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AG's Wildcat Report - Dispatches on the Wildcats, from Anthony Gimino

Your Arizona Wildcats — love them or hate them?

by on Nov. 22, 2009, under Sports

Do you love this Arizona football team or hate it?

“We were one play short,” coach Mike Stoops said late Friday night, quietly, in a interview room beneath the stands at Arizona Stadium. “It seems to be our story for the season.”

Sadly, he’s right.

Nobody makes a movie out of being close. Nobody produces special edition magazines — Rose Bowl at last! — when you fail to make a play at the end.

The ESPN coverage will fade away. GameDay, it was nice knowing you. Thanks for coming.

It has been the season of “What if,” a season of an interception off a shoe, an illegal double-pass and a 44-41 overtime loss to 11th-ranked Oregon when one play — one play somewhere in the fourth quarter on offense or defense or special teams — could have preserved a 24-14 lead with 13:57 left.

For about 29 minutes of game time, the UA defense stymied Oregon — the trickiest, sassiest, most doggone confounding offense in the Pac-10 — and kept the Ducks off the scoreboard. Arizona turned a 14-0 deficit into a 24-14 lead early in the fourth quarter.

But then it all slipped away.

Do you love the Wildcats for battling to the end and nearly upsetting the 11th-ranked team in the country?

Or do you hate them for blowing it?

For dangling Rose Bowl dreams right where you could touch them.

For being so dang close Saturday night that fans — idiotic, misguided fans — poured out of the stands and crowded the sidelines within the final minute of regulation, only to see the Ducks tie the game with a touchdown with six seconds left.

“Our guys couldn’t have fought any harder,” said defensive coordinator Mark Stoops.

“We were a play away from beating a very good football team. As bad as I feel, and as bad as our defense feels, you have to look at the character of our players and how far we’ve come. You have to take salvation in the big picture, because otherwise it will kill us right now.”

The big picture is that this was a team picked to finish eighth by the Pac-10 media, with other predictions being anywhere from fifth to eighth. Arizona, without its best player (tight end Rob Gronkowski) all season and without its top two running backs (Nic Grigsby and Keola Antolin) for the majority of the Pac-10 season, can still finish as high as a tie for second, with a possible berth to the Holiday Bowl.

That’s good.

But are you ready for this? If Arizona loses at Arizona State and USC, the Cats are stuck at 6-6 and could end up nowhere. The Pac-10 already has five qualified teams for its six bowl slots … and then UCLA and Arizona each are sitting on six victories.

How we all end up feeling about this team is still to be decided.

Arizona can’t let the loss to Oregon define the season, even though the game might do just it.

“I can say we’re not going to let it, but at the end of the day, we all know it is,” said senior free safety Cam Nelson. “It is something that is going to affect us for the rest of our lives, knowing we let this opportunity slip out of our hands. I could sit here and say, ‘No, we’re not going to worry about it and put it behind us,’ but I’m not (going to say that).”

As I’ve said before, Arizona is an average to above average team. That it flirted with school history is to its credit. The Pac-10 is filled with teams just like UA. Make a play, and win. Don’t make a play, and lose. Can’t win ‘em all.

Arizona has played five coin-flip games — Oregon State, Washington, Stanford, Cal and Oregon — and won twice.

Maybe the next time, the opponent’s 43-yard field goal will hit the crossbar and bounce backward and not forward. Maybe the next time, Arizona will fumble into the end zone and recover it. Maybe next time, an opponent’s pass into the end zone will be an inch the other way and get knocked down.

Credit to Oregon. Quarterback Jeremiah Masoli was superb when he absolutely had to be, running and passing, and leading the Ducks back to victory.

And the Cats are left with a bag full of “What ifs.”

Do you hate them for the pain of the close losses? For reminding us of other so-close seasons such as 1998 and 1993?

Or do you love them for coming so close in the first place?

When it was all over Saturday night and Oregon was celebrating, senior defensive tackle Earl Mitchell took a knee, alone, in the end zone. He rose, hands on hips, likely exhausted, taking it all in. As he took the slow walk to the locker room, the student section began chanting, “Ar-i-zon-a, Ar-i-zon-a.”

