Detroit great fans...one bad night (no one lets us forget)

[tigers527]

I've seen it here (not so much), and have heard it on various national radio and TV programs over the years. The quality or lack there of, of Detroit sports fans. OK there was a bad night 22 years ago, and it did not help that USA today was just finding its feet then. With a fellow, with a little too much celebration in him standing in front of the burning car. Full color photos and national TV news (CNN also being a youngster at the time). Now, whenever it might look like a Detroit team is going to do well...uh oh call the national gaurd. It's not fair, and I hope to perhaps shed some light on how good, maybe even great the Detroit sport fans are.

1987 with the Tigers either gased from chasing those BlueJays down, or perhaps overmatched against the Twins (WS winning). Darrell Evans who at the time was used almost entirely as a DH, was put into the game as a PH (Sparky loved the righty v lefty thing), and wound up on the field. Needless to say Evans "Bill Bucknered" a grounder right at him. He makes the play, perhaps the game/series turn out different? Did the fine folks of Detroit TP Evanss' house? No, next time he batted, WE/THEY GAVE HIM A STANDING OVATION!!!!!!!

1989,1990 The Pistons win back to back championships, with little unrest.

1997 Both the Michigan Wolverines football and the Detroit RedWings win championships with little incident. Actually, AnnArbor is about 30 minutes from Detroit.

1998 RedWings win and little unrest.

1999,2000 Michigan State University appears in a few final fours and wins one. A overly boisterous college fanbase does indeed cause calmity. Keep in mind East Lansing is over a hour and a half drive from Detroit.

2002 RedWings again, with little incident.

2004 Pistons again with little incident.

With all that said, and many other "champs" invoking poor behavior in recent times. I guess, Detroit just happened upon their poorest behavior at the worst timing. A perfect storm of new 24 hour news cable stations and a rather young USA Today have smeared a mostly classy sports city. But hey, if your gonna be first (which I doubt, we just got the most coverage) might as well be the best?

BTW the "famous" photo of the fellow in front of the burning car. His name was Bubba, he was from a suburb, and within the last 2 years has left this mortal coil.

[Paulmcall]

I think what happened with Evans was he got got picked off of third base and that killed a rally and cost them the important game. They never recovered and lost the playoff.

[The Big C]

You neglected to mention the brawl at Auburn Hills against the pacers.

But I think Michigan State is the most likely place for there to be trouble these days in Michigan. I'll be a freshman there this fall. My friend will be a sophomore, and he was sad that he didn't get to partake in any rioting last year. Maybe this year will be his year. ;)

[ElHalo]

I was living in Detroit when the Pistons won their original champinoships, and seem to recall some rioting going on. Also seem to recall the same thing when the Wolverines won the 1989(88?) NCAA tournament, and also when they lost it twice a few years later.

Question for you, if you still live in Detroit: Does Devil's Night still happen? Do they still keep a running tally of the number of buildings burned on the nightly news?

[tigers527]

I think what happened with Evans was he got got picked off of third base and that killed a rally and cost them the important game. They never recovered and lost the playoff.

You know what you are right. Although, the "buckneresque" play happened as well, in the series, not sure if it was the same game?

[tigers527]

You neglected to mention the brawl at Auburn Hills against the pacers.

But I think Michigan State is the most likely place for there to be trouble these days in Michigan. I'll be a freshman there this fall. My friend will be a sophomore, and he was sad that he didn't get to partake in any rioting last year. Maybe this year will be his year. ;)

The Auburn Hills brawl falls almost entirely on Artests shoulders. Yes, there was a KNUCKLEHEAD who threw a cup. Throughout sports there have been many such incidents of fans throwing stuff onto the field/court of play, very few end up with players in the stands. The ones where players do indeed end up in the stands there is usually much more is involved then one cup. The best/worst part of it all is Artest attacking the wrong guy, but not just the wrong guy the smallest wrong guy in the area.

[tigers527]

I was living in Detroit when the Pistons won their original champinoships, and seem to recall some rioting going on. Also seem to recall the same thing when the Wolverines won the 1989(88?) NCAA tournament, and also when they lost it twice a few years later.

