KoreAmBear;588293 said:

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Nouveau riche fans. I think many Oregon students and alums, the pride comes from their athletics, not necessarily their academics. So you have to milk it as much as you can. On Twitter, I've never experienced more rude, boorish and even just plain sick (I don't know if any of you remembered what I encountered last year - not that I want to remember that) sports fans than Oregon. One was on there last night saying expletives and using the #gobears hashtag as to go out of his way to rub it in our faces. Thankfully, no one responded to him, but I couldn't block him for some reason. That said, I have plenty of classy and cool friends who are Oregon alums. I doubt they are down with this kind of boorish, anything goes so long as we have scoreboard, culture.

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Are you really judging fans based on twitter and message boards? The dregs of society have a significant presence in these formats. There's a reason why I don't post on Dawgman. It's full of non-alum idiot UW fans. Educk and Wearesc are exactly the same.

Let's be honest. Cal does not have tons of non-alum diehard fans compared to some of the other programs in the Pac 10 (UW, USC, Wh*regon, and Arizona b-ball in particular). That's part of the reason why the posters on this forum tend to be more intelligent (in general).

GOCAL73;588321 said:

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I pretty much agree with you regarding Oregun fans. The good news is the NCAA will catch up with the cesspool known as Oregun athletics and then reality will strike. I think fallout will be worse than SC since Oregun fans have nothing else going for them. Meth sales will skyrocket.

If you want to experience the best fans in the Pac-12, I suggest you start going to Pullman. Been there twice recently for Cal games and each time their fans were polite and almost happy to see us. We got a lot of "Thanks for coming", which was unexpected considering we killed them both times. We bought seats in their season tix sections both games. First time, some guy started in with the Berkeley hippie stuff and the people around him told him to shut up. Both times we got free parking on campus within an easy walk to the stadium, which is right in the middle of campus. Of course, both our visits were in September and the weather was great.

Sure, Pullman is not easy to get to. But, it can be the perfect antidote to places like Autzen, SC and ASU, my bottom 3. Plus, you can take the kids to their world famous Bear research center. An awesome way to see real bears up close without gettting torn to pieces.

BTW, the Colorado people were extra nice this trip. However, I think they may have been on their best behavior trying to make a good impression on their new conference mates. Probably still real thankful they're out of that hole of a conference, the Big XII-II (can't be XII when you have only X!). Hope that wasn't the case, because that's a great road trip and the fans we met were really nice without exception.

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I have been to all the Pac-12 stadiums for Cal away games (with the lone exception of Utah, where I haven't gone), multiple times. I have been to all those venues at least 3 times. Most I have been to over 10 times.
Without a doubt, WSU fans are the best. Always have been. Terrific road trip if the game is in September. Cour d' Alene is right there, so it isn't all that ugly as people make it out to be.
For the most part, I have always respected UCLA, UW, and Stanford fans, as it has always seemed respectful. Oregon State fans have also been very good over the years.
USC has longtime fans with arrogance, but at least they have earned that right. I love playing SC because the random win has always been so special.Lately, during the Pete Carroll years, they attracted the dregs of LA looking to identify with a pro team, and I stopped going to Cal games at the Coliseum because of that.

Now to Autzen: I used to love going to Oregon. At one time it was my favorite trip. As a kid, I got go up there and see Cal beat Dan Fouts and Bobby Moore (Ahmad Rashaad). I've attended a dozen Cal games there since the late 60's, and I just returned from Thursday night's game. I will never go back. That crowd now rivals Arizona ("The Trailer Park in the Desert") and ASU (just think "Phresno State") as the most obnoxious and antagonistic crowd. Lots of taunts in the parking lot at a pregame tailgate. I was harrassed all night long by some in-bred Oregon yahoo behind me. All game long. I never turned around or spoke to him, but had to do some soul searching because I was about ready to go to jail for some serious battery charges. The fan base in Eugene is drinking Nike Soylent Green Kool Aid. And they have some players there that just don't belong in college. I'm hoping that the program goes down for that, but won't hold my breath. I can understand why the Husky fans despise the Ducks.

