Fuck Notre Dame
Posted: Mon Sep 29, 2008 8:56 pm
More specifically, fuck their police and Bill Kirk. Over the past few years, Kirk and his minions (on direct orders from former president Monk Malloy) have turned tailgating at ND into a high school party. You know, the kind of high school party you went to, had a few beers and hoped to God no one called the cops. Now students, fans, alumni and just about anyone has to worry about some asshole rent a cop with a power trip throwing them on the concrete because they "appear" to be intoxicated.
There are a few long threads on http://www.ndnation.com where people have shared their stories. They make me want to fucking spit bullets. The gestapo like treatment of innocent people, especially the injured veteran in the story below, make me want to puke.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Tailgating Gestapo Gone Bonkers
Reports from the font lines on the wacky crackdowns on tailgating and seeming abuse of Notre Dame fans inside the stadium. Have the authorities lost their minds?
This picture was taken by one of our posters.
Could they look any more ridiculous?
I propose we video tape them back. All students and alumni should have their cell phone cameras and video cameras out next week on the Barney Fifes run amuck, send them to us and we'll edit them together and youtube it for all of NDNation to see and judge. It'll be popular around the country, we know that. To be clear, only the top story relates to this picture, but this is just nuts and out of hand. Someone has to bring reason and perspective back.
"They had the video cameras out yesterday for some reason, perhaps to try to affect retrospective disciplinary action? I'm not sure. When he asked why I was taking a picture of them as they were filming our tailgate's license plate, I replied that it was only because they were filming us. They left shortly thereafter, but they may have been done wasting taxpayer money in that particular area, anyway."
Read this story:
"I am going to speak with an attorney on monday, but right now the situation is the result of me mocking the fact we have mounted tailgating horses. That basically then resulted in a "what did you say to me?" type of situation, in which the mounted cop charged me with his horse, knocking me to the ground. I get up with a resounding "WTF?" and from that point on I was "in the system." Get on the ground, NDSP called in, st joe drunk tank, and well see what comes next."
And this one:
"My buddy's girlfriend tailgated with us before the game. Was drinking diet coke up until about 1PM. Had some beers after that - but nothing crazy. She tripped walking into the stadium and the ushers asked her and her boyfriend if they had been drinking. They replied that they had been, but were not intoxicated. The usher said they could stay if security could determine they were not intoxicated. My buddy kept asking what would determine sobriety and the ushers continually responded that they couldn't tell him that - i.e. no breathalizer result would guarantee they wouldn't get in trouble. My buddy and his girlfriend went to the security office and his girlfriend ended up spending the night in jail.
My buddy said they could have left the stadium and not went to the security office but wanted to stay and watch the game so they agreed to go. After failing whatever test security provided they weren't asked to leave, instead they threw the girl in jail. There are always two sides to every story but she was not publicly intoxicated. This is very scary because it appears that ND could selectively enforce this and probably arrest 40,000 every game if they wanted to.
Unbelieveable - the University needs to take a look in the mirror and stop acting like this."
And this one from in the game:
"early-ish in the game, a friend (a graduate student who doesn't drink anything beyond wine transubstantiated into the Blood of Christ) was standing in the student section and lost his balance on the impossibly-narrow benches. He had to step backwards onto the concrete in the row behind ... just as probably every student does several times every week. Unfortunately for him, he happened to be on the outside of a row just as an usher was walking down it.
The usher, seeing his uncoordinated step, approached him and demanded his ticket book. Confused, the guy complied, and was asked if he'd been drinking. When he answered (rather incredulously, and apparently without bowing first) "no, I just lost my balance" the response was "bullshit" and he was taken down to the security office.
He was run through several sobriety tests (just like you'd see when a cop pulls over a potentially drunk driver), and then was breathalyzed. Seeing as he was telling the truth that he hadn't been drinking, he blew a .000. Frustrated at having been harassed he asked the security people for the usher's name, and was told to mind his own business and "get your ass back to your seat before we throw you out anyway" (that's an exact quote of his words, I can't swear whether it's a direct quotation or a paraphrase).