But the scoreboard read, Oregon 44, Arizona 41.

“You move forward and turn the page, as painful as it is,” Mike Stoops said.

The pain will only be magnified if Arizona doesn’t beat ASU.

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  • Deputy Dawg

    Kudos to the moronic Arizona fan who hit one of the Oregon cheerleaders with a bottle of water, sending her to the hospital. I hope the idiot was arrested and ends up in jail.

    • Duckman

      Arizona should be fined huge for allowing those classless students on the field. That violates Pac 10 rules. Throwing water bottles at players and cheerleaders? You all deserve the Vegas Bowl. Hope BYU kicks you arse.

      • http://none JimBodkins

        We all have water bottles just waiting for a target … but you knew that.

        By the way … I dont play for the UofA and you dont play for Oregon. Neither of us has much to do with the outcome. We are spectators.

        The person that threw the water bottle isnt much different from you (with your ridiculous generalizations), but is very different from me. I would also not generalize about Oregon due to the behavior of a single miscreant.

        Oregon has a better football team. (Doesnt harm my ego at all). Arizona has better space sciences programs … that shouldnt bother you at all.

        Lets let the teams play and keep our egos out of it on all sides please.

        • Duckluver

          “The person that threw the water bottle isnt much different from you (with your ridiculous generalizations), but is very different from me. I would also not generalize about Oregon due to the behavior of a single miscreant”

          While in general I agree…the youtube video I saw, I counted no fewer than 25 water bottles thrown at the Oregon contingent on the field.

  • 1AtATime…’N'CatsTakeState!

    My only question: What was that series of play calls with 4-5 minutes to play in regulation and the Cats with the ball 1st and 10 at the UO 30 and Foles starts by awkwardly using the play clock to run time?
    The next couple of downs were questionable as well.
    Putting it in the deep freeze, getting conservative – or just dumb – when the ‘Cats should be going for the throat up 7?!
    The ‘Cat D & Coach Mark had just held the Quackers on 4th down and got the ball back for Dykes, Foles & Co., and Big ‘Mo was smiling upon the Zona Zoo & Co. from ear to ear!
    That was the game right there.
    Live.  Lose.  Learn.  But what after 6-7 years?
    That there will always be a next recruiting class, a next set of starters and backups, a next game, a next season, a next lesson learned.
    Beating ASWho?! – and winning the doggon’ game! – would be a good start to all those things.
    But an especially good start to “next season”: The bowl season.
    And someday maybe – maybe even soon – who knows?…
    They say they’re in full bloom pretty much, very nicely all over Portland around June…

    One full whiff, they tell you, lasts an entire year…

    Imagine.

    Just imagine.

  • http://www.goducks.com SactoDuck

    Arizona was by far and away the toughest team Oregon has played this season minus three-quarters of Mr. Gerhart at Stanford.

    Arizona despite 5- very close games this season is poised to compete
    once again for a Pac-10 title in 2010.

    Arizona has all the tools with a QB as good and competetitive as any player in the league. This coupled with an huge, active OL and defensive speed that is unmatched will lead to great things and titles.

    Arizona played an amazing game that truly was going either way to be decided by the bouce of the ball, not a play made or missed by a Wildcat.

    There is always a guarantee when a team shows up in the desert. The odds of RBs, WR and TE returning with all their fillings and congnitive function is slim-to-none. AZ DBs are lights out-no switch needed.

    AZ State and SC will fall to the Cats.

     

    • Duckman

      Just throw water bottles at USC and the Devils and you should be fine. Start throwing them in the 1st quarter instead of waiting until halftime….More advantage that way.

  • GO DUCKS!

    Arizona deserves to loose and I hope those responsible for the stadium are sued by that innocent cheerleader.
    Near the end of the game when the animals broke out of their cages it was obvious any sense of order was lost.
    Behold – the real AZ fans – so tough they attack an innocent girl – a superior Oregon Duck’s cheerleader.
    The curse is now upon you – you’ll be at the bottom of the PAC-10 for 10 years now – chumps.

    • http://none JimBodkins

      Childish.

