Even though Tiger stomped on what is supposed to be a gentleman’s game, missed his opening to congratulate Phil, and missed a chance to thank fans, the Internet gives him the opportunity to make amends.
On his blog, Tiger took the time to thank the spectators that watched him finish fourth…a week after the event ended.
“I honestly didn’t know what to expect from the fans, but they were absolutely incredible from Monday through Sunday. It was unreal. They definitely helped me mentally to be more comfortable out there. I was hoping for the best. To get that type of warmth is something I did not expect and will never forget.”
Tiger, who ever writes your blog posts sounds sincere.
His name is Joey DiFrancesco and here is the e-mail he got in touch with us with, “I am Elephant boy, the guy who blew the conch at the Miami Duke game. How can we blow this up?”
Pun intended perhaps? Here he is during the SportsCenter highlight and soon we will have the story underneath the shell:
After going through the 192-page NCAA Basketball rule book here is the only rules that this fan kind of broke:
“Rule 10 Fouls and Penalties – Section 2 Administrative Technical Fouls – Art 9. Team followers, as in Rule 4-27, shall not commit an unsportsmanlike act, including, but not limited to, the following:
a. Using musical instruments, amplified music or artificial noisemakers while the game is in progress, except timeouts and intermission.
Note 1: Before penalizing a follower(s) of a team for violating Rule 10-2.9, the officials shall have knowledge as to which team’s follower(s) committed the act.
Note 2: When the misconduct of the follower(s) is extreme or excessive, such behavior may be penalized by the official requesting home/contest management to eject from the premises the team follower(s) involved in the misbehavior. In such a case, a technical foul shall not be assessed.
PENALTY: (Art. 9) Two free throws awarded to the offended team. The ball shall be put back in play at the point of interruption.”
I’ve never seen a conch shell used in a band (so no on the instrument) and it definitely isn’t artificial…so, I think you are in the clear Joey/Elephant Boy/Conch Shell Fan.
Last Sunday there was an epic battle in Houston between the Texans and the Patriots. Okay, not really epic, but it was historic in that Houston won the game and came away with their first winning season since they joined the NFL (yes, I know about the Oilers, and no, I’m not counting them).
A golden rule of sign-making in the world of sports fandom: If you are going to go with your friends to the game and have everyone hold a letter (or paint said letter on your chest), please be sure to stand in the right order!
In case you haven’t seen it, a recent ESPN Page 2 article outlined the “20 things that make you a sports doofus”. I am picking through the list one by one and giving my opinion on each of the 20 items, and then stating whether I agree with the author, or whether the author is the real doofus (you can read prior critiques here: #1, #2, #3,#4). Please be sure to leave a comment with your opinion. By the way, who says the word ‘doofus’ anymore anyway?
Doofus item #5: Going crazy over giveaway T-shirts and burritos when you’re occupying $500 seats
Serious question here: who complains about free stuff? Better yet, who complains about free shirts of their favorite team? Answer: no one who claims to be That Fan. I’ve been in front row seats and I’ve been in top row seats, and you better believe that once the announcer mentions the word “free”, my eyes light up like Percy Harvin when he sees the kicker is the last person he has to beat. When “shirt” is the next word after “free”, all hell breaks loose and I am out of my seat waving my arms like crazy, yelling for a shirt. It doesn’t matter if I paid a scalper five-times the face value of tickets in the parking lot, or if I got free tickets from a friend who couldn’t make it, walking away with free team gear is a bonus to any game, win or lose.
Something I want to point out for anyone who read the original article (because the author obviously isn’t aware of this), but one of the main purposes that sporting events toss free items into the crowd, is to get that same crowd up off their butts and to make some noise. The home-field advantage is huge (just as I explain in THIS post) so That Fan says if it gets the crowd excited, throw every piece of free team gear you can!
That Fan verdict: The author loses his winning streak and is the doofus on this one! Maybe he is either too short or can’t catch, so he’s bitter?
Even though Tiger stomped on what is supposed to be a gentleman’s game, missed his opening to congratulate Phil, and missed a chance to thank fans, the Internet gives him the opportunity to make amends.
Posted by Ben Meyers 
