Answering SK's question: "Where has the game gone?"

[Neutral 0bserver]

Nu'Trelle has attended any number of good playoff match-ups at Naples HS. He always got there early and sat in the Visitor stands - way too hard to get a decent seat on the Naples side, place was usually sold out.

Over the years, Nu'Trelle would notice a group of senior citizens that seemed to attend most of the bigger games. Sometimes there would be only 5 or 6 guys, others times more. Sometimes a few of the wives would be there too.

They dressed nicely. They brought their seat cushions. Most were probably golfers. Maybe they lived in the same gated community. Only a couple things were certain. They were HS fans who appreciated good football and they applauded outstanding play by both teams. They probably lived close-by (in the winter), but they were not die-hard Naples fans by any stretch of the imagination.

This night was a quarter-final match-up and the opponent would not only win that night, but go on to a land-slide win in the state final two weeks later. There was a huge, overflow crowd. There were probably 20-25 retirees in the group that night. The most Nu'Trelle had ever seen.

Amongst the visitors there was a scatterring of people who were ill-behaved. Not many, but just enough of them to be loud and annoying. As the game rolled-on there were a few obscene comments shouted toward the field, most of them by irate fans who apparently perceived that the officials were biased toward the home team.

At halftime, the Naples cheerleaders came to the visitors sideline and did a cheer for the visiting team. Guy sitting 10-12 places from Nu'Trelle who had been one of the more obnoxious fans, stood up, cupped his hands and hollered words to the effect, "Get those honky-a$$ed white bitches back over where they belong. Stay over here and we'll _____ you up the ____ like you deserve."

The fool was probably about 30, but musta had very poor eyesight. He missed the fact the some of the Naples cheerleaders were black.

My buddy's wife - a first grade teacher in Naples - tugged on his arm and whispered something in his ear. He looked at me and said, "We've had enough. We're outta here. If you stay, gimme a call and let me know the score."

Two fans gone.

A couple of the women in the retiree group were obviously just as distressed as my buddy's wife. It was clear they were trying to get their husbands to walk out as well.

What troubled Nu'Trelle almost as much as the clown himself was the fact that no other visiting fan turned to the offender and said, "Okay man, that's enough."

Instead, a few guys raised a hand and offered the dude a high five.

Security was no where to be found. Nu'Trelle bit his lip.

After the cheerleaders left, the offender noticed that he was getting some looks from a few of the retirees as they gathered their gear to leave. He pointed towards them and shouted words to the effect, "You best take yo ho's and leave outta here, you rich old (deleted) for I come over there and beat yo a$$. Think I'm not for real? I'll be here all night long ... and your team suck too!"

More high fives.

The whole retiree group got up and left before the second half kick-off. That was last time Nu'Trelle saw any of the group. If they ever came back, they sat on the Naples side.

20-25 more fans gone.

* * * * * * * * * * *​

So where is the game headed, SK asks? Nu'Trelle can't say for sure, but essentially he has stopped going to games - even HS games. He's not only too old to fight, he doesn't have the patience to any longer sit by and listen to obnoxious, bigoted, low-I.Q. blowhards. He refuses to deal with it any more. Football is just not worth the aggravation.

So let the trash-talkers talk, let the thugs blindside the back judges, and let everyone go to court and sue each other for damages. As far as football is concerned, Nu'Trelle is happy to watch a few games from his living room and occasionally leaf through his yearbooks. You see, there was no USA Today back then. It was an era when we were coached by real men who understood that wins and losses and fake National Championships weren't nearly so important as teaching respect for the game and how to be a good competitor.

Nu'Trelle coaches knew that real results of their efforts would be revealed later in life ... and they were right. Most of us not only escaped the 'hood, many of us became coaches and mentors as well.

 

[Choctaw_fan]

Thanks for that commentary! I would have loved to join those retirees but now they're gone.

I have to say that I have not had the same experience. I traveled all over the panhandle to watch games and most fans were well behaved. Offenders were escorted out. I sat on both the home and visitor sides. But, I have not attended a game in six years because of my move north so maybe things have changed.

I am planning on going to Immokalee on Thursday to watch my great nephew start his high school career. Hope all goes well!

 

[Neutral 0bserver]

I traveled all over the panhandle to watch games and most fans were well behaved. Offenders were escorted out ...

Nu'Trelle would defintely agree that the vast majority of fans from all parts of the State are well-behaved. The problem is that the offenders - even the worst of the bunch - are RARELY escorted out.

If the problem-people stay, the only way to avoid confrontations is remove yourself from the situation. My buddy's wife walked out. He walked out with her. Every last one of the group of retirees left after the perp laughingly taunted that he would come over and beat some a$$. Nu'Trelle stayed for the end of that game, but has since decided he too has had enough.

Think about it. We're talking about Naples, FL, a place that has more millionaires per capita than 99% of all towns in the U.S. If you can't feel secure in a stadium situated in a community such as Naples, where you gonna feel safe?

People don't spend the kind of money it takes to live here to be confronted by a belligerent scum-bag who ostensibly drove over to watch a HS football game, but whose real mission was to see he could run his foul mouth long enough to bait someone into getting into an altercation.

Are there other places in and around Naples where you might encounter a problem with someone who wants to cause trouble? Certainly. Are there places that are best avoided? Of course there are. Unfortunately, a HS football stadium can be one of those places.

Good luck at your game.

 

[Silver King]

A bit of a rhetorical question, but its obvious where its going when you hear a coach sanctioned it - lock step with a society where you can get beat to death at a Major League Baseball Game because of a jersey, or have to listen to some of the things people feel a ticket gives them the right to yell at athletes (particularly professional athletes)- I'm done going to NFL Games.

I'm not Pollyanna, it happened when I played on occasion; like having our bus pelted from the orange groves across from Sebring's stadium, there was a knifing at that game and rock throwers at Lakeshore Belle Glade.

My experiences have been varied on the road. And I know playoff crowds can be different, seen that. But as Wavebb knows, places like The Sam, The Fish Bowl, The Tepee, and usually Naples, are all venues in retirement communities that seem to still understand sportsmanship and feature long time head coaches. Have there been occasional incidents? A few, since the 1920s (but miniscule given the number of games that had last minute comebacks or bad calls that you see often producing bad behavior), but those are decent places to enjoy the game with great game callers. Its part of the tradition in those old schools, and the retirees whose kids played in Michigan, Ohio and New York get their fixes.

I'll add Manatee to that, based on my experiences there. When my oldest two played them, we lost twice (better teams than ours, heck two games they were up 7-0 with less than 8 seconds off the clock from KO returns), they were gracious winners - well coached. When my youngest son's team beat them there for the first time in 49 years, the fans had just witnessed such an incredible football game - back and forth till the last play. I talked to a number of them and their sportsmanship impressed me.

 

[Choctaw_fan]

While in high school, I too experienced issues between races while playing basketball and volleyball. But that was 40 years ago during the "forced busing" dilemma. Hasn't this society evolved since then?