There, I said it. Oregon fans aren't the worst. But it's no longer a place I want to visit.

BowDowntoWashington;588719 said:

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I've had nothing but good experiences at Autzen. I hate Wh*regon (the program), but I've always had a lot of fun going down to games in Eugene. I have a lot of friends who are UO grads. A couple people have yelled "Huck the Fuskies", but that is pretty minor compared to what I've dealt with in Pullman. Every fan base has some bad fans. Autzen Stadium is pretty insane, almost as loud as Husky Stadium during some of the glory years. Eugene has one of the best bars I've ever been to - the Bier Stein. They have something like 700+ different types of beer from all over the world.

I unfortunately encountered some wannabe gangster Raider fan types at Memorial Stadium. Same thing at the Coliseum.

However, the worst fans in the conference are Arizona fans. Complete trash and I absolutely hate Tucson. What a run-down ****ty city. I like Boulder, but Colorado fans also suck.

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Never thought I'd live to see a Husky fan defending the Autzen experience. With all due respect, I think if I interviewed 100 of your brethren you would be in the significant minority (if not by yourself). The place and the people are simply awful.

Sebastabear;588750 said:

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Never thought I'd live to see a Husky fan defending the Autzen experience. With all due respect, I think if I interviewed 100 of your brethren you would be in the significant minority (if not by yourself). The place and the people are simply awful.

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People tend to exaggerate negative experiences, particularly after their team gets embarrassed.

I cannot stand Wh*regon football. I think Chip Kelly is an embarrassment to the conference. Legarrette Blount was a thug who never should have been allowed back on the football team. I hate how Kelly runs up the score on opposing teams (much like Carroll at USC and Harbaugh at Stanford).

However, Autzen Stadium is truly one of the better venues in the Pac 12. Great tailgating (before the game and at half time) and I like the bar scene in Eugene. I'm sure that Civil War games can get pretty rough.

I've also seen people bashing ASU in this thread. I've been to ASU games three times and have had a ton of fun. Tempe is a pretty awesome college town and the ASU fans I partied with were very friendly.

USC fans are terrible. The team has a semi-pro feel, due to the lack of an NFL team in LA. The alums are fine (a bit smug, but they should be with their history). The Laker fan types are pretty unbearable (I grew up in LA). The program seems to attract some real low-lifes.

Arizona football stinks but they have the most thuggish fans in the conference by far. I felt like I was at a Raiders game during my last trip to Tucson.

Can't stand Pullman, though I'm sure that it's much worse for UW fans. They shouldn't hold any animosity towards fans of other programs. To be fair, I've seen some pretty bad behavior by UW fans during the Apple Cup in Seattle.

I agree with you and those with the other impression. They have a lot of really great fans, some of the best, who are complimentary (at least before we embarrass ourselves), but on the other hand , some complete spitheads, like one guy eating at an outdoor cafe when he walked buy and declared he was going to kick my ass, even though he was at least 30 years my junior. They're still not as bad as Fresno State fans though. The most notable thing I took out of the road game to USC last year wasthat USC fans are nowhere near as rude as Fresno State and Oregon. Truly surprising.

The students and alumni are not bad at all. It is the bandwagon fans that are the problem. They are very similar to USC former Raider fan and now USC fan. The only difference is bandwagon Duck fan is more obnoxious because they drank one too many and of Hamms in the parking lot at halftime.

BowDowntoWashington;588799 said:

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People tend to exaggerate negative experiences, particularly after their team gets embarrassed..

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"people" might. I do not. This isn't based on a single experience or a dozen experiences. This is based on more trips to Autzen than I care to count. Sorry, but you're way, way off here.

Bear91_78;588910 said:

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The students and alumni are not bad at all. It is the bandwagon fans that are the problem. They are very similar to USC former Raider fan and now USC fan. The only difference is bandwagon Duck fan is more obnoxious because they drank one too many and of Hamms in the parking lot at halftime.

