Fans Carrying Things Too Far

From the San Diego Union newspaper

January 9, 2008

Funny is this: West Virginia U. students torching couches on their front porches after a big football win.

Funny isn't this: Relatives of Rich Rodriguez have been harassed and threatened in the three weeks since his resignation as Mountaineers football coach, according to the new Michigan coach's relatives.

His mother, Arleen Rodriguez, told the Charleston Daily Mail her teenage grandson received a death threat and found other harassing notes taped to his locker at East Fairmont High. She said her 12-year-old granddaughter had to be escorted to classes.
Mountaineers fans furious about Rodriguez's Dec. 16 decision to bolt for Ann Arbor also vandalized his home near Morgantown, hanging signs on a fence and tossing a mailbox in the yard.

“He put seven years into WVU and now everybody thinks he's garbage,” his mother said. “Think like a parent. That's all I can say. Think about it. Think about what you're doing.”

The backlash has been cyber-nasty, too. On the Facebook social networking site, dozens of groups with profanity-laced names have formed, devoted to wishing ill for Rodriguez and his family.

You may recall that last month, WVU kicker Pat McAfee received angry text messages and had his car vandalized after missing two field goals in the team's 13-9 loss to arch-rival Pitt. The loss knocked WVU out of national championship contention.

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Come on people, get real. Harrasing a 12 year old and a teenager because their dad decides to take a job in another state. Vandalizing someone's car because he misses a couple of field goals. Get a life. There are so many more important things to get emotional about than sports. I talked about it in one of my earlier posts. What is it about sports that brings out the idiot in people? It's a game, it's not life. Relax.