Question for you, if you still live in Detroit: Does Devil's Night still happen? Do they still keep a running tally of the number of buildings burned on the nightly news?

I was in high school when the Pistons won there late eighties championships, and do not remember much clamity after those games. Certainly not the amount of calimity of the 84 WS, and not much more then seems to be a matter of course these days, for any city with any championship. I can't say toward the michigan NCAA titles or final four runs?

The "Devils night" stuff did indeed carry over to the early 90's. Then the city renamed it "Angels night" and solicited the people to neighborhood watch on steroids. These days the night is not much more or less in the arson deptartment.

[racosun]

I agree that Detroit gets a bad rap. Nearly every championship-winning city has some kind of incidents after their team wraps up the title. I remember after the LA Lakers won their third title with Shaq, there were a few overturned police cars. Shaq ended up buying the police department a new vehicle or two, since he said it was his fault for winning the championship. I'm sure there was stuff happening in the Windy City after the Chisox won it all, and I'm sure whoever wins it all this season will witness more unfortunate events. Every city has their fans that get more than carried away with excitement (or disappointment). Detroit isn't as bad as most outsiders think it is.

[Yankees]

"Devil's Night" also now carries a much higher police presence, cutting down on the arson.

[iPod]

The Auburn Hills brawl falls almost entirely on Artests shoulders. Yes, there was a KNUCKLEHEAD who threw a cup. Throughout sports there have been many such incidents of fans throwing stuff onto the field/court of play, very few end up with players in the stands. The ones where players do indeed end up in the stands there is usually much more is involved then one cup. The best/worst part of it all is Artest attacking the wrong guy, but not just the wrong guy the smallest wrong guy in the area.

The entire stadium had to go crazy and start taking swings at and dumping beers on Pacers players in order to defend itself from Ron Artest?

[sturg1dj]

The entire stadium had to go crazy and start taking swings at and dumping beers on Pacers players in order to defend itself from Ron Artest?


remember the snow ball game at the meadowloands? no players went into the crowd.

Barry Bonds has had stuff thrown at him all season and he doesn't go into the crowd.

J.D. Drew had batteries thrown at him...no crowd.

When it happened the media was so quick to blame the Detroit Fans as a whole, which made me sick. Yet we know the Artest is a nutjob. Who else has run into the stands? Milton Bradley? nutjob.

next you're gonna blame Ty Cobb running into the stands on the Detroit fans.


There is rarely a reason to fight. For me, and most civilized people I won't fight unless someone hits me first. In these cases who threw the first punch?

growing up while working in retail I had people treat me like crap and do things that really made me mad...I didn't fight them!

[iPod]

Of course Ron Artest shoulders a huge deal of blame for making a really stupid decision. What I think is silly is the suggestion that this isn't also a really bad display from the Detroit crowd as well. Pouring beer on the teammates of a guy who just went into the crowd to punch a guy out, resulting in, basically, a brawl between Detroit fans and Pacers players, to the point where Larry Brown gets on the mic to try to get everyone to stop? Not the most mature way to dissolve the situation.

[tigers527]

Of course Ron Artest shoulders a huge deal of blame for making a really stupid decision. What I think is silly is the suggestion that this isn't also a really bad display from the Detroit crowd as well. Pouring beer on the teammates of a guy who just went into the crowd to punch a guy out, resulting in, basically, a brawl between Detroit fans and Pacers players, to the point where Larry Brown gets on the mic to try to get everyone to stop? Not the most mature way to dissolve the situation.

3 points..
First of all, it was not just Ron Artest at fault. However, if Ron had been a "normal" athelete. All that he had to do was point out the direction of the offending cup, and the ushers would of took over from there. The 95% of the folks at the palace who are normal would of pointed out the thrower and gone the thrower would be. And why if Ronnie really wanted to fight, did he just sulk away from Ben Wallace, and then go on to attack the smallest man in the area?

Second....Why did the Pacers feel the need to "back up" Ronnie? Steven Jackson shoulders some blame too. That sort of "mob mentality" would take over almost any venue, exception might be Wimbeldon?