      The person that hurt that girl should be dealt with. Your attempt to paint everyone with your childish brush is a loser. I dont think arizona fans are any happier that someone behaved that way than you are.

      I dont play for Arizona and you dont play for Oregon. We are observers only.

      Get off your high horse.

      • Ray

        Hey I would be frustrated enough to throw a full water bottle at an unaware cheerleader from the opposition if the majority of my fans leaping onto the sideline area in anticipation of a post-victory field rush (ILLEGALLY, I MIGHT ADD) were so thoroughly embarrassed and shamed that the misplaced bouquets in their hands practically wilted in their grip. Now THAT is an unnecessarily long sentence.
        And just for the record, the statement “neither of us plays for either team, we are observers” has literally no impact. It doesn’t even mean anything. So what? We know we don’t play for either team! What significance does that have? Ok, so because we don’t play for either team, that means we cant have opinions?
        Alright, we get it, you’re jealous of Oregon having the hottest cheerleaders in the country (I dare you to argue. http://www.insidesocal.com/usc/Amanda4.jpg), and at the same time being the current leader football, but that doesn’t mean you throw things onto the field (which you just illegally and preemptively rushed) which still has players, staff, and cheerleaders roaming. If nothing else, to not disrespect your own team. Completely embarrassing as fans.
        The point is: Oregon escaped from a very well prepared Arizona team yesterday, despite taking it pretty vigorously from the refs. They were lucky enough to escape despite the fact that after the first quarter, the penalty “holding” was taken out of those refs rulebooks. It is the only reason Arizona’s run game existed at all, and it barely existed. I guess if you do something enough it becomes legal. Look at the plays and tell me the AZ O-line isn’t holding instead of calling me stupid. The drive-enabling face mask called on Will Tukuafu was in fact a double face mask. Foles was gripping and pulling the bars of Tukuafu’s helmet plainly and obviously in fact on national TV, its the only part of that play that anybody saw. The only correctly called penalty the entire game was the unsportsmanlike on TJ Ward after he flexed his muscles at the AZ student section after stopping some faceless Arizona running back for no gain. And the only reason he got called for that was because he did it right in front of the head ref. That NEVER would have happened at Autzen. The ducks were homered hardcore, and in my opinion, that balances out the incredible luck that the ducks found in this game.
         
        And as the ducks know VERY WELL, karma is cruel. Never EVER rush the field before the clock reads zero. EVER. Never EVER bring roses to a football game. EVER. You can ask the beavers about that last year.
        Work hard, be humble, and take each game one at a time, and you are lucky enough to come out of a 10 point deficit in the fourth quarter with a 44-41 win. Hey I don’t believe in karma, but it’s hard to disagree that something seems to have had an awful lot of fun crushing the hearts of arrogant and bottle-throwing Arizona fans.

        • blueleaf11

          Holy cow you’re arrogant.  Blaming refs and saying you got “homered” is one of the weakest arguments anyone can make.
          The fact is, the penalties were called fairly evenly.  9 against Oregon, 8 against Arizona.  Arizona is the least penalized team statistically in the PAC-10.
          Your claim that the Wildcats were holding the whole game is baseless and ridiculous.  It’s not like it’s the exact same officiating crew for every single game, so you’re basically saying that Arizona is favored by refs in every single game since they only average 45 yds in penalties per game and they obviously don’t constantly get called for holding.
          Watch the Washington v Arizona game and tell me again how the Cats are favored.  The head of PAC-10 officiating even admitted that the Cats got the short end of the stick with a video review of a fumble in the first half.  And that’s without even taking the “interception off the foot” into account.
          I’d say it’s far more likely that you’re just wrong about the “homering”.

      • kelly

        Its too bad, a few ruin it for the rest. Jim your right, and its not right for people to be lumped into one basket. And kids will be kids as far as the early celebrations. But the athoritys that be need to clamp down on the overall security. At Autzen, as much as i think its dumb, but now maybe not, the coach gives a speach about giving the op fans a good time and be respectful. We have a hot line number we text if a fan near you is being unruly. The security is there in a heartbeat taking the drunk or the rowdy out. I can say if someone is seen throwing a water bottle out the Duck fans as well as I know you would also would get them out of there. Your team is going to be there in the race next year and good luck with asu.

