Illinois issues statement on fan behavior

by Alex Bozich in Media | February 8th, 2008

From Illinois Director of Athletics Ron Guenther and Basketball Coach Bruce Weber:

Champaign, Ill. – “There was a great college basketball game played Thursday night between the University of Illinois and Indiana University, but the game has been somewhat diminished by inappropriate behavior by a number of fans in attendance. We value the enthusiastic support of the sellout crowds at the Assembly Hall, but above all we take very seriously the reputation of our basketball program and the University of Illinois. The profanity and behavior by a small segment of fans Thursday night is disappointing and intolerable, and for that we apologize to fans of both teams.”

Apparently Guenther and Weber find Chester Frazier’s behavior before the game to be appropriate. At least that’s how I interpret things since his pregame antics were not addressed in this statement. An apology after the fact is pretty much meaningless. The probability for this type of behavior was almost certain and warnings should have been issued to the Illinois fans and players before the game took place.

The reality is that Bruce Weber has lost credibility for his handling of the entire Gordon situation. He’s basically turned into a laughing stock. His team is horrible. He’s one of the biggest whiners in coaching. And worst of all, he makes some of the ugliest facial expressions known to man.

If you enjoy reading the mainstream media hammer Illinois, here are some recommended links:

A sad, classless scene in Champaign (Jay Mariotti, Chicago Sun Times)
Illini seethe hatred toward Eric Gordon (Pat Forde, ESPN)
Gordon takes Illini fans’ abuse, then delivers (Jeff Goodman, Fox Sports)
Illini fans angry at Hoosiers’ Gordon cross line (Gregg Doyel, CBS Sportsline)

Tags: Beating Illinois is fun, Illinois Illini

tacojohn

I'm perfectly happy and it's more than I expected. It's entirely consistent with the apology they got from Sampson regarding Gordon (something to the effect of admitting he should have called Webber). IU took some steps after the UConn chants to clean things up, I say be thankful they're at least that aware of what the world thinks of them, and wait to see if they do something more before condemning them.

baldylox

Any apology that stops short of publicly disciplining Chester Frazier and Bruce Weber is an insult and obviously insincere. The officials at the game should be disciplined as well for letting it go on. This should have been nipped in the bud in the first minute of the game. Anybody watching could tell it was not going to end well.

I can't think of another Big 10 coach who would have let the fan's behavior escalate to the point that it did last night. Any other coach would have been on the PA warning the fans. Izzo, Lickliter, Matta, Tubby, even Sampson. But Noooooo - Whiny Bruce all but encouraged it. Should he not be - at the very least - suspended for his role in this? And the fact that Frasier or the crowd was never Teed up - or even warned - makes me question the professionalism of the officials.

Apology not accepted. No go back your your little fit, Whining Illini. You're a national laughingstock today. Your program has lost any respect it ever had.

All this pettiness over some teenage kid that changed his mind over where he was going to college? I've seen the Whining Illini play many times this year. I don't think their record would be much different with or without Gordon.

Props to our Hoosiers for showing some real guts and pulling out a very tough win in an environment that was not just hostile, but downright violent.

Illinois fans, players, and coaches all hang your head in shame. You're an embarrassment to college sports.

tom

i'll take the apology.

i am impressed that gordon takes the high road...the chest bump didn't seem to bother him at all.

frazier is a punk that will see jail time after basketball.

SocksShortsSwish

I really don't like ol' Chester myself, but making assumptions about his legal life post-OrangeandBlue is probably a little classless in itself.

Let's enjoy the high road, because we've earned it.

Alex

Sherron -

Had to remove your comment. We rarely remove comments, but you can't just make off the wall statements whenever you want. Hope you exercise more judgment in the future.

kelin

I sent an email to Illinois AD today voicing my disgust not with the fans or Chester...but my disgust with Bruce Belichik. In a nutshell I said ......to hold a year long grudge against KS and EJ is immature and uncalled for....I gave him a pass last year on not shaking hands with KS or the team but to do it TWICE this year.........what has Taber, Ahfeld, or DJ done to Bruce Belichik to make him do that.......whine about the 3 chi-town kids on IU's team you lost also........

Hoosier_Hound

Bruce Weber from Thursday night:
"We couldn't ask for more from the crowd. They were tremendous.''

Bruce Weber on Friday morning:
"The profanity and behavior by a small segment of fans Thursday night is disappointing and intolerable, and for that we apologize to fans of both teams."

Hmm? Did somebody change their mind, Brucey?

As for my personal take, I simply agree with Gordon, Sr. when he said, "What I expected, (that's) who they are." Seriously, after two years of buildup how can anyone claim shock or surprise at last night's festivities? IU did the same thing to Luke Recker (who really is a traitor) and Sean May (who, like Gordon, is not because you have to actually be on a side to betray it). After all the encounters you and I and others have had with Illini fans, how can anyone claim shock or surprise that they would act like aholes? From their whiney coach to their goon players, their obnoxious fans and their trash-talking sportswriters, Gordon Sr. said it best, that's "Who they are."