Third off your wrost senetence ever sig...might not be so bad when you consider Coca-cola likely had cocaine in it at that time?

[efin98]

Detroit would have to do something really horrible to jump ahead of Boston after the death of a college student during a riot at Fenway Park after the '04 ALCS win and the mauling of a crowd by a drunken driver after one of the New England Patriots' Super Bowl XXXVIII victory...

[Whitesoxnut]

We had a few bad ones when the Bulls won their championships, "I know I was in the middle of it":ughh I was at Wrigley working the ballpark detail the night of Bartman. Before that kid whacked that ball the Cubs fans in that park, and the million in the joints around the ball park, were frothing at the mouth at the thought of the Cubs actually winning a pennant. I remarked to my partner, "watch out if these guys actually win this thing".

The White Sox won the WS on the road on a drizzly night in CHGO, and, I think it was a weeknight. If the Cubs ever won a world series, especially at home, I think the city would go ape.

Any city is capable of it, most of all the win starved eastern cities. The Bulls riots were pretty bad, I have some video of it and maybe I'll post it if I can.

[Whitesoxnut]

Heres how Chicago celebrates a championship. This video is from a dountown bar district involving mostly suburban white kids who went ape after the win, "I cant remember if it was the first one or the 2nd of the first 3-peat. Anyway I wasnt down here that night I was in the part of the city where the streets were being fired and we were getting shot at. A buddy was down here and said that they were lucky to get away alive from this crowd. The loud "pops" you hear are from the idiots throwing firecrackers at the feet of the horse patrols.

[Big Whiskey]

I seem to remember Super Bowl XIX a few months after the Tigers' 1984 Series title. There were just as many arrests and almost as much damage in San Francisco afterwards, but very little press coverage of the disturbances (except in the Freep and News, of course)

[baseball junkie]

I thought that Pistons'/Pacers'/fans brawl back in 2004 was hilarious! I loved how all the talking heads on ESPN feigned outrage while replaying the clips about a 1,000 times per day for about a week.

I still laugh everytime I see that beer come crashing down on Artest's face -- couldn't have happened to a nicer guy.

[flash143817]

I've always thought of Detroit as a thug city. You can give their fans "credit" for being "passionate", but they will never get mistaken for being classy.

And that brawl wouldn't have even started if Ben Wallace wasn't a big baby and went after a guy that fouled him (Artest) just because he was angry that the Pistons were getting crushed that game.

[Ubiquitous]

The first Bulls championship was probably the most violent of all their championships. There were some overturned cars and some looting going on. After that Daley cracked down on it and the police did a pretty good job of containing the partying to one area. I think in the second championship some cars in the contained area were overturned but you can tell people hearst were not into it like they were the first time. With all the police in the area they were not allowed to build themselve up into a frenzy. People wanted to riot but they couldn't bring themselves to do it. I knew a lot of people who drove into the city with the express intention of being part of the riot.

[sturg1dj]

I've always thought of Detroit as a thug city. You can give their fans "credit" for being "passionate", but they will never get mistaken for being classy.

And that brawl wouldn't have even started if Ben Wallace wasn't a big baby and went after a guy that fouled him (Artest) just because he was angry that the Pistons were getting crushed that game.


Detroit is a thug city; but sadly most of its sports fans don't live there

[Whitesoxnut]

The first Bulls championship was probably the most violent of all their championships. There were some overturned cars and some looting going on. After that Daley cracked down on it and the police did a pretty good job of containing the partying to one area. I think in the second championship some cars in the contained area were overturned but you can tell people hearst were not into it like they were the first time. With all the police in the area they were not allowed to build themselve up into a frenzy. People wanted to riot but they couldn't bring themselves to do it. I knew a lot of people who drove into the city with the express intention of being part of the riot.
http://mediamax.streamload.com/rich46yo/Hosted/bullriot-stream.wmv

Some of the west side and south side neighborhoods were looted and there was arson. We had a lot of guys hurt that night but luckily no-one was hit by gunfire, "that I can remember". The Halsted and Clark bar districts were as bad as this was, maybe worse. This was Rush street after the first one.