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That's a pretty fair assessment. You have to remember that unlike most of the other Pac 12 schools, there isn't a local pro team to attract the attention of those people who just want to drink and yell (to be fair, I'm a student and I definitely do both on Saturdays at Autzen, but I don't yell at other fans) on their day off work. The only other schools that can claim that are Utah, OSU, and WSU. Utah is located in a bigger city with other attractions (and beer with less alcohol...). OSU's fans usually have actual connections to the school and they avoided a lot of the bandwagon types just because Oregon started winning before OSU did. As for WSU, nobody lives in Pullman who isn't affiliated with WSU, and they haven't won enough to develop a bandwagon fan base.

Look no further than Seahawk and Raider fans. They don't have great reputations for hospitality, and most of them would probably be fixtures at UW or Cal games if it wasn't for the NFL. SC fans got worse once the Raiders left. Arizona fans don't have a great reputation and I'd bet that is mainly caused by a bigger local population and the semi-local NFL team that doesn't really attract any of the local fans (does anybody care about the Cardinals?). The only thing I can ask is to try not to affiliate those fans with the actual university, just like you wouldn't want somebody to associate yourself with certain stereotypes of demographics you might happen to fall under. Don't swear off Autzen forever either. When we do inevitably have some down years, that crowd is going to seem much more hospitable. The fans should be much more similar to the fans you tend see at Oregon away games, who I hope are much more respectful.

As far as the redneck element that others have mentioned, Oregon is kind of weird like that. The 3 or 4 largest cities (Portland, Salem, Eugene, maybe Bend) are very liberal, full of hippies new and old. It's somewhat of a yuppie scene. The rest of the state may as well be in the South. Very conservative, very blue collar. Eugene/Springfield is a good microcosm of the state with Eugene being liberal and Springtucky being...Springtucky. It creates a unique fanbase where there is substantial mix of both.

The only positive thing about it is Autzen itself, if that makes any sense. I have visited a few Pac 10 stadiums and nothing really compares as far as atmosphere goes, when the passion of our fan base is guided to the field rather than the opposing fans. It'd be nice to see that passion remain intact while the misguided disrespectful behavior goes away, but I'm not sure if that is possible.

duckr;588953 said:

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the passion of our fan base is guided to the field rather than the opposing fans. It'd be nice to see that passion remain intact while the misguided disrespectful behavior goes away, but I'm not sure if that is possible.

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I doubt it, thought it would be nice if it were possible. For the record, if my experience at Memorial last year against the ducks is any indicator the traveling fan base is just as bad in terms of low-life behavior. LOTS of duck fans in Strawberry Canyon last year, and I was appalled at some of the behavior I witnessed pre-game by liquored-up youngsters. Maybe that's because Cal is close enough to make the drive for those who want an excuse to get out of town for the weekend - I have no idea what the traveling Oregon fan contingent is like in Tempe.

That said, I think the gist of your comments is fair. I recall being at Autzen twice in the late 90s/early 2000s, and both were good experiences. Both were close games which Oregon won, but the fan-to-fan behavior was fine.

I remember going to a concession stand at halftime once and ordering a hot dog. It came wrapped in foil that was imprinted with the Donald Duck UO logo. Of course I had all my Cal gear on, so as the lady was handing me my change I asked her if she had any hotdogs with little Bears on them instead. She looked at me speechless for a second, trying to figure out if I was serious, and then she, I, and a bunch of duck fans in line behind me all laughed about it. I liked that Autzen.

My experience:
No problem at Oregon State or UCLA to wear Cal gear. USC fans are 95% courteous also though they have some a**holes that probably never went to the school that will razz you.

The whole "the alums are fine, it's everyone else" thing comes up every time this discussion happens. How does anyone know who is or isn't an alum? Sometimes it's pretty obvious that a guy didn't go to college, but most of the time it isn't, especially when people in any section can sell their seats on stubhub. I'm pretty sure this is just something fan bases say so that they can acknowledge and excuse terrible behavior by their fellow fans, and so that a bunch of college educated people from both fan-bases can bash the poor people that live near the stadiums. I understand that a college educated adult is less likely to, say, stab someone, but there's no reason to believe that the classless idiot talking **** to your mom isn't a young alum.

