Tricia Whitaker is one of the most prominent voices at Indiana University. She did not appreciate how she was treated by Miami fans at the College Football Playoff National Championship on Monday.
The IU Media School graduate found their conduct to be inappropriate!
This might not come as a huge surprise to people who follow college football, and not every fan of the Hurricanes falls under this umbrella of poor behavior, but I can also attest to the unruly exploits. It is exactly what you might expect.
Indiana fans went to the college football national championship game.
The Hoosiers were at a serious disadvantage for the national championship in terms of travel logistics. The Hurricanes play at Hard Rock Stadium, which just so happened to serve as the host stadium on Monday night. It was a home game. Literally.
As a result, Miami fans were able to spend all of their money on tickets and only on tickets. Indiana fans had to figure out how they were going to get to Florida, where they were going to stay when they got there, what they were going to eat and drink, and where they were going to sit in the crowd.
Not only that, but the Canes secured their spot in the national championship game one day prior to the Hoosiers. They had approximately 24 more hours to buy their tickets, knowing for sure that they were in.
All of these factors combined to create a serious home-field advantage for the University of Miami.
Except it didn’t. Indiana fans completely took over Hard Rock Stadium for the game. They out-numbered the proverbial home team by a large margin. It was at least 70/30.
A horrible ticketing system was part of the equation as a large number of fans (on both sides) got stuck in limbo with their resale purchases. Outrageous ticket prices also played a role.
The Hoosiers paid up. The Hurricanes did not.
Miami fans drew criticism for their behavior.
Although the crowd at the game itself was a sea of red, the city of Miami was painted orange and green. Thousands of fans gathered outside of the stadium to party in the parking lot. Local police even had to crack down on loud music because it was getting out of hand. Every strip mall within a few miles of the stadium was packed with tailgate tents. All of the bars were slammed.
But, as we saw, the vast majority of those “fans” did not actually go inside of the stadium.
MLB sideline reporter and CBS Sports studio host Tricia Whitaker was in attendance at the national championship game. She is an alumnus of Indiana University, a lecturer at the IU School of Media during the baseball offseason and a big Hoosiers fan. Obviously. Her seats were pretty sweet!
Whitaker issued a warning during pregame that she was going to be completely unhinged— in a good way.
The opposing fanbase was apparently unhinged— in a bad way. Whitaker did not enjoy her interactions with the fans of the Hurricanes.
“Miami fans in the tailgate lots, as well as stadium, were classless, rude, and aggressively out of pocket,” she said.
She thanked them for hosting and has nothing to say to them except, “OPE!! WE WON.” Checkmate.
I was in attendance at the Fiesta Bowl so I can corroborate the experience of Tricia Whitaker. I found the Miami fanbase to lack decorum in public settings, and to lack manners. They were abrasive and vulgar. They acted as though they were entitled to preferential treatment.
These feelings do not apply to the entire fanbase, and there are always bad apples in every bunch, but Whitaker would not make such an accusatory post if she did not find it to be necessary. It was that bad.