Tom

i forgot about the luke recker thing. i really enjoyed watching that guy play.

ALH_00

A stud in HS...absolutely dominating. Looked pretty good as a freshman in the cream and crimson. Hated him after he left us. Never boo'd him though...just loathing. God did Iowa break our hearts with LR.

Tony G

do any hot chicks go to illinois? after watchin the game last night, i think not. there should be some sort of collage of screenshots of all of the busted chicks in the stands. it was purdue-esque

CoveyDale

wait a minute....

girls go to purdue?

xxZPxx

haha nice point...we commented about that too during the game. There was one particular girl who had a nice close up for 3 seconds but it seemed as soon as she realized she was on camera and looked into it, ESPN booted her ass...hilarious

Jay

I'm just wondering what, if anything, the refs and/or Big Ten would have done if EJ, or anyone on Indiana's team, had bumped any Illinois player with the same force and aggression during introductions. Had that happened, and I'm being serious, it may have sparked an all-out riot. The atmosphere was that charged. I really respect Sampson and the entire IU team for holding it together in such a hositle and uncontrolled environment. (Thanks to ITH for letting me give my opinion.)

Jay (again)

I'm editing my own post: I've since read a report from an IU fan who was at the game, and he said the Gordon bump has been overblown, and when it happened it didn't seen to be much of a deal. So I don't know. Others have said it was a big deal, and that a technical should have been called immediately. If anyone can add their opinion, it would be nice. But as for me saying the reverse might have caused a riot, well, that was a bit much. Sorry. I just got caught up in the excitement.

MPmike

You need to watch the SportsCenter Highlights and if you have seen it on TV, It was a close enough shot that you can tell that it was classless. ESPN's Jay Bilas was upset with Chester Frazier's chest bump and his sportsmanship. The bump was just as good as a block in football. Frazier needs to chill out with his thuggish antics or change sports- etc. Hockey, Football, American Gladiators, Ultimate Fighting....

Puck Furdue

the bump is really bad since gordon had no idea it was coming. it took him completely off guard. also, the kid has an injured wrist. it's just something you shouldn't do.

Jay

Thanks MP and PF. I haven't seen it, and appreciate insight from someone who has. Go IU. I also wonder: what if IU fans who traveled to the game treated the Illinois president that way? They would have been thrown out in minutes. So why is it okay to treat a teenager that way? The answer is, it isn't. By the way, I'm a Hoosier, but live in Madison, WI. At our home games, they always announce that certain behavior directed at visiting teams or fans WILL NOT BE TOLERATED and anyone doing such things will be removed immediately, and may lose their season tickets (without getting their money back). Illinois could take a lesson from that. By the way, I've seen fans kicked out, and yes, they were removed immediately. They got no warnings other than the first announcement.

BP

I would say you guys are allowed to hate U of I. They hate you, but let's be serious. The bottom line is that you battled through the rediculousness and won the game. You should be proud of your team. Sampson and EJ did not make a big deal of bump, I don't think you should either. Aside from that, I think this is healthy for Big Ten basketball. We need more rivalries with storylines. I'm not saying to act terribly, but for the most part that crowd was great and the game went to double overtime! Appreciate the win, and move on. Look forward to winning both games next year, and bring a raucous crowd to Assembly to take care of business on the home court.

ronb

What bothers me about their statement is the fact that it was to the "fans of both teams".
What about to EJ,the team,IU coaches and to EJ's Family???? They are not mentioned
because Weber,Guenther and team are not sorry and still blaming Ej,family and coach
Sampson for their bad season. I really hope Weber continues to cry about this. Maybe
he will cry himself into getting fired!!

dabig

I didn't think the bump was that big of a deal; just part of a usual Big Ten game. Bilas had to have something to get hyped up about, and this was it. I did like looking at that cheerleader every time they replayed the bump, though.
Throwing stuff at Gordon's parents is a completely different matter. I don't know if the fans knew they were throwing at Gordon's parents or if they were just throwing at the Indiana fan section. Either way, it shows that Illinois fans are a bunch of pigs. They don't even do stuff like that at Duke.

CoveyDale

i dont think it was a huge deal, but the problem i had with "the bump" was that it wasn't during the game.

from the opening tip to the final buzzer, you can kick, scratch and claw your way (within reason) to a win and i don't have a problem with it. but the pregame introductions as well as the postgame handshakes are about sportsmanship. it is about shaking hands and giving your opponent respect. chester frazier failed to do that, and bruce weber failed to do that postgame. that was not an appropriate time for frazier to "send a mesage."

i dont mind that frazier was fired up, he and every other illini player should've been given the circumstances. but he should have saved the theatrics for the game. what he did lacked class and was disrespectful not only to gordon but to the enitre IU team.

