Updated throughout the day with quick takes from staff.
Thursday was the start of college football season, and given my slight (read: incurable) football addiction, I found myself wandering to the Ticketmaster web site.
The next thing you know, I had canceled dinner with a friend, dropped everything, driven 100 miles and was sitting near the top of the Williams-Brice Stadium upper deck for the Southern Miss-South Carolina game.
Ahhhhhh...football! It felt great. I didn't even care who was playing; I just wanted to see one of the first kickoffs of the season. I also witnessed what was probably the first fan ejection of the season.
Shortly into the first quarter, about five rows in front of me, a woman in her late 20s with dark brown hair and a defiant posture stood up and never sat back down.
No one else was standing up in any nearby section or row and it wasn't a big moment in the game. Yet when the people behind her asked if she wouldn't mind sitting down, she turned around and snapped at them.
Then it started to get ugly.
Other people jumped to the defense of their fellow fans, advising this woman that she should sit down and stop blocking the view. She didn't take kindly to their opinions, and instead decided to take on all comers. Mouthing off to people behind her, to the side of her and even in front of her, she kept right on standing, an immovable force.
You may have seen this type of person before: They won't listen to anyone, must get their way, have a nasty attitude toward others. Not exactly a Southern belle.
She had suddenly brought so much hate upon herself from her fellow Gamecock fans, she might as well have been wearing a Clemson shirt.
Her poor date wouldn't intervene, remaining seated with his head down, looking embarrassed. So a few women sitting nearby decided to take action. They alerted one of the old yellow-shirted stadium ushers, who hobbled up the stairs with an expression of disbelief that said, 'Already?'
His expression changed when the non-belle began mouthing off to him, too. He retreated and, soon after, two police officers arrived and removed her from the section, walking her down the aisle as she continued to make her opinion heard.
Everyone paying attention to the scene burst into cheers at the sight of her removal, since rarely do you get to see someone be a menace and get their comeuppance all in one football quarter (her date, by the way, waited a few minutes and then sheepishly followed her out of the section).
However, this seemed to spark some worry among other fans. An older gentleman in front of me turned around and warned in a thick Southern accent, "I'm likely to be doin' some standing, now. Just want y'all to know so you don't turn me in."
Of course, that was no problem. Standing up at games is part of the experience. Clearly, though, there are appropriate times and inappropriate times. It got me thinking: What is the proper "Standing Etiquette" at sporting events? Perhaps with your feedback in the comments section below, we can make a good list.
Some ideas to get this started:
• It's not OK to stand just because it's your personal tradition or you think it's good luck for your team. If the other 75,000 people are sitting down, don't be a jerk.
• It is OK to stand before key situations (like a third down on defense or a restart for a NASCAR race), even if you're one of the few. Maybe you'll inspire your fellow fans to stand. But don't stand longer than you need to if no one else is.
• It's not OK to stand as the visitor in an opposing stadium and provoke the home fans. Well, maybe it's technically OK, but we don't recommend it, seeing as how you're asking to get your ass kicked.
• It's always OK to jump up and cheer whenever you feel like it; but you should probably sit back down after the play.
What other situations are OK to stand, and which ones aren't?
Tell us in the comments section below.
25 comments
Comments
It’s hard to get a rigid set of rules to define all situations but I feel like if you pay for your seat, you should be able to stand if you want to stand. However, if people ask you to sit, I feel as though you should be courteous to the people around you who also paid for their seats.
If you start a movement, fine. If nobody else follows you, the last rule seems fine.
The Mikan Drill
by JoshuaR on Sep 3, 2010 12:20 PM EDT reply actions
I cannot stand people that have total disregard for the people around them. One issue we ran into at Bristol this year was people smoking near us. There are signs all over the place in Bristol that clearly state there is no smoking in the grandstands. This was ignored by 3 people infront of us for both the Cup and Nationwide race.
by Dustin McGrew on Sep 3, 2010 12:27 PM EDT reply actions
Was she drunk?
by Corrine on Sep 3, 2010 12:32 PM EDT reply actions
If you stand you stand for 1 play/moment
Then sit the hell back down. Blocking other people’s views is just bad manners.
