Much had been made about Eric Gordon's first trip to Illinois and how he would react to the fans. It would be easy to say that the crowd had a huge affect on Gordon's play, but Gordon has had poor shooting on the road during conference play. The Orange Krush and the rest of the Illinois student section (there is a difference as the Orange Krush are the ones you see on T.V. - the rest of the students sit above. A student has to be a member of the Illini Pride organization before becoming a part of the Orange Krush) kept the chants going all night. Some of the ones I recall are "F--- you Gordon" "Liar, Liar" "In your head".
Chants are always going to be part of the game, but did the Illinois Students go over the line with the "F--- you Gordon" chant? Jay Mariotti of the Chicago Sun-Times and ESPN's Around the Horn thought so. CBS Sportsline's Greg Doyle thought the fans were OK until an object was thrown at the IU fans sitting toward the Hoosier bench, including Mrs. Gordon.
With the controversy surrounding the IU fans after the Connecticut game, is this just where college sports is heading? Chanting the f-word in arenas has not been the norm since I've been going to sporting contests, but maybe it will. Thoughts?
