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Vern Halen wrote:Well, I'll try add to what Migs has said, but he summed it up pretty well. I actually logged on this morning specifically to apologize on behalf of my fellow Rider fans as I was disgusted with what happened as well.

I was actually embarrassed to be a Rider fan tonight - there's no excuse for throwing anything at anyone - especially beer cans - I've never been hit with one, but I've dropped a full one on my foot and know how that feels - it could cause serious injury!

What's it gonna take - would those asshats feel better if one of the players, coaching or training staff took one in the head and cut them open? We need better security, IMHO - and perhaps something along the lines of the Be A Fan, Not A Fool program. I know we can call security on a special number if we witness something, but some the clowns from last night should be taken out behind the east grandstand and someone should hang a dirty lickin' on them.

My apologies, Lions fans - a small percentage of "fans" made all us fans look bad last night.

PS - CatsEyes - so awesome to hear you had a great time!

lion24 wrote: Again, I give most Rider fans credit for being the best but I think a reality check is in order at times.

Wakesbetterthanyou wrote:Glad to see both the regina paper and mccallum vilifying those fans who acted like morons, an article from that paper:

The Saskatchewan Roughriders like to refer to their loyal followers as the World's Greatest Fans.

B.C. Lions kicker Paul McCallum begs to differ.

"No, they don't have a good name," McCallum barked after being showered with beer in the fourth quarter of his team's eventual 27-21 victory at Mosaic Stadium on Saturday. "The best fans (title), it's going to change in a hurry if they keep this up. I talked to (Riders president/CEO) Jim (Hopson) on the sidelines. I know he's ashamed of what went on too. There's a select few but there were a lot (who were guilty on this occasion). These people are just idiots. Absolute idiots."

The controversy began midway through the fourth quarter when B.C.'s Dante Marsh stripped Riders receiver Corey Grant of the ball and recovered the fumble. A replay on the Maxtron seemed to indicate that Marsh had grabbed Grant's facemask before the ball came loose, but there was no penalty. The fans came unglued, some tossing beer cans from the east grandstand toward B.C.'s bench.

Lions head coach Wally Buono moved his players to centre field during a subsequent stoppage in play to get them out of harm's way while the public address announcer warned the fans to cease the aerial assault.

"I enjoy playing here with the atmosphere but, tonight, I didn't enjoy it at all," continued McCallum, who spent 12 seasons with the Riders before signing with B.C. in 2006. "(The atmosphere) was ruined the way the fans reacted at the end. I don't know exactly what they were mad it, if it was facemasking or not facemasking. What did we do to deserve getting projectiles launched at us? What happens if someone gets hit in the eye or gets split open? For what? That put a sour taste in my mouth."

It's not the first time, either. In the 2004 West Division final -- which Saskatchewan lost to Lions -- McCallum missed an 18-yard field goal in overtime that could have propelled the Riders into the Grey Cup. Instead of becoming a hero, he wore the goat horns and returned home to find that someone had dumped a load of manure on a neighbour's driveway. Another fan also threatened to burn down his house down.

"It's two separate instances," said McCallum, while adding that neither incident reflected well on the Rider Nation. "Even (teammate) Jason (Clermont) said to me he's embarrassed to say he lives here and he's born, raised, (played) university here, high school, everything. I don't know what they're thinking. It's a football game. We're on the sidelines trying to work. Where's the common sense? I just don't get it. It's all right to boo and swear or whatever you want to do but when you start throwing things at us, let's put it this way: If I was standing in the middle of the street and you threw something at me, then what? Same with all these guys. Are you going to walk up to one of those guys in the middle of the street and start throwing stuff at them?"

Although McCallum agreed that you can't paint all fans with the same brush, he also pointed out that those who witness acts of indiscretion and do nothing are just as guilty.

"If I'm standing there and some guy beside me throws a beer can I'm gong to get him kicked out," added McCallum, who still lives in Regina during the offseason. "What example is it showing some young kids there? It's ridiculous. As a parent. I won't bring my kids here. I won't."

pennw wrote:The replay never showed Marsh's hand on the face mask . His hand did come down on the top of the helmet and slid off past the face mask to strip the ball . Sorry but the refs made the right call there from what the replay showed .
As for throwing the ball into the crowd , I bet there was a mad scramble to get that ball by all those who were near it and someone got a souvenir . The others who didn't get it I'd bet wished they got it too . Or did the crowd throw the ball back down to the field in disgust ? If so, the TV crew missed that part .
The crowd taunts the players and the players sometimes give back when they get a chance . Nothing wrong (nor unusual )with that when it doesn't cross the line like it did last night .

lion24 wrote:There is no way I would group the actions of a few idiots to make the opinion that all Rider fans are idiots. Frankly you see this in every stadium across the league. I still feel Rider fans are probably the best in the league and have seen the passion first hand living in Sask for a few years including 1989 when they won the Cup.

However, reading some of the post at RF I noticed the past few weeks that many have blamed the refs for the loss etc. and that goes into the Lions being dirty and classless and Marsh causing the riot etc. At some point as a fan you have to deal with reality that your team was beaten by a better opponent and sometimes I wonder if the Riders were beaten 60-0 whether SOME of their fans would believe they were actually beaten

IMHO, they were lucky the Lions were off on offence as they could have blown them out if they would have converted some of the turnovers to touchdowns.

Again, I give most Rider fans credit for being the best but I think a reality check is in order at times.

CatsEyes wrote:

Migs wrote:First of all congrats on your win tonight, once again you deserved it. Secondly, my heartmost apologies for a few assholes in the crowd tonight at Taylor Field. For the first time in a long time I was embarrased to be a Rider fan. I know it was only a couple drunk idiots and I know there are dumb fans in every crowd but tonight was totally over the line. Just know that 99.9% of Rider fans are great fans that love the league, their team, and do infact respect their opponents. Trust me if I saw anyone do what they did tonight first hand I would've stomped a mudhole in their ass and walked it try.

Go Riders!!!

Great post Migs! I had an absolute blast at TF tonight. Trust me when I say I was the ONLY Lions fan in my section, and the people around me were a riot! There were about 6 20 something guys sitting beside me and around me, and we were laughing and high fiving all night. Near the end they shared their pizza with me, and one guy went above and beyond by letting me use his cell to text SM, when my battery died, just so he wouldn't worry. It was this kind of experience that would make me want to go back in a second. I was prepared for the worst, and received the best. Thanks Rider fans!

Migs wrote:Funny there is no mention of the Lions player firing the ball into the crowd with other Lions players taunting and doing crotch shots. Its all a sad situation and both the Lions players and the fans involved should be ashamed of themselves. Those are my last comments on this unfortunate situation.

No Ordinary Joe wrote:I'm sorry to say this but in my experiences, minus a select few, Rider fans are pigs and nothing makes me angrier than to hear this BS label of "best fans in the CFL." Whether it's online or inside BC Place or the joke that happened last night or the manure dumping incident I've seen so many instances of Rider fans gloating, reveling in an injury to an opposing player (DD last season in particular), whining about everything under the sun, being completely disrespectful and just generally acting like complete idiotic jackasses. Never in all of my experiences have I seen a group of people so distasteful, arrogant and smug as Rider fans and my apologies to those of you who are actually decent, but, on a whole I absolutely loathe Rider fans and the team they cheer for, last night was just a microcosm of past experiences wrapped into one and is the biggest reason why last night's win was so satisfying that we were able to stick it up their asses and take the season series. It looks good on them and they deserve it. I hate the Saskatchewan Roughriders.