by Roa on Sep 3, 2010 12:33 PM EDT reply actions
Last year at Martinsville a woman 5 rows below us stood up every time Jeff Gordon drove by screaming…GO JEFF, I LOVE YOU JEFF, JEFF, I’M HERE JEFF, etc etc. Every. single. lap. No one seemed to mind, don’t ask me why. With that said, I can assure you if Jr. was leading I’d be on my feet acting like an idiot. But I’d sit down after a lap or two (or fall down from disbelief that he was actually leading at all). So start of the race, stand for a lap or two, your fav driver leading a lap, stand a lap or two, other than that, it’s not cool.
by danceswithcat on Sep 3, 2010 12:50 PM EDT reply actions
Student Section
Standing is acceptable at all times within the student sections!
by NUNNS AU on Sep 3, 2010 12:53 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs
Agreed
If you want to stand the whole game, take your ticket and walk into the upper bowl of your student section. The Ushers tend to somewhat control the lower bowl and not allow everyone in, but join the students in the upper bowl and you can stand to your heart’s content.
Otherwise, just do what people around you are doing. And stand only for a play or two at a time. Goal line stands (Utah had 9-10 of those against Pitt – Pretty awesome), 4th down and 1, critical 3rd downs, when the ball is thrown 40 yards down field, etc.
I don't pour beer on Max Hall's family often, but when I do, I prefer Dos Equis.
by jim2 on Sep 3, 2010 2:34 PM EDT up reply actions
It is unacceptable to sit in the student section
it was also unacceptable to get the ushers to kick out the people who snuck into the lower rows because they had tickets in the 84th row and they wanted to be in the same layer of atmosphere as the game in question.
It is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains must be in want of more brains
by Chekhov's Spread Gun Option on Sep 3, 2010 2:59 PM EDT up reply actions
Agreed.
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by Craig Powers on Sep 3, 2010 7:02 PM EDT up reply actions
I completely Agree!
At Notre Dame we were only allowed to sit during half time. We had to stand the whole rest of the game on the seats (which are just planks of wood). It was funny, during half time when the rest of the stadium stands and goes to get something to eat the whole student section sits and listens to “the best marching band in the land”. OH the good old days! I’ll be waitressing tomorrow during the game! Can’t wait! GO IRISH!
by Katie D on Sep 3, 2010 10:04 PM EDT up reply actions
QED
Columbia is the lost mouth of hell.
________________________________
I will give my shirt for Tennessee today.
by Holly Anderson on Sep 3, 2010 1:01 PM EDT reply actions
That woman was probably fueled by alcohol.
by RACE!! on Sep 3, 2010 2:03 PM EDT via mobile reply actions
That's a tough balance, though.
How do you get drunk enough to be that belligerent to that many people without getting so drunk that standing becomes a challenge?
Now that's great tasting chicken!
by Kyle Lobner on Sep 3, 2010 2:11 PM EDT up reply actions 2 recs
rec'd
for truth
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by Chris Haines on Sep 3, 2010 3:36 PM EDT up reply actions
It's really simple
You can stand for any play that gets your blood moving (in a good or bad way). If, when the play is over, nobody else is standing then you sit down.
This is not the opera, there is no ‘moment’ that it’s ok to stand, just don’t be a dick about it.
This is incidentally the same rule that one applies for hats or talking in movie theaters…
by Tim Riordan on Sep 3, 2010 2:30 PM EDT reply actions
Stand then please sit down
I don’t mind people standing for an exciting play, a restart, etc but it’s just plain rude and inconsiderate to to continue standing once that moment has passed. One of the reasons I don’t go to races any longer is the fans who insist on standing every time their favorite driver goes by. If he’s taking the lead when he goes by, then okay; but not every dang time. Sure it’s your favorite driver, but while you’re doing that other people are not able to see THEIR favorite driver go by. It seems like it’s just like everything else in today’s “me” society – the attitude is “It’s all about me and I don’t care if it ruins things for anyone else”. I found that these people were ruining my enjoyment of the races and have decided to stay home, save money and avoid the frustration. Sure I don’t get the same atmosphere as being at the races but at least I actually get to see some of the race now.
by pjaxelsson11 on Sep 3, 2010 2:48 PM EDT reply actions
Standing was no the issue.
Not sitting down once the people around asked you too is the issue. These appear to be the rules I have found to work in general, by trial and error.