  • Gus

    Arizona played well … Oregon played a shade better, especially on the road.
    It is a shame that for Arizona fans, the gallant effort by your team will be forever lost by the actions of fans. Crowding down onto the field before the game was over and with the outcome still in doubt — talk about inviting karma to bite you in the butt.
    And then, trying to injury the opponent — and injuring a cheerleader in the process — well, that is just criminal. Tapes should be examined and the people seen throwing bottles should be banned from games at worst, arrested and prosecuted at best.

    • http://none JimBodkins

      Hyperbolic … OMG.

      Did you notice this (from a previous post)

      http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/ncaa/specials/fansurvey/2009/pac10.html?eref=shareFB

      Oregon is the worst. UofA is near the best.

      A fan did something wrong and should be dealt with. Keep the rest of your rhetoric. It is a non secuitar.

      • Ray

        That’s funny because every fan from everywhere that I have met in the stands has called Autzen home to some of the nicest fans in the country.
         
        The only reason Oregon is rated so high in rudeness is because visiting fans sitting among the home regulars take offense at the fact that 60000 people can get so loud yelling at their team to  try and mess them up. Everybody thinks of Oregon as a rivalry game, and the home crowd treats everybody as a rival. (You’ll notice that individual team’s fans ALWAYS rate their rivals as the rudest, and that is ALWAYS the case for every team.) It’s always the teams rival as the rudest and after that… it becomes ambiguous in the voters’ mind, and the place that stands out from that ambiguity the most is the loud and crazy fans of Oregon and Auzten.  You poll doesn’t mean nearly as much as a blatantly offensive and malicious fan. I mean you can quote it, although it’s results can be logically explained away, in order to try to cover up the explicit, evident, and specific atrocious acts of YOUR fans all you like, but they wont go away, and you still have to live with the shame of them.
         
        Illegally and preemtively rushing a field with roses in your hand only to be embarrassed and dismissed like children. Then proceeding to maliciously attack the bringers of your embarrassment in a manner which actually disrespects the valiant effort of your team by littering their field.
         
        Good work, Tuscon.

        • Oliver Miller

          Thanks for checking in Lawyer Duck.  You must sit in the booster club sipping on wine and rubbing elbows with Uncle Phil.  Where I sit, I am surrounded by people throwing projectiles towards the visiting bench, using obscene language, and smoking weed.
          It is hilarious to read fellow Duck fans sit on their high horse judging Arizona fans for the same actions that Ducks fans take.  The only difference I see is that Arizona fan has more accurate aim.
          Thanks for the comedy, now lets focus on some more important things like the War for the Roses.

        • http://none JimBodkins

          You know Tucson has been continuously inhabited for 2500 years. And was settled formally by non-indigenous people about 1750.

          Your insistence that its Tuscon not Tucson is bure bigotry. Tucson is separate and beyond the UofA – which wasnt founded until the 1890′s.

          Pure ad hominem humina humina.

  • 1AtATime…’N'CatsTakeState!

    Careful there GO DUCKS!. 

    You ever so narrowly escaped and should’ve lost and you know it.

    And now you’re judging the masses and talking up a storm? 

    We are no more responsible for the act of some random individual than Chip is responsible for you. 

    Bellotti, Kelly, your announcers and now you are nothing more than arrogant and smug. 

    When Kelly called time out twice to ice Zendejas and had that smirk, that dastardly smile on his face and Alex still nailed the 47 yarder before half there was no greater pleasure felt by the ‘Cats!

    When Chip signed off with the ABC sideline reporter after the game and had that shit-eating grin on his face and made some kind of off the wall remark, even though his supposed 11th ranked team had just pulled – and barely – a Houdini act out of his Sun Visor (non-Sunbelt state residents – and this ones from rainy, dreary Oregon, of all places – who wear Visors are, well, hmm, something else…) that showed arrogance and smugness and cheap self-importance the likes of which your team and program and athletic department have always shown.

