Are Rice Fans Too Smart for Their Own Good?

Harry · July 21, 2013

A strange thing happened during the late innings of the C-USA baseball championship game. The Rice fans cheered. Not the polite hand clap saved for a departing pitcher. Not applause for scoring a run. The fans cheered, and they cheered loudly. But not for the reasons you think. Goaded by visiting Southern Miss fans, the Rice crowd broke out in loud cheers. That's what it took during that championship game to get the Rice fans to finally do something besides bellow loudly at the umpires...or worse.

The Rice basketball team closed out its season on Saturday, March 13. The team trailed Tulsa by a very large margin, something that was all too familiar during the season. Then, with the game seemingly out of reach, the guys went on a run and with just under a minute left, the Owls had the chance to get the deficit down to one bucket. Then the ball went out of bounds, flying into the stands. Instead of returning the basketball, a Rice fan chose to play hide-and-seek with the referee, bringing the action to a standstill while the fan showed just how much smarter he was than everybody else.

Rice fans don't cheer a lot. They do jeer a lot, shouting out not-as-witty-as-they-think commentary on the umpire's calling of the strike zone or a referee's inability to call traveling. It's as if Rice fans, what few there are at the football and basketball games, think they're too cool to actually cheer on their teams but are instead supposed to shout out mindless witticisms in vain attempts to sound smart.

Rice is in the process of hiring a new athletic director -- note, I've had the privilege of getting to know the interim AD, Rick Mello, over the past several years, so I'd be pleased if he was given the actual job. And one of the things the new AD is going to have to deal with is a fanbase that really doesn't show up for games, and when it does thinks that jeering officials is more important than cheering the team.

Read more: http://blogs.houstonpress.com/hairballs/2013/07/rice_owls_fans.php

UNT 90 Grad · July 21, 2013

Hmmm. So the attitude isn't just something limited to the MOB.

drex · July 21, 2013

I sat with my nephew, who was a member of the marching owl band, when they visited SMU years ago. Instead of cheering, the only cheer they let out was when the score was 'binary'....they all started chanting binary. That says it all.

SilverEagle · July 21, 2013

So, lets give them credit for being more traditional in their fan behavior years ago when they were brought into the SWC. But if this is how they conduct themselves at all sporting events, then just what made them attractive to WAC and CUSA officials?

Harry · July 21, 2013

So, lets give them credit for being more traditional in their fan behavior years ago when they were brought into the SWC. But if this is how they conduct themselves at all sporting events, then just what made them attractive to WAC and CUSA officials?

I should warn you Silver -- they are VERY irreverent and I'm sure they will do some things in our home game this year that may leave a bad taste in some of our fans mouth. Personally I sort of like that type of humor. For instance at the Armed Service bowl in Fort Worth last year they made a lot of fun of the power conferences being all about money... it was funny as hell. They also tend to make fun of the school they are playing so I imaging that they will get after us which is fine. I grew up watching them in Houston in the SWC and they stole the show at many of the SWC games I attended...

CMJ · July 21, 2013

The Rice band is a lot like the Stanford one. And Stanford's band is famous for being uncouth.

Christopher Walker · July 21, 2013

I sat with my nephew, who was a member of the marching owl band, when they visited SMU years ago. Instead of cheering, the only cheer they let out was when the score was 'binary'....they all started chanting binary. That says it all.

That's brilliant.

meangreener · July 22, 2013

I'm likely attending Rice for graduate school and I love it. The taunting they do is brilliant. Sorry.

Edited July 22, 2013 by meangreener

KRAM1 · July 22, 2013

That's brilliant.

Agree with you, Christopher...it is indeed brilliant. I like the approach that Rice brings, and I have a good deal of respect for the university and their ability to field respectable D1 teams filled with real student-athletes. Glad to have them with us as a member of CUSA! Looking forward to Ames against Rice!

LongJim · July 22, 2013

"What comes out of *someone who ate at King Buffet's* ass?

RICE, RICE...

RICE-RICE-RICE!!"

Edited July 22, 2013 by LongJim

Travis · July 22, 2013

That's brilliant.

Yes, but incredibly nerdy.

UNTLifer · July 22, 2013

I attended the mess at Rice a couple of years ago and one of our basketball games at Rice when I lived in Houston. Outside of their band, there was nothing memorable from their fans.

DT 90 · July 22, 2013

Agree with you, Christopher...it is indeed brilliant. I like the approach that Rice brings, and I have a good deal of respect for the university and their ability to field respectable D1 teams filled with real student-athletes. Glad to have them with us as a member of CUSA! Looking forward to Ames against Rice!

Minimum test scores for athletes at Rice is only two points higher than the NCAA minimum. In regards as to when Rice was "brought into the SWC"... that was 1914. They were one of the original members.

SilverEagle · July 22, 2013

Minimum test scores for athletes at Rice is only two points higher than the NCAA minimum. In regards as to when Rice was "brought into the SWC"... that was 1914. They were one of the original members.

..two years after they were founded. Which means that they were considered like everyone else during those days.

When I was growing up, they were called the "Rice Institute". I don't know if "Institute" is a higher academic designation than College or not, but that's what they went by until they changed it to "University". I think they achieved University status somewhere around the same time as UNT.