He got back just in time for halftime ... having missed almost the entire first half."
Obviously, these are not isolated incidents, but part of an orchestrated campaign. The number of stories pouring in is disturbing, but this story is really sad.
Someone with power and guts needs to step up and do something and quick.
If those weren't bad enough, this one is awful:
I never mentioned it, because I believed it was just a fluke instance of usher and police stupidity, but after reading here for the last day or so, it appears my experience is becoming the norm at Notre Dame.
For clarity, and those who don't know, I was wounded severely by a grenade blast in the invasion of Fallujah, Iraq. The right rear base of my skull ruptured internally, and I was left (after surgeries) with around 19 bone fragments in the lower parts of my brain, which are responsible for horrible vertigo and headaches most all of the time.
Anyway, twice since 2005 I've been able to get my doctors to clear me to go visit Notre Dame to see a football game. I got to see the green jersey ND / Army game in '06 and the Duke game last year. (On a completely irrelevant note, I've seen 12 ND games in person in my life. We're 12-0 in those games. You're welcome.)
I had one of my former soldiers from Iraq in town visiting, and managed to get tickets last minute to take him to the Duke game.
We got stuck in traffic, and missed tailgaiting completely, getting into the stadium with little time to spare. I'm not medically allowed to drink, and my buddy didn't have any time to do so, so we were stone sober. I did, however, have my prescribed vertigo pills in their official medical container from the VA in my coat pocket, and I had checked with the Usher at my gate to ensure it was ok as I was entering. I had explained my condition, and the need for the medication, and was thanked for my service, and told it was perfectly ok.
Fast forward to middle of the third quarter on a drizzly cold night, and probably getting a bit too excited about Robert Hughes' big game, and ND actually looking competant, and my vertigo issues flared up, and I was swooning a bit just as an Usher and a policeman were correcting some folks behind us about pushups in the stands. The policeman notices that I'm "intoxicated", and grabs me from behind by the neck (not real forcefully)and spins me around to face him. Couple things here. First, my neck is seriously screwy from the impact against the concrete wall in Iraq, so it hurt badly. Secondly, vertigo and being spun do not mix well, and I proceeded to vomit on his shoes.
He was not pleased, and hauled me physically into the concourse, where the pills took a dive out of my pocket, and the guy started accusing me of drug use. I was still busy throwing up, so I wasn't able to explain anything different.
My former soldier was furious about the way I was being treated, and lost his temper trying to explain my condition to the officer. The ND usher made a radio call sometime in this, and three more officers came and detained him.
I was finally able to speak as the officer moved to handcuff me, and told the initial officer to check the label of my medication, that I was a disabled veteran, and that my condition was flaring up, and I needed my medication to prevent it, and that he had made it worse by jostling me all over the stadium. He seemed to act as if I was full of shit, but the ND usher called it in over the radio, and apparently my gate usher spoke up that I had showed the pills at the gate, and my ID matched the label, ect.
The usher and the police walked off and had a huddle, and when they came back, the bad cop riff was replaced with falling all over themselves niceness and respect. My friend was released, and the ushers offered to take us down and find us a spot in the gold seats for the misunderstanding.
But by that time, I was horrendously sick, and my friend was no longer in the mood to be anywhere near Notre Dame, so we left the campus.
The story isn't probably any help to anybody, since I was too ill, and my friend was too hot-headed to even think about badge numbers or tunic numbers or anything to identify anyone or help the cause, but I wanted to share it now, since it's relevant to the discussion in some way.
This time of year, I'm usually pestering the doctors about allowing me to go back to ND to see the Irish play. Not this year, nor probably any year in the future if my wife has anything to say about it. She constantly reminds me that the officer could have dropped me on my head and killed me.
She's not much of an Irish fan anymore. She dimed ND out to my doctor as well, so I probably wouldn't ever get medically cleared to go again if I did try. I still thank God every time I think about it that she wasn't with me that day. She'd have probably clawed out an officer's eyes or something in defense of me, and done hard time for it.
Ah well, enough of that. I'm rooting for you guys to crush this bullshit from the bottom of my heart.
So while I will continue to root for Notre Dame's football team, until shit like this is stopped I won't support the university by spending one penny on any merchandise or attend a single game. Fuck this bullshit. This isn't what college football, or Notre Dame, is all about.
There are a few long threads on http://www.ndnation.com where people have shared their stories. They make me want to fucking spit bullets. The gestapo like treatment of innocent people, especially the injured veteran in the story below, make me want to puke.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Tailgating Gestapo Gone Bonkers
Reports from the font lines on the wacky crackdowns on tailgating and seeming abuse of Notre Dame fans inside the stadium. Have the authorities lost their minds?
This picture was taken by one of our posters.
Could they look any more ridiculous?
I propose we video tape them back. All students and alumni should have their cell phone cameras and video cameras out next week on the Barney Fifes run amuck, send them to us and we'll edit them together and youtube it for all of NDNation to see and judge. It'll be popular around the country, we know that. To be clear, only the top story relates to this picture, but this is just nuts and out of hand. Someone has to bring reason and perspective back.
"They had the video cameras out yesterday for some reason, perhaps to try to affect retrospective disciplinary action? I'm not sure. When he asked why I was taking a picture of them as they were filming our tailgate's license plate, I replied that it was only because they were filming us. They left shortly thereafter, but they may have been done wasting taxpayer money in that particular area, anyway."
Read this story:
"I am going to speak with an attorney on monday, but right now the situation is the result of me mocking the fact we have mounted tailgating horses. That basically then resulted in a "what did you say to me?" type of situation, in which the mounted cop charged me with his horse, knocking me to the ground. I get up with a resounding "WTF?" and from that point on I was "in the system." Get on the ground, NDSP called in, st joe drunk tank, and well see what comes next."
And this one:
"My buddy's girlfriend tailgated with us before the game. Was drinking diet coke up until about 1PM. Had some beers after that - but nothing crazy. She tripped walking into the stadium and the ushers asked her and her boyfriend if they had been drinking. They replied that they had been, but were not intoxicated. The usher said they could stay if security could determine they were not intoxicated. My buddy kept asking what would determine sobriety and the ushers continually responded that they couldn't tell him that - i.e. no breathalizer result would guarantee they wouldn't get in trouble. My buddy and his girlfriend went to the security office and his girlfriend ended up spending the night in jail.
My buddy said they could have left the stadium and not went to the security office but wanted to stay and watch the game so they agreed to go. After failing whatever test security provided they weren't asked to leave, instead they threw the girl in jail. There are always two sides to every story but she was not publicly intoxicated. This is very scary because it appears that ND could selectively enforce this and probably arrest 40,000 every game if they wanted to.
Unbelieveable - the University needs to take a look in the mirror and stop acting like this."
And this one from in the game:
"early-ish in the game, a friend (a graduate student who doesn't drink anything beyond wine transubstantiated into the Blood of Christ) was standing in the student section and lost his balance on the impossibly-narrow benches. He had to step backwards onto the concrete in the row behind ... just as probably every student does several times every week. Unfortunately for him, he happened to be on the outside of a row just as an usher was walking down it.
The usher, seeing his uncoordinated step, approached him and demanded his ticket book. Confused, the guy complied, and was asked if he'd been drinking. When he answered (rather incredulously, and apparently without bowing first) "no, I just lost my balance" the response was "bullshit" and he was taken down to the security office.
He was run through several sobriety tests (just like you'd see when a cop pulls over a potentially drunk driver), and then was breathalyzed. Seeing as he was telling the truth that he hadn't been drinking, he blew a .000. Frustrated at having been harassed he asked the security people for the usher's name, and was told to mind his own business and "get your ass back to your seat before we throw you out anyway" (that's an exact quote of his words, I can't swear whether it's a direct quotation or a paraphrase).
He got back just in time for halftime ... having missed almost the entire first half."
Obviously, these are not isolated incidents, but part of an orchestrated campaign. The number of stories pouring in is disturbing, but this story is really sad.
Someone with power and guts needs to step up and do something and quick.