    There’s a lot of sports – including football – left to be played.

    Watch yourself.

    We ain’t done with you yet.

    And neither are the Oregon State Beavers – a team, program and athletic department with far more class than the Nike bought and sold, Disney technicolored pea soup and corn mush set you run around with.

    • Oliver Miller

      You hang onto that great FG made just before half.  Is this game like a round of rec golf for you?  One good shot brings you back for another week of torment?
      Stay classy Tuscon.

    • John W.

      Is it really that remarkable to call timeout before a field goal try? That’s a common and completely acceptable tactic. The kicker did a good job keeping focus, but there was nothing dirty or unsportsman-like about Chip Kelly’s actions to merrit such ire. As for his ”smirk,” that’s a distinct Chip Kelly nervous tick. For all the hatred of how the Ducks handled themselves in Arizona (for which I find nothing of substance to justify such feelings), the Arizona community as shown quite a bit of unsportsman conduct. Tell me, is it sportsman-like to root for injuries? Mike Stoops celebrated the injury of Kellen Clemens, fans cheered the injury of Dennis Dixon, and on Gameday a fan held a sign hoping for Jeremiah Masoli to join the list of injured quarterbacks. What about the attemp by a fan to injur an Oregon player, with the result of sending a cheer leader to the hospital. Do Arizona fans really have any place or room to talk about Oregon’s conduct last night? I think Oregon has a right to feel proud about how they conducted themselves last night, but there are many in the Arizona community who should reflect on their own conduct.  

      • Ray

        Indeed. Dennis Dixon smiles at karma’s exercise of what will be another complete and total Arizona collapse.
         
        After the 2007 performance of your coaches and fans, don’t even think about getting on about sportsmanship. You have none, Arizona fans.

  • Dave Parizek

    For the record, most UA fans are good people.  I am very sorry for the few a**holes who were so classless at the game.  But they do not represent the vast majority 99.9% of UA fans.  And Oregon should be the last to point fingers – ye who have reinstated Mr Happy Punch who should of been kicked out of football permanently.

    • Ray

      The fans illegally and dangerously rushing the field, and then the deliverance of the concussion to a hapless cheerleader seems to COMPLETELY disagree with your statement. There were an awful lot of AZ fans ON THE FIELD before the game was over, chump.
       
      No but seriously, I completely agree with you now that you have said something which is in total disagreement with the ACTUAL EVENTS.
       
      Actions, not words, bub. Arizona fans are classy? They seemed to prove exactly the opposite last night. Try to define yourself again at ASU, don’t just say ‘no no were nice!’.

      • kelly

        We did rush the field before the five minute horn at the USC game, we are suposed to wait till the horn blows, the security could not contain the rush. Just saying that we are all brothers under the sun in general, but as far as the bottles and the girl that got hurt, tragedy.

  • Duck Fan

    Too many times we’ve encountered classless, ruthless, and even dangerous U of A fans.  Pouring drinks on opposing fans, screaming obscenities, throwing water bottles at cheerleaders, fans crowding the field…you say they are in the minority, I’m not so sure.   We’ve seen it over and over again through the years.   But the school, the athletic department, the security and even the police all must approve of it because they NEVER do anything about it.  Bush league.  Never been to the Rose Bowl?  I wonder why……..what goes around comes around.

    • Oliver Miller

      For the record, Oregon was just ranked with the rudest fans in the Pac 10.  Hello Kettle…This is the Pot calling.
      I think it is just the nature of college sports in general, right , wrong or in different, you are going to run into good an bad fans at any stadium in the country.
      http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/ncaa/specials/fansurvey/2009/pac10.html?eref=shareFB

      • Duck Fan

        Look at the statistics in that SI fan survey. 64% of those who answered the poll are not season ticket holders, 45% of the respondents never attend road games and the ones that do only go to one road game a year. So how do they qualify to rate the opposing fans conduct? The survey also says for instance that Washington has the 4th most polite fans but also the 3rd rudest fans. Come on, the survey is a joke. The U of O has the loudest fans in the nation and we’re proud of it. But we’re not dangerous like U of A fans. We live in Phoenix and we’ve stopped even traveling to Tucson for games because of the volatile fans.

