I like this comment

“1. These poor, non-season-ticket-holding souls, have just shelled out two weeks salary from their minimum wage jobs to attend the only hockey game they will see in person all year. Due to the gravity of the situation, they have taken it upon themselves to achieve a blood alcohol rating of .20 before even arriving at the game. They will be damned if they are not going to squeeze every penny out of this experience they probably will barely even remember tomorrow. Also, having their friends see them pounding the glass as if they were trying to escape an airborne pathogen will give them bragging rights for the rest of the year.”

I think the problem with Alanna Rizzo is that she failed to understand what a rivalry was, DU was talking smack in the news papers before they even got to Grand Forks and the Sioux burried them.

I was at both games in question and I don’t remember the fans being any worse than they are than the other arena’s around the country. I also have a hard time believing that the fans in Wisconsin where she claimes to have worked are any better. I don’t think it helped with the DU coaches walk across the ice.

I agree that most glass bangers would likely qualify under the “that guy” category. In fact later this week I hope to have a post about all the different “that guys” that attend an NHL game.

If you have any ideas or suggestions feel free to email me @
dave@illegalcurve.com

Anything else is being a wet blanket and a “You don’t like hockey THE RIGHT WAY” type.

Lighten up, champ.

For glass banging:
Hockey is unique in the sense that front row spectators have this massive piece of plastic in front of them. Few sports put any fan in a position like that. Hell, being a Sabres fan, I can remember in the old Auditorium, you practically sat on the friggn’ ice if you were in the front row. It’s a treat and a privilege in my opinion.

I’ve watched plenty of football in my day and have certainly seen fans in the front row banging on the padded wall below them. However, they have little impact on the game since they are 20-25 yards away from the actual playing field.

Baseball fans don’t have the opportunities to hit anything as pounding the concrete barrier between them and the field would result in a broken hand.

Basketball is somewhat like hockey in the sense that you have spectators sitting courtside with the ability to get a player’s attention if need be, however, I can say that I’ve never seen a spectator at a basketball game out of his seat in the front row, pounding on the floor and screaming. He or she would probably be ejected from the arena rather quickly.

This leaves hockey with a unique opportunity for fans to be somewhat involved in the game. It’s another thing that separates hockey from most other major sports. If there is a fight taking place in front of your seat, it’s the nature of a hockey fan to react in some sort of way. Yelling and pounding the glass is one venture that some fans take and for me, that’s all fine and good as long as it’s done within reason. And I stress within reason. Arenas do (and rightfully should) have the authority to eject a fan if their actions are out of line or placing other spectators in danger.

Having the opportunity to pound the glass (within reason) once and a while adds to the uniqueness of the hockey experience and I wouldn’t trade that in for anything in the world.

Against glass banging:
Now, while I do enjoy the idea of being a fan and expressing yourself, there are those fans who don’t know where to draw the line and go above and beyond the point of being annoying to the level of being disrespectful to not only the fans around them, but the players and coaches as well. Banging the glass behind the players bench/penalty box and making inappropriate comments to players and coaches is poor form and tarnishes the integrity of the game. And since ESPN’s Sportscenter tends to favor hockey highlights that show the negativity of the game, it would be best to control the emotions that you and go get a 9 dollar Coca~Cola or something.

Now, with that out of the way, I can share my least favorite aspect of going to live sporting events. I don’t think there is any other way to describe people who bang on the glass in an obnoxious manor than “that guy.” I can’t stand “that guy.”

Nobody likes “that guy.” People who like “that guy” are tools themselves. Nobody likes that guy who pounds on the glass all game long when it isn’t even necessary. Nobody likes that guy who stands up while the puck is in play, turns around and starts waving erratically to try and gain the attention of a friend he or she is on the phone with. Nobody likes that guy who has the biggest homemade sign in the arena that displays “go team” and feels the need to hold it up during every break in action to try and gain the attention of the cameraman who is hooked into the jumbotron. Nobody likes that guy who sits on the cell phone the whole game talking loudly ruining the game for those around them.

Every sport has their respective “that guy.” Like mentioned above, golf has that guy who yells out something after every stroke of the ball. Football and soccer have that guy who runs out on the field during a stoppage in play. Baseball has that guy who tried to get in the heads of the middle relief pitchers warming up on the 1st and 3rd baseline before the game.

For me, it’s not so much the glass banging that gets to me. If it’s done within reason, it completes the hockey experience for the fan. What bothers me the most are the people who abuse the privilege of sitting up front at a hockey game by trying to gain attention from the people around them. Whether it renders a laugh or a rude comment, “that guy” feeds off of it and will continue to do it because, well, he/she is “that guy.”

I don’t know if I will ever be able to sit in the front row at a hockey game but I will tell you that if I’m ever granted the opportunity, I wouldn’t act like a jerk.

-schrembs
saucerpass.com
@saucerpass

This gets tossed about frequently while watching games with friends, and I have two theories:

1. These poor, non-season-ticket-holding souls, have just shelled out two weeks salary from their minimum wage jobs to attend the only hockey game they will see in person all year. Due to the gravity of the situation, they have taken it upon themselves to achieve a blood alcohol rating of .20 before even arriving at the game. They will be damned if they are not going to squeeze every penny out of this experience they probably will barely even remember tomorrow. Also, having their friends see them pounding the glass as if they were trying to escape an airborne pathogen will give them bragging rights for the rest of the year.

2. They’re brain-dead, drunken mongoloids, with insecurities about a small penis and issues of being weaned from the teat to early. Leading them to believe their mothers never loved them enough.

Basically, they’re the same goofs who scream, “Get in the hole!”, everytime Tiger Woods tees off on a par-5.

And I do like that Verizon commercial — especially the “loser, loser, best baby in the world!” part.

Its too bad I didn’t think to add a Poll to this article although it appears quite overwhelming that the majority of IC readers (as well as Second City Hockey readers) are against Glass Banging.

This low opinion is shared by others as I read on another site which was talking about the various types of fans this description of what you call “Glass Bangers”;

These guys (usually two or three of them) have front row seats for the one and only time in their lives. They feel the need to be part of the game by banging on the glass like apes when the action gets close. After the third or fourth time, it gets very annoying.

Of course I would trade every glass banger in the arena for a few more Florida fans like the one in the video.