In short, I agree with what's been said. Some schools just have more douchebags than others.

I'm a Duck grad who has lived in SF for almost 2 decades now and have been attending away football games at Stanford and Cal the entire time. I stopped wearing Oregon gear in the mid-90's after repeatedly having drinks spilled on me while attending a game at Memorial with my girl friend. I'd already had drunk idiots from both schools confront me trying to start something numerous times before for being a Duck and nothing more so I decided I'd have to attend away games somewhat incognito from then on. I'm anything but a trash talker and usually befriend anyone seated near me. Typically I now sport a Eugene company's T-Shirt in Duck colors instead of actual Duck gear.

if some of you people truly don't think that the exact same behavior you're complaining about goes on everywhere including your fine institution, try wearing an Oregon jersey to next year's game at Cal. Heck, contact me and I'll set you up with a large T-Shirt and we'll go together. People are people and idiots root for every team including mine (unfortunately). The best I can do is be good to those visiting fans I encounter at Duck home games and avoid the baiting of meatheads while on the road.

Diego's comment seems reasonable. I bet other fan sites have comments similar to ours on what a bunch of obnoxious fans Cal has.

drunkoski;589667 said:

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Oregon fans have ranked last in fan behavior by the ESPN fan poll for 4 years running. That is not a coincidence

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This^. Of course every stadium has it's morons. We prolly have mor than a few drunk frat guys and younger. But look at the type of people that go to these schools .I would say more than 1/2 of UO fans are drunk and are not alumni or anything. Same with the UA crowd

drunkoski;589667 said:

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Oregon fans have ranked last in fan behavior by the ESPN fan poll for 4 years running. That is not a coincidence

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Exactly. It's ridiculous to say "I ran into a drunk dirt bag Cal fan at a game and therefore Cal fans are as bad as Oregon." It's not that there are no jerks in our fan base - it's that an extremely high percentage of the Oregon fans are despicable. I would also personally argue that I've never seen a Cal fan assault the Oregon band or do a number of other horrendous things I've seen Oregon fans do, but that's a more subjective issue. Same thing on the fan posts. I defy anyone to read the ESPN fan posts for a month and say "all fan bases have an equal number of jerks." There is one group that clearly stands out as beyond obnoxious and quite frankly always has as long as this site has existed - and everyone who doesn't see the world through green tinted glasses knows who that is.

BellottiBold;588287 said:

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...And btw I feel it relevant to point out that I've had some pretty memorably poor experiences walking past the greek houses to and from memorial in Duck gear...

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Vandalus;588335 said:

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...We've got just as many (well, maybe not as many, but we've got 'em) who harass opposing fans needlessly. I was in Beta, so I'm definitely not throwing stones here - our deck was always full of kids talking smack to opposing teams. If you are going to pass frat row, expect to get harassed, and that's at any school in the country. But threats of violence are boorish and unbecoming, regardless of whether its in the stands or at frat row.

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I always advise visiting fans to walk up to Memorial through the campus by Wheeler Hall and the Campanile to avoid the drunken fraternity members (besides, I want them to see with envy how beautiful Cal is!). I don't think anyone in opposing team's colors, will be physically threatened as long as they stay west of Bancroft. At least, I've never witnessed such boorish behavior (as many of you described) on our campus or in the vicinity of Memorial.

I do think the Pac-12 should clamp down and require (with the threat of financial penalties) better security at all of its venues; the unfortunate incident in the parking lot at Dodger Stadium on Opening weekend gives cause to a more sober and serious approach to the game day experience for all spectators.

drunkoski;589667 said:

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Oregon fans have ranked last in fan behavior by the ESPN fan poll for 4 years running. That is not a coincidence

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Oh come on....
In that same 4 year period we've been the most successful program, and we have two *bitter* rivals. Are you seriously giving that unscientific nonsense merit here?