        • Oliver Miller

          I am as big of a duck fan as anyone out there DuckFan, but you are crazy to think that all Oregon fans are is loud.   Obviously you do not travel to games in Eugene much.   I sat behind the ASU bench a week ago and watched at least 6 water bottles get thrown out of the stands at the Sun Devils players.  When I went to Oregon 10 years ago, I watched UCLA basketball players get kicked, hit in the face, and spit on when the crowd rushed the court.  When Adam Spanach made two three pointers in 2.8 seconds in 1999, he got hit in the head by about 25 promotional hard hats.  So Oregon fans are no saints.
          College sports is what it is.  People get crazy in the stands and feel indestructible and entitled to behave in a manner that they would not conduct themselves in for day to day life.
          It is unfortunate about the UO cheerleader and the person who threw the bottle should be punished but this should not cast a shadow on the entire fanbase.
          It sounds like you have had some rough experiences in Tucson which I do not doubt, but I am sure there are just as many people that could say the same about their experiences in Eugene.

  • http://none JimBodkins

    Nice piece Gimino.

    The UofA has never had a tier 1 football program. To do that requires a major commitment of money and resources. (and market).

    The real question is whether the fans are happy with an average to above average program or not.

    Personally I am … on reflection.

    The UofA is a land grant university and is in the category of ‘public ivy’. Its a very good public school. That is what it was meant to be. Personally, I suspect that to reach the next level in football would compromise academic integrity.

    ASU was a party and football school for a very long time. That is, the flagship university in Arizona in the state capital was a party school. That was wrong. In time, that was corrected and it is now a credible university that does credit for everyone in the state .. including Tucson. (I’m a UofA alumn)

    Basketball is cheaper. Football is profoundly expensive. I never want to see the UofA go to that bad place that ASU took so long to get out of.

    It would be fun if the football team were better … but at what price? Luxury boxes for Click and a hit on the academic credibility of the institution?

    Priorities. We are cutting jobs and increasing fees. We must have priorities.

  • 1AtATime…’N'CatsTakeState!

    Hey John M, this is the first time I’ve read where someone’s tried equating a smirk and dastardly smile to a nervous tick.

    Kelly’s nervous tick, huh?

    This logic or line of reasoning has worked for you before, I take it? 

    What a defense. 

    And we have these Quacks judging us ‘Cats?

    I guess one man’s nervous tick is another man’s sucker punch to an unsuspecting opposing player as they’re both working their way off the field, right?

    Or, maybe that sucker punch is one Ducky man’s answer to another Ducky man’s display of excessive celebration after a sack, you think?

    Unsportsmanlike conduct, 15 yards, 1st and 10 the other way and being pulled from the game happened to whom last night, Ducky? 

    Give me a freakin’ break!

    • Oliver Miller

      Blount’s punch was inexusable and about as bad as you can get for sportsmanship…but saying it is a sucker punch to an unsuspecting player is about as big as a stretch as you can get.  Byron Hout provoked Blount with words to generate a reaction and made physical contact.  If that were out in public it would generate an alteraction the majority of the time.
      Completely immoral and poor judgement…absolutely.  Criminal, sucker punch, and unsuspecting victim….not a chance in hell.

    • Ray

      1AtATime…’N'CatsTakeState!
      Thats perhaps the dumbest and most childish argument I have ever heard. Kelly talks out of the side of his mouth. Thats how he talks. Its part of his facial features. It affects how he smiles too. What is the matter with you.
       
      Are you really going to try and whine about Kelly smiling? REALLY? You have GOT TO BE KIDDING ME.
      Is throwing full water bottles at hapless cheerleaders a nervous tick of Arizona fans? Wow. Really?
       

    • John W.