[WhiteSoxSteve]

I think detroit is one of the best sports towns in america, if not the best. It sucks because you guys are always gonna get a bad rap no matter what. Whenever something happens in NY people never talk about it.

[catbox_9]

I think detroit is one of the best sports towns in america, if not the best. It sucks because you guys are always gonna get a bad rap no matter what. Whenever something happens in NY people never talk about it.

Well said...
Also, people like to make fun of us all the time since our Tigers were so bad a few years back and our Lions are even worse. The fact is at the momen no city in America is doing better than Detroit (the Red Wings are up 2-1 in the conference finals and the #1 seed, the Pistons are up 3-2 in the conference semifinals and the #1 seed, the Tigers are in first place and won the pennant last year, Michigan State's hockey team recently won the frozen four (that sort of counts))

[Mattingly]

Kind of an old thread being dug up, but here goes:
I think detroit is one of the best sports towns in america, if not the best. It sucks because you guys are always gonna get a bad rap no matter what. Whenever something happens in NY people never talk about it.
So when the NYPD came out in riot gear at Yankee Stadium during the 2004 ALCS, people didn't talk about that? If a fight involved the NY Knicks and another team, people wouldn't talk about that?

I believe that the news media will endlessly talk about the good and the bad in NYC sports. If it's a slow news day, the bad will be discussed ad nauseum, I feel.
Well said...
Also, people like to make fun of us all the time since our Tigers were so bad a few years back and our Lions are even worse. The fact is at the momen no city in America is doing better than Detroit (the Red Wings are up 2-1 in the conference finals and the #1 seed, the Pistons are up 3-2 in the conference semifinals and the #1 seed, the Tigers are in first place and won the pennant last year, Michigan State's hockey team recently won the frozen four (that sort of counts))
Not to entirely change the subject, but:

Isn't MSU (http://www.msu.edu/) in East Lansing, MI? Is that on the outskirts of Detroit, as in a suburb?

[SamtheBravesFan]

You neglected to mention the brawl at Auburn Hills against the pacers.


Ugh, don't remind me. I was recovering from shunt revision surgery when that happened and I was convinced the Pacers' season could just be thrown in the garbage. Of course, I forgot all about Reggie Miller. :)

[Captain Cold Nose]

Kind of an old thread being dug up, but here goes:

So when the NYPD came out in riot gear at Yankee Stadium during the 2004 ALCS, people didn't talk about that? If a fight involved the NY Knicks and another team, people wouldn't talk about that?

I believe that the news media will endlessly talk about the good and the bad in NYC sports. If it's a slow news day, the bad will be discussed ad nauseum, I feel.

Not to entirely change the subject, but:

Isn't MSU (http://www.msu.edu/) in East Lansing, MI? Is that on the outskirts of Detroit, as in a suburb?

East Lansing is well outside of Detroit, much further than Ann Arbor, even. Not considered a suburb.
The news media will endlessly talk about NYC sports, at the expense of other teams playing.
For every incident you've mentioned above about NYC, Matt, you have a dozen different things romanticzing it. Sex and the City, Woody Allen, etc. It's a tad different. No city gets glossed over like the one containing the media. Stuff gets forgotten. Everywhere else, though, pays for incidents of the past, like the '84 WS riots. or Santa in Philly. Nobody remembers the riot squad from only a couple years ago. Or the playoff brawl between the Knicks and Heat that saw several players get suspended. But when a Detroit team does well, we're reminded of 1984, and what ElHalo was talking about in 1989 (it was crazy). They're usually rioting about something in Ann Arbor. Probably the lack of tofu in super markets.

[ESPNFan]

Detroit would have to do something really horrible to jump ahead of Boston after the death of a college student during a riot at Fenway Park after the '04 ALCS win and the mauling of a crowd by a drunken driver after one of the New England Patriots' Super Bowl XXXVIII victory...

That student would be alive today if the police officers who were trying to break up the crowd were using the pepper ball guns in a responsible and proper fashion. Her death was not the result of a riot but of police negligence. :rant: