Coach Marty Raymond said it best; enough is enough.
He was referring to the call in Sunday's loss to Fresno that set him off, triggering a tirade on the bench that resulted in a dry erase board, dozens of sticks and one Gatorade cooler being flung, tossed or kicked onto the ice.
It's what followed his outburst that made me stop and think hard.
Coach Raymond's fire storm also triggered a rain storm inside Rabobank, in the form of rubber pucks, drinks and even cow bells to come raining down on the ice.
The onslaught was aimed at the referee, for what the crowd and Raymond believe were some bad calls by T.J. throughout the game, culminating with the downpour.
Let me stop for a moment to say this.
I love Condorstown. It's a family.
I've been to other arena's in this state, and a few in Minnesota, and have yet to find a franchise that gets the kind of support (minus a championship) that this club has received in it's 10 years of existence.
However, with all families, there are a few knuckleheads that do stupid things, but you still love them and hope someday they'll straighten out.
No more waiting, somebody needs a timeout.
The objects that rained down on the ice included a souvenir cow bell that slammed against the Plexiglas about two inches above the head of my com padre, and official scorer, Fred Olague.
It hit with such force, I briefly thought the glass had shattered.
It came from the upper deck, flung by a disgruntled fan.
I'm assuming the person was disgruntled, I'd hate to think it was hurled for fun.
I hopped up on my seat and scanned the audience for some help.
Who threw it? A couple of points led me to the upper deck, where a couple season ticket holders I'm familiar with seemed to believe one loud gentlemen was the possible culprit.
He denied it.
I wanted to find the person that was responsible, but it didn't appear likely.
Either people didn't get a good look, or no one was willing to speak up.
Condors fans this behavior has to stop and we need you to step up and get involved.
Even Brett Lutes can be seen in the video shot by ABC23, motioning to the crowd NOT to throw anything onto the ice.
His attempt at peacemaker was in vain.
I talked to a season ticket holder who said their child was terrified and crying when the barrage began.
But it's not the first time, not by a long shot.
There's a person who throws coins onto the ice at the north end of the arena and has been doing so for most of the season.
The coins freeze and create a hazard for the players from BOTH teams.
We've put up with the obscenity-laden screams and throwing of paraphernalia for too long.
Please give security a hand in identifying and removing these few clowns so we can yell at the referee's in peace.
Also, if you happen to know who threw the cowbell that crashed into the announcer's booth, please let me know.
I'd like to return it to them personally.
Don't forget the video originally posted on the Bobblehead on Condors blog.
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5 comments:
I hope you find that guy and when you do, you should introduce that cow bell to his prostate gland.
Absolutely disgusting, Mike. I hope we can step up as fans because if I were in B-town right now, I know I would...
While I don't condone or support bad behavior on the part of players and coaches, I do understand the frustration and helplessness they feel with inconsistent refs. Bad behavior from hockey fans is a blight on all of us who just want to have a good time.
Tyler Johnson is a paid professional referee, he is expected to maintain a high degree of standards and control of the game. To tell the coach that a badly called play "was just part of the game" was unprofessional and sloppy officiating. His unwillingness or inability to call the play in which the goalie lost his mask put the goalie in serious danger.
I have taken my dissatisfaction to the ECHL. The very least we can hope for is that Ref #26 will find other games to ref.
Tyler Johnson is actually #24
Yes, the referee made the wrong call. Yes, this particular referee has had several questionable calls that have gone against the Condors this season. And yes, a number of Condor fans were idiots last Sunday when they threw cowbells, soda, coins, candy, chuck a pucks, etc.
These morons have no right to throw things at the referee regardless of how wronged they feel by a referees call.
What's worse was that security at Rabobank failed to do their job. I watched as several people pointed to a guy in the upper deck as the idiot that threw the cowbell that almost gonged Mike Hart and his compadre, Fred. I kept looking up there for the remainder of the game and that guy was still there.
I also personally witnessed a guy throwing several chuck a pucks at the referee and was dumbfounded when I looked at the usher who did absolutely nothing as she witnessed this cowardly act. Un-freakin'-believable!
Fans have the right to boo and cheer but the ones that throw things in attempting to injure the referee are classless jerk-wads.
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