      As an Oregon fan I have observed Chip Kelly for a couple years. I venture to say that I’m more aware of his ticks than the average Arizona fan. The corner of his right lip is often curled back. The average person may perceive it as a smirk, but it’s usually just his nervous demeanor. Suppose he was happy and smiling after the win, that’s hardly locker room material. When a team wins they usually smile, perhaps you don’t have as much experience in that regard…that’s nothing for which Oregon needs to be ashamed. Nor is it comparable to the sucker punch incident. As previously noted, it was anything but “unsuspected” as Houte was “working [his] way off the field.” And, Blount received an unprecedentedly stiff punishment. Such behavior on the part of the Ducks was nowhere present at the Arizona game. As for the unsportsman-like call. The Oregon player quickly got up and flexed his muscles. It was certainly a case of over exuberance, but it didn’t appear he was directing his celebration toward any opposing fan or player. The UA field goal kicker, however, ran to the Oregon sideline and taunted the players after he made the field goal. If there was any unsportsman-like moment on the field, that seemed like it was the greater offense. As you note, one was registered by the refs and the other wasn’t, but that is simply a case of inconsistency in refereeing of the game. As you can possibly agree, the refs were making bad calls both ways.    

  • Greenfeez

    It was a great game…The Cats played hard and should have won…and it looked as though they would…I can understand the frustration of the fans but not to the point of causing harm to a cheerleader…sheesh..but before we start blaming all of the Zona fans ummm couldnt someone just as easily blame the entire Duck team when Blount went out of control….?…

    • Ray

      The ENTIRE student section was on THE FIELD, ILLEGALLY, BEFORE THE GAME WAS OVER. So YES, we can blame all Arizona fans for their unbelievable performance yesterday.

      • http://none JimBodkins

        You will just love this …

        http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/ncaa/specials/fansurvey/2009/pac10.html?eref=shareFB

        Check … Which school as the rudest fans for visitors?

        Now … just accept that no one posting here plays for either team. We are all unwashed spectators.

        Arizona has never been very good at football and the fans anticipation of winning a game over a team that has a much better history and team isnt terrible. (Funny how you emphasize “illegal’)

        When I was in college I remember feeling emotionally attached to UofA teams. They won I felt good about myself. They lost … the reverse. The I realized … I wasnt on the team. I was just watching the game.

        You also are just watching the game. You are not on the team. You do seem to be emotionally attached to Oregon football however like I was at one point. This will only result in an ulcer and hair loss. Enjoy being a spectator and keep that hysterical pointing finger in your pocket please. One person threw a water bottle for which I hope they punish him. Other than that … just an average to above average team losing in a close game to a better team.

        Get over it.

        • John W.

          It was a little more than “one bottle,” this short video shows no less than 16 bottles…
          http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pylgWDa1rlk

          Also Arizona fans cheered when Kellen Clemens and Dennis Dixon got hurt. Mike Stoops bragged about his team knocking Clemens out of the game. Further, on ESPN Gameday, there was a sign indicating with check marks next to the names of Clemens and Dixon, with a further open box (ready for a check) for Masoli. This is not mearly “one” incidident, this is widespread.

          • http://none JimBodkins

            Apparently they are no longer posting my replys … so I’m out.

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  • 1AtATime…’N'CatsTakeState!

    Ray, go back and check what your team, your TV announcers, your fans have said after recent games at Nike, err, Autzen Stadium…on the field…in just the last couple of weeks.

    Check the record regarding the classless, typically Oregon-to-opponent exchange that WILDABOUTAZCATS.com has so adeptly published within the site the last week or so.

    Taking last night into consideration, as Kelly called timeout the second time in a perfectly OK attempt to ice Zendejas the cameras zeroed in on your coach and he was clearly not talking to anyone.

    But as he made Zendejas wait and wait the UA fans were booing Kelly more and more, and he plainly smirked and then smiled that very questionable smile as if to say we’ll show you who’s boss here, in Tucson, and it ain’t you.

    After the game as he was talking with the ABC sideline reporter he made some remark and underhandedly thumbed his nose at Arizona as he was running away from the reporter.

    Now I don’t begrudge the victors a celebratory smile or show of pleasure.

    But I do expect my coach, who represents the institution, the state, the team and the fans, to show some decorum and professionalism.

    Look those words up in the dictionary.

    And while you’re at it look up legal too.

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  • Matt

    Keep on fighting Cats, Bear down and Beat down the scum devils!!

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