The New York Daily News’ Tracy O’Connor reports on the lovely reception afforded to fans of the exiled New Orleans Saints at Giants Stadium last Monday night.
“Where’s your swimmies? I hope you have your swimmies!” one ignoramus asked Diane Dias, 46, who splits her time between homes in New Orleans and New Milford, Conn.
“You deserve what you got,” another said. “New Orleans people are stupid.”
Dias and her husband bought seats on the 50-yard line on eBay so they could publicly show their support for the homeless Saints, who lost 27-10.
The NFL designated the Saints as the home team, and Dias was thrilled to see people in the stands wearing black and gold. But her excitement turned to disgust when she saw a girl from New Orleans crying in a rest room because she’d been harassed.
“We lost all interest in the game,” she said. “This is the strangest situation we’ve ever been in.”
Dias’ experience was not an isolated incident. On several Web sites, Saints fans recounted a torrent of abuse.
“After I reported an obnoxious fan for exposing himself to me, my friend and I were kicked out the stadium, apparently for having the nerve to complain,” read a Nola.com posting.
“One guy even said he was glad our city was under water. … I have had to sit here for FOUR YEARS and listen to all the New Yorkers complain and expect sympathy from the world [because] of 9/11 and this is what we get in return?”
The 9/11 analogy is valid, if only because I’ve been waiting weeks for the President to declare an all-out war on Mother Nature (as opposed to the undeclared one).
I’ve never heard of East Coast sports fans being obnoxious. What’s next? Are you going to tell me that Phillie fans are hard on people?