Tom

i agree, to bump during the pregame greeting is bush league. totally uncalled for.

kelin

Slightly off topic or majorly off topic...
I am not going get pissed...YET
PU 42-Wisc 32 at the half.......

younger team, less talent, better coach.....

hoosiersoxfan92

If wisconsin loses than we're screwed because they wont lose 2 in a row and they play indiana monday

hoosiersoxfan92

i mean wednesday

MPmike

Don't underestimate IU at home. Granted IU did recently had their home winning streak snapped by a hot UConn team that has played well enough to win all of their games this year.
Wisconsin is not that good of a team. Purdue just showed it Saturday night. Wisconsin had lousy shooting nights in both the IU and Purdue games. The difference in the outcome was that Purdue shot lights out for the entire game. IU could not hit the side of a barn. Wisconsin's turnovers were high against PU, and they took care of the ball against IU.

IU will beat Wisconsin on Wednesday night. YOU CAN BET ON IT!

kelin

Well........they are about to lose ......in 3-2-1..........
I think IU can beat them at home...I THINK....it just pisses me off that a younger and less talented team can go into there and win and IU barely competes.

At least we beat Illinois

So do we play OSU, Wisconsin, and PU? is that our next 3?

Dale

osu, wisconsin, mich st, then purdue

kelin

Is anyone else slightly pissed about PU going up there and winning and IU struggling or am I overreacting? Please feel free to slam me.....

I got thick skin when I am wrong

screening 2008 "Yes We Should"

Jerry

It seems I almost always agree with you.
We are in trouble again today w matchups in the man defense....not good ....so I look to outscore them.

In order to outscore them we need more scorers playing more minutes ( Crawford, McGee ). In order for more scorers to score Gordon must make guys around him better by dishing off the drive instead of going all the way each and every time

Bassett drove 2 times and netted 5 while Gordon drove more than 8 times and netted only 8 pts against UI

I think we lose today on matchups but that is OK if we see dramatic improvement , then I can feel better about the next games

ray

kelin,

being an iu fan i must say it's hard to root for purdue, but i was excited to watch this game with the hopes of this exact outcome. i wanted to see purdue beat wisconsin. iu only plays purdue once and it's in bloomington. we should be able to win at home against purdue, wisconsin, and michigan state...i'll say it again, we "should".

with purdue defeating wisconsin, that puts two losses on wisconsin. the way i see it, wisconsin and michigan state with two losses is very helpful. we play purdue at home, and with a win against purdue that puts iu ahead of the pack. the troubling question is, can iu beat purdue at home? purdue is full of young talent and seemingly has a very good coach...so i don't think it was a fluke. they play extremely good defense. i think that when purdue comes to play in bloomington we can hopefully count on a less-stellar shooting performance from purdue than what they showed against wisconsin.

with purdue only playing iu once and at bloomington, all iu has to do is protect home court. if iu and purdue end up with the same record, the title belongs to iu outright...that is if indiana can finish strong without losing more than one more time (and iu needs to beat wisconsin and michigan state at home).

if so, michigan state and wisconsin will have three losses.

this means that iu could lose in east lansing and still wear the b10-crown!

sorry to ramble, but this is why i was excited to see purdue knock off wisconsin.

ray

agreed...that was classless. agreed...weber is a laughing stock. agreed...it is obvious that weber and guenther find nothing wrong with how frazier acted.

those who give knight such a hard time should remember this incident. i can almost certainly tell you that knight would have talks of suspension for the inappropriate behavior of "punk a-- b----" frazier, and at the very least would have given him splinters by leaving him on the pine for the remainder (all of) the game.

as far as the fans go, when they mentioned that fans were intimidating gordon's family and fan base by throwing things in their direction, i can again almost certainly tell you that knight would have stopped the game and made a public announcement...it's been done by knight in the past when hoosier fans were out of line.

weber has no handle on this team, and if i were a fan of illinois i would be very displeased with how he handled this situation the other night...or should i say how he didn't handle the situation. from what i witnessed during the postgame coaches' hand shake i would say that weber was out of line in a manner i'm used to seeing from a (no need to name names) NFL coach in New England.

johncliff

This article is an operational continuation of a theoretical model to investigate organizational publics. A test of the model was conducted as proprietary research in an actual public relations campaign. Major aspects of the model were supported; however, refinements were indicated. Application of the model resulted in theory-based recommendations for the organization, identified theoretical implications, and allowed for additional discussion of a Homo Narrans paradigm for public relations. This research effort conceptually and operationally establishes a communication theory-method-message-behavior complex and makes this model available for use by practitioners and researchers alike.

johncliff

Addiction Recovery Indiana"

Illinois issues statement on fan behavior

Joe's Bar on Weed Street Poll

Resources

ITH on Twitter

Recruiting Classes

Recommended Reading