saw them pulled over shortly thereafter.  

[Sabres Fan in NS]

Hey Duds,

There is a blank in there somewhere thanks to the new and improved (?) filter system.  I will use my imagination ...

[SDS]

8 minutes ago, N S said:

Hey Duds,

There is a blank in there somewhere thanks to the new and improved (?) filter system.  I will use my imagination ...

No. That has been rectified you ***** *****.