If those weren't bad enough, this one is awful:
I never mentioned it, because I believed it was just a fluke instance of usher and police stupidity, but after reading here for the last day or so, it appears my experience is becoming the norm at Notre Dame.
For clarity, and those who don't know, I was wounded severely by a grenade blast in the invasion of Fallujah, Iraq. The right rear base of my skull ruptured internally, and I was left (after surgeries) with around 19 bone fragments in the lower parts of my brain, which are responsible for horrible vertigo and headaches most all of the time.
Anyway, twice since 2005 I've been able to get my doctors to clear me to go visit Notre Dame to see a football game. I got to see the green jersey ND / Army game in '06 and the Duke game last year. (On a completely irrelevant note, I've seen 12 ND games in person in my life. We're 12-0 in those games. You're welcome.)
I had one of my former soldiers from Iraq in town visiting, and managed to get tickets last minute to take him to the Duke game.
We got stuck in traffic, and missed tailgaiting completely, getting into the stadium with little time to spare. I'm not medically allowed to drink, and my buddy didn't have any time to do so, so we were stone sober. I did, however, have my prescribed vertigo pills in their official medical container from the VA in my coat pocket, and I had checked with the Usher at my gate to ensure it was ok as I was entering. I had explained my condition, and the need for the medication, and was thanked for my service, and told it was perfectly ok.
Fast forward to middle of the third quarter on a drizzly cold night, and probably getting a bit too excited about Robert Hughes' big game, and ND actually looking competant, and my vertigo issues flared up, and I was swooning a bit just as an Usher and a policeman were correcting some folks behind us about pushups in the stands. The policeman notices that I'm "intoxicated", and grabs me from behind by the neck (not real forcefully)and spins me around to face him. Couple things here. First, my neck is seriously screwy from the impact against the concrete wall in Iraq, so it hurt badly. Secondly, vertigo and being spun do not mix well, and I proceeded to vomit on his shoes.
He was not pleased, and hauled me physically into the concourse, where the pills took a dive out of my pocket, and the guy started accusing me of drug use. I was still busy throwing up, so I wasn't able to explain anything different.
My former soldier was furious about the way I was being treated, and lost his temper trying to explain my condition to the officer. The ND usher made a radio call sometime in this, and three more officers came and detained him.
I was finally able to speak as the officer moved to handcuff me, and told the initial officer to check the label of my medication, that I was a disabled veteran, and that my condition was flaring up, and I needed my medication to prevent it, and that he had made it worse by jostling me all over the stadium. He seemed to act as if I was full of shit, but the ND usher called it in over the radio, and apparently my gate usher spoke up that I had showed the pills at the gate, and my ID matched the label, ect.
The usher and the police walked off and had a huddle, and when they came back, the bad cop riff was replaced with falling all over themselves niceness and respect. My friend was released, and the ushers offered to take us down and find us a spot in the gold seats for the misunderstanding.
But by that time, I was horrendously sick, and my friend was no longer in the mood to be anywhere near Notre Dame, so we left the campus.
The story isn't probably any help to anybody, since I was too ill, and my friend was too hot-headed to even think about badge numbers or tunic numbers or anything to identify anyone or help the cause, but I wanted to share it now, since it's relevant to the discussion in some way.
This time of year, I'm usually pestering the doctors about allowing me to go back to ND to see the Irish play. Not this year, nor probably any year in the future if my wife has anything to say about it. She constantly reminds me that the officer could have dropped me on my head and killed me.
She's not much of an Irish fan anymore. She dimed ND out to my doctor as well, so I probably wouldn't ever get medically cleared to go again if I did try. I still thank God every time I think about it that she wasn't with me that day. She'd have probably clawed out an officer's eyes or something in defense of me, and done hard time for it.
Ah well, enough of that. I'm rooting for you guys to crush this bullshit from the bottom of my heart.
So while I will continue to root for Notre Dame's football team, until shit like this is stopped I won't support the university by spending one penny on any merchandise or attend a single game. Fuck this bullshit. This isn't what college football, or Notre Dame, is all about.
"Morality police...now bend over!"