BTW, since we are sharing...
My party had multiple bottles thrown at us while making our way back to Parson's after leaving the Rose Bowl in a LOSS to UCLA. We were minding our own and not starting ****. And Arizona remains the only place I've ever heard about knocking a cheerleader unconscious with projectiles.

BellottiBold;589818 said:

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Oh come on....
In that same 4 year period we've been the most successful program, and we have two *bitter* rivals. Are you seriously giving that unscientific nonsense merit here?

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It's not nonsense. It makes perfect sense. Bandwagon fans are usually the worst kind, and they show up, all drunk and f-cked up, when the team is doing well.

BellottiBold;589818 said:

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Oh come on....
In that same 4 year period we've been the most successful program, and we have two *bitter* rivals. .

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I was wondering why it took so long for an Oregon fan to use the jealousy argument. That is their defense for every criticism of their program. Well no one complains about stanfords fans, or sc fans when they were top dog. Or uw fans when they were on top. Why is it so hard for Oregon fans to accept that even though they are winning, no one respects them. Their program is a joke. Their coach is a joke. And their university is a joke.

ducky23;589842 said:

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no one complains about stanfords fans, or sc fans when they were top dog. Or uw fans when they were on top.

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I've heard tons of complaints about Stanford's fans being detached, lacking passion, and not showing up to games. Hard to truly hate people who don't care/aren't there but somehow you guys have managed. I've heard U$C fans blasted umpteen times for being arrogant entitled SOB's. These complaints I've heard are almost exclusively from my Cal fan friends here in the Bay Area. And lol that you don't think anyone has complained about UW fans. As someone who grew up in the NW, trust me they've got at least their share of yahoos

Quote:

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Why is it so hard for Oregon fans to accept that even though they are winning, no one respects them. Their program is a joke. Their coach is a joke. And their university is a joke.

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good grief, you stay classy

" good grief, you stay classy "

Diego, I will apologize for Ducky23; Oregon is not a joke. Oregon is a school with a lot of hardworking students trying to get ahead, and some of them are douchey, like students at most universities in the country. Thanks for posting your thoughts on this board.

ducky23;589842 said:

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I was wondering why it took so long for an Oregon fan to use the jealousy argument. That is their defense for every criticism of their program. Well no one complains about stanfords fans, or sc fans when they were top dog. Or uw fans when they were on top.

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My post was phrased poorly. In using the word "bitter" I was not attempting to accuse rival fanbases of jealousy - I was simply pointing out that we have two legitimate fierce rivals. (As in, the rivalries are bitter.)

Beyond that, when UW fans were on top they were awful, and many still are. I see complaining about them regularly.

GinFizzBear;590213 said:

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" good grief, you stay classy "

Diego, I will apologize for Ducky23; Oregon is not a joke. Oregon is a school with a lot of hardworking students trying to get ahead, and some of them are douchey, like students at most universities in the country. Thanks for posting your thoughts on this board.

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very cool of you to say. It's probably worth noting that a significant % of Oregon's students are from NorCal. Also of note, the population of the entire state of Oregon is roughly half of the population of the greater Bay Area

I appreciate having the opportunity to read an active football forum and lend my 2 cents when there is something to add. Maybe it's somewhat wishful thinking, but I see the football future at both of our schools as very bright. It's not breaking news, but you guys need a QB upgrade (?Kline?), pretty much everything else is in place

diego;590289 said:

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very cool of you to say. It's probably worth noting that a significant % of Oregon's students are from NorCal. Also of note, the population of the entire state of Oregon is roughly half of the population of the greater Bay Area

I appreciate having the opportunity to read an active football forum and lend my 2 cents when there is something to add. Maybe it's somewhat wishful thinking, but I see the football future at both of our schools as very bright. It's not breaking news, but you guys need a QB upgrade (?Kline?), pretty much everything else is in place

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If Cal is not winning 10 games when Kline is a junior/senior, I will have lost patience with Tedford. Most sane people are only hoping that Cal qualifies for a bowl this year so that the talented underclassmen can get some practice, and that seniors can go out on a high note. Missing a bowl would be The Suck this year.