Oklahoma State’s Marcus Smart shoved a Texas Tech fan identified by media outlets as Jeff Orr during the closing moments of the visitors’ 65-61 loss Saturday, an incident the Lubbock Avalanche found unworthy of commentary in their game report. While there’s much speculation in Twitterville about whatever might’ve provoked Smart, Orr was profiled in a March 3, 2010 entry for Texas Tech Today (“Texas Tech Basketball Fan Extraordinaire”) :
He’s a perfectly normal Red Raider who happens to really, really love his basketball team. His response to the “crazy” question: “I agree with them, I guess. This is my hobby. I don’t hunt, fish, golf or any other normal guy activities. I just sort of follow the team around.”
“Jeff is unbelievable,” said Head Coach Pat Knight. “He means a lot to us and we try to take care of him. He’s always there for us, win or lose. It’s great to know that when we arrive at an away game, he’ll be there to meet us. We can always count on Jeff.”
At this season’s home game against Texas, he sat in his regular seat under the north basket dressed in a referee’s striped shirt.
“I always wear the referee’s shirt to the UT game, I’ve done it since I was a Court Jester,” Orr said. “I don’t know where I got the idea, but I’d wear the striped shirt under my jacket and when the refs mad a bad call, I’d rip my jacket off and start helping the refs.”
(SUNDAY AM ADDENDUM : as this item from Deadspin illustrates, while it’s widely believed/rumored that Orr baited Smart with a racial slur of some sort or another, that’s hardly been proven)