Harry, I'm not from Houston like you, but I picked up on Rice' attitude a long time ago. When I attended the NT/Rice game in 88 (the only one we have won.....and as a 1-AA school btw) many of the Rice fans were walking around with t-shirts that said "Harvard is the Rice of the NORTHEAST". I immediately got that they were getting tired of being compared to Harvard, and that they were conveying that they were academically superior (like Harvard) in their own right. Our Band came to that game and was anxious to have a good time "musically playing around" with the unconventional Rice Band.........and they were totally ignored by the MOB. That, plus the comments that the announcer for the Rice Band made about NT during our last visit at their stadium, and nothing would surprise me about their fans conduct at games. They might be intellectually brilliant, but that doesn't make them fun..... or particularly funny. I learned the difference a long time ago when I was attending North Texas and working for a small construction company co-owned by a Harvard graduate. We spent many hours hammering nails, pouring concrete, painting and having some very interesting conversations.

So my original question again is,..... "given that the Rice fans have been characterized as intellectually pompous, and their attitude on game days is often shown to be (at best) cavalier, AND they don't show up in very large numbers (home or away), then what the hell has been the attraction to conferences like the WAC and CUSA to bring them in after the SWC dissolved?"

LongJim · July 22, 2013

So my original question again is,..... "given that the Rice fans have been characterized as intellectually pompous, and their attitude on game days is often shown to be (at best) cavalier, AND they don't show up in very large numbers (home or away), then what the hell has been the attraction to conferences like the WAC and CUSA to bring them in after the SWC dissolved?"

Academic reputation and the Houston market.

FirefightnRick · July 22, 2013

I sat with my nephew, who was a member of the marching owl band, when they visited SMU years ago. Instead of cheering, the only cheer they let out was when the score was 'binary'....they all started chanting binary. That says it all.

That's funny.

Rick

Cougar King · July 22, 2013

First of all, RUCK FICE!

ruck-fice.american-apparel-unisex-athlet

Other than a whorn or an aggy, there is NOTHING worse than Rice Owl. I cant wait to beat them down in Reliant this upcoming year and keep the Bayou Bucket at Cullen. (Nickname for UH for those who are unaware and uninformed)

I'm likely attending Rice for graduate school and I love it. The taunting they do is brilliant. Sorry.

A move I expected from my arch-nemesis.

So my original question again is,..... "given that the Rice fans have been characterized as intellectually pompous, and their attitude on game days is often shown to be (at best) cavalier, AND they don't show up in very large numbers (home or away), then what the hell has been the attraction to conferences like the WAC and CUSA to bring them in after the SWC dissolved?"

You just accurately described those damn owls in a nutshell.

We have been battling for the Bayou Bucket with Rice for many many decades now. We didn't like them then and we sure as hell don't like them now. They will only let us play Cincy in their stadium but were very uncooperative regarding the rest of our home games and I hope Piland/Cosh/O'Korn/Ward/Kohlhausen/WHOEVER throws 9 td passes on them like Case did.

untjim1995 · July 22, 2013

Rice is very interesting. They are small, but very well-respected because of their academics. They have money, too, but not sure they care about athletics enough to really stay at FBS for the long road. Wouldn't surprise me to see Rice disband the program if they ever find themsleves left behind in a future FBS split.

The MOB is great, as long as you don't have thin skin. Anyone who drives the idiots at UH crazy must have something going for them.

I still believe that our epic beatdown by Rice in 2008 was the absolute lowpoint for this program since we became FBS again. Losing to Rice--old SWC doormat Rice--by a score of 77-20 was just amazing in its UNT ineptitude. What made it worse was that Rice could have EASILY scored 100 points or more if they had wanted. We aren't talking about UT, OU, A&M, Tech, LSU, Bama, Arkansas, TCU, or any other AQ power we have played in the past--we are talking about one of the absolute smallest schools in FBS--them and Tulsa--who both seem to revel in just pouring salt in the wounds they have given to us when we have played. It is worth noting that we did improve enough in two years that we almost beat Rice in Denton two years ago, only to fall short at the end. That's kind of why I feel like that Rice game in 2008 was the low point as a FBS program since 1995. I do remember losing at Nevada my freshman year in 1991 as a 1-aa school 72-0, but they were #1, we had our first failed high school coach in charge, and since it was 1-aa, literally no one cared around here. I did think that was our low point as a 1-aa program, though.

Green Dozer · July 22, 2013

Rice is very interesting. They are small, but very well-respected because of their academics. They have money, too, but not sure they care about athletics enough to really stay at FBS for the long road. Wouldn't surprise me to see Rice disband the program if they ever find themsleves left behind in a future FBS split.

The MOB is great, as long as you don't have thin skin. Anyone who drives the idiots at UH crazy must have something going for them.

I still believe that our epic beatdown by Rice in 2008 was the absolute lowpoint for this program since we became FBS again. Losing to Rice--old SWC doormat Rice--by a score of 77-20 was just amazing in its UNT ineptitude. What made it worse was that Rice could have EASILY scored 100 points or more if they had wanted. We aren't talking about UT, OU, A&M, Tech, LSU, Bama, Arkansas, TCU, or any other AQ power we have played in the past--we are talking about one of the absolute smallest schools in FBS--them and Tulsa--who both seem to revel in just pouring salt in the wounds they have given to us when we have played. It is worth noting that we did improve enough in two years that we almost beat Rice in Denton two years ago, only to fall short at the end. That's kind of why I feel like that Rice game in 2008 was the low point as a FBS program since 1995. I do remember losing at Nevada my freshman year in 1991 as a 1-aa school 72-0, but they were #1, we had our first failed high school coach in charge, and since it was 1-aa, literally no one cared around here. I did think that was our low point as a 1-aa program, though.

Odus Mitchell worked out pretty good for a high school coach in charge. Chuck Mills didn't and we should have learned from that.