If you are WHATEVERING so much that the people AROUND you ask you to stop WHATEVERING, you might be WHATEVERING too much. If you continue to WHATEVER, you are definitely WHATEVERING too much and likely becoming belligerent.
At this point you become fair game for anyone wishing to be mean, as they will have a target that the surrounding people will now support being mean to.
If no one want to be mean and the area is secured, like any public event usually is, expect to have an escort out of the area. If the area is not secure, expect to be shot or have everyone else leave the area.
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by Ben Prather on Sep 3, 2010 4:19 PM EDT reply actions
Jeff, how did you get onto the Football page ;)
by Katie D on Sep 3, 2010 10:06 PM EDT reply actions
we <3 Jeff on ALL pages
by lizd on Sep 4, 2010 12:19 PM EDT up reply actions
That's why I stay home
Jeff, there’s nothing I hate more than having people stand in front of me. That’s why I almost never go to games. Tickets cost way too much and I can enjoy the game nearly as well at home (sometimes much better). I also hate it when people wait until a crucial moment in the game to get up and go get a beer or go to the bathroom. Baseball games have natural intervals, and with the TV coverage, football has a lot of breaks. Whenever I do go, if I need to go to the bathroom, I wait until there’s a natural break. And when I return, I stand in the back until a natural break and then go to my seat. I don’t want anyone’s view to be blocked when I’m coming or going.
I don't want him to die or get crippled, but I root every race to see the 48 on a wrecker. I have had enough of the damned Stepford Driver.
by WestCoastKenny on Sep 4, 2010 12:06 AM EDT reply actions
I went to Target Field in July and this guy two rows ahead of me kept standing for mundane things like taking his cell phone out of his pocket and staring at it. Or letting people walk by him, and just not feeling like sitting back down, etc.
I was already irritated by the crying kid behind me, so this bothered me more than it should’ve. But he was in my line of sight and I just wanted him to sit like everyone else. It went on for most of the 10 innings. Luckily the kid behind me got taken home early!
by JAYMEDINC on Sep 4, 2010 12:10 AM EDT reply actions
How about standing only sections without seats in stadions? Many European soccer stadiums have them: http://www.hamburg-web.de/fotos/original/11855-Gelbe-Wand-Suedtribuene-Dortmund.jpg
by monkeyhead on Sep 4, 2010 4:15 AM EDT reply actions
Man must be a full moon or something
between this incident and the US Open one. Ugly times to be at a stadium I guess.
by Tyler Bleszinski on Sep 4, 2010 4:56 AM EDT reply actions
Meh
You guys act like standing up is hard. My personal rule is that if I’m setting the trend, I don’t stand up on offense, I stand up on defense (unless the game is out of hand). I’m not gonna be a jerk about it though. If there’s an elderly person behind me I’ll change things up.
If it were my choice I’d either stand or sit the whole game. Not both. There’s nothing that pisses me off more at a game than when everyone’s sitting down while my team is on offense then a big play happens and if you’re not one of the first to react, you miss it because the guy in front of you stood up faster.
To me ever since I was in high school, standing up was what everybody did. Usually if I go to a game, I tell myself that I’m not going to be entertained, I’m going to help the team. I know it’s naive, but I also say “we” when referring to the team. Mostly because I spent thousands of dollars on tuition but also because I help out.
But concerts…I would enjoy a good seat.
by Mark Mandingo on Sep 4, 2010 9:29 AM EDT reply actions
I agree with everything you wrote!
However, no sport compares to NASCAR in standing, one reason i quit going to races. You have to stand for the prerace prayer, and dont get to sit much until your car in postrace traffic. Everyone wants to sit after the green flag, but no one wants to be the first because you cant see squat,so we all stand…and unless you’re Shaq, you cant see much of the track while standing. Eventually, we all sit…but then something happens on the track, and we have to stand…and so on.
The funniest thing that happened was a guy who insisted on standing after we’d all sit down. He was drunk and yelled for his driver every time he passed us. During a caution he went out, and we all were happy…then looking at the big screen in the infield, who do we see in the concourse mugging for the tv camera? Obnoxious standing drunk dude!
by Rumbeth on Sep 4, 2010 12:00 PM EDT reply actions
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