Buzz Williams addresses "death threats"
Apparently Buzz has had to address at least one player getting death threats and racial slurs from the TX A&M fan base. I would think if Pedulla had really gotten death threats Mike Young would have gone public about it to protect his player/players like Buzz did. Quote from A&M player: "I thought they were rooting for us"?
44 Replies
1y
I have never heard any death threats or Vitriol towards our own players by our own fans. I'm talking lunatic rants here like they are being characterized. Sure I've heard "Box Out!" or "play smart" or "Stop Turning it Over!" But nothing a parent wouldn't yell at his own kid to motivate him. I've sat in Cassell and Lane a hell of a lot and never heard a player threatened and berated at that level by our own fans. I did listen to a guy in Cassell with a thick New York accent decked out in VT gear scream at Jim Boeheim for an entire game once. He kept yelling "Hey Boeheim! Retire!!" every 5 seconds. The entire game. No ****. Can you guess whether he was a VT fan or really a disgruntled Syracuse Fan?
(In response to this post by VT PoolShark)
1y
Generally hokies support hokies no matter what.
(In response to this post by ftsumterhokie)
1y
pressure is ramping up and move onto the next gig.
(In response to this post by VT PoolShark)
J
JackDSML
1y
Hard to imagine in 2025 that we have racist running around. As a child of the 60’s I believe this was all pretty much resolved by my generation and re- resolved by succeeding generations. Buzz needs to let the Po Po handle this this and tend to his business IMO. This is a distraction from his defeat to Michigan. Im disappointed if he really brought this up.
(In response to this post by ftsumterhokie)
1y
. . . '60's but our lives since then have repeatedly proven otherwise. That's been the most disappointing part of my time on this earth. The more I think things have changed the more they've remained the same.
(In response to this post by JackDSML)
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2hhoop3
1y
on how to approach this situation. I am not criticizing Buzz's approach and a coach defending his players is admirable. However, this response may just be giving these needy idiots the attention and validation they crave. Personally, I would keep it confined to the team, authorities and outsiders(parents, admins, etc.). Depending upon the nature of the threat, less public and more private responses will likely afford the best opportunity to catch perpetrators and minimize the likelihood of copycats. There may be a need for a more public response at some point but, I think lower key is initially a better way to proceed.
(In response to this post by ftsumterhokie)
And people wonder why the NCAA has been running ads about
not being upset after losing a bet.
(In response to this post by ftsumterhokie)
1y
unintended (but predictable) consequences to where we are...
(In response to this post by hoosnowahokie)
Decency is dead in this country
People feel they can make death threats with little chance of any repercussions - and they are correct.
(In response to this post by VT757to276)
Pedulla's got screencapped and it was seen by a TSL employee.
It was on Snapchat. I don't know exactly what it said. I didn't ask. But I do know that it did exist.
(In response to this post by ftsumterhokie)
1y
From what I know of snapchat the user that sent it will probably never be identified. So, how do we know it was a VT fan and not some guy who lost $10,000 dollars because Pedulla missed a shot that would have won him/her some cash instead of a big loss? Because that person said they were a VT fan? I'm not saying it wasn't I'm just wondering how you can be so sure...
(In response to this post by Chris Coleman)
It's always possible, but...
Pedulla took plenty of abuse from the student section. That's more likely. It certainly could have been a student gambler. But Pedulla was unhappy enough with the situation that he changed "S-E-C" at some students at a bar downtown after he committed to Ole Miss.
(In response to this post by ftsumterhokie)
1y
Times have changed I guess. I would have never even remotely thought of harassing Bobby Beecher or Dell Curry when I was in school.
(In response to this post by Chris Coleman)
1y
(In response to this post by Chris Coleman)
Help an old guy out here - what does "screencapped" mean in this context?
(In response to this post by Chris Coleman)
Screen captured. Someone basically took a picture of it while on SC.
(In response to this post by Walkin` Willie)
Thanks, I get what screen capture means literally - what are the
ramifications of doing this from SC (SportsCenter?)? Other than a copyright violation.
(In response to this post by WestEndHokie39)
Thanks to you too - still, what are the ramifications?
Not understanding the problem of screen capturing an image of a player and putting it on SnapChat. I get it if they also included a threat to the player on their SnapChat post but otherwise, what is the big deal?
(In response to this post by WildTurkE)
1y
which was cited as proof that Pedulla received "death threats" from "our fans". That's all. It happened. At least once. But it's become folk lore on here as one of the reasons we're in the predicament we are in with a depleted roster. i.e., the fans pushed Pedulla out and into the arms of Ole Miss.
EDIT: I believe Will commented once that he was in Cassell near the student section and the vitriol being directed to Pedulla was awful. My memory may be poor on that but it was at least a first-hand experience with some of the abuse he was getting by our fans on our court to Pedulla.
** Edited by WildTurkE at 3/25/2025, 9:40:53 AM
(In response to this post by Walkin` Willie)
Thanks again - yes, I understand what Pedulla went through and the
arguments on this board as to whether it impacted Pedulla's decision to go elsewhere. Unless I see the screen cap, I can't yet understand how it was "proof" that Pedulla received death threats from one of our fans.
My sister met CMY when she was out with her husband and another couple - I'll have to share that story sometimes because it was an eye opener for me. It relates heavily to the abuse fans dole out to athletic representatives of VT.
(In response to this post by WildTurkE)
1y
point you're still missing.
(In response to this post by Walkin` Willie)
OK, I guess there was a threat IN the post with the screen capture.
(In response to this post by BG Hokie)
1y
the text message and send it to other people. "Evidence" exists of said threat.
(In response to this post by Walkin` Willie)
Our fans don't have that problem anymore!
(In response to this post by Chris Coleman)
1y
(In response to this post by banishedtothelounge)
1y
Absurd at the highest level
(In response to this post by Chris Coleman)
1y
Remember that guy that sat in the corner near the student section and would berate one of the VT players all game long? Who was the player that guy used to ride? Was it MJ Collins? Am I remembering that correctly? Or was he just generally raging?
(In response to this post by hokiepro)
MJ Collins. All game long.
(In response to this post by Will Stewart)
1y
Pretty sure he thought (very incorrectly) MJ Collins was the worst player ever
Interestingly I also saw him during one of MJ’s great games (Maybe W vs UL); he was oddly silent & appeared not to want to cheer MJ’s good plays
Weird
(In response to this post by Will Stewart)
Reminds me of the guy who criticized Ronyell for every catch the opponents
made…even if he was covering an entirely different receiver.
(In response to this post by hokiepro)
Lol yeah, I think that was my story back in the day...
Sat in the front row for a game my sophomore year of college. This one dude kept screaming at Whitaker the whole game. At one point he was screaming at him for a completion even though he literally wasn't in the game at that point.
(In response to this post by WestEndHokie39)
I had forgotten he had criticized Ronyell when we wasn’t on the field
(In response to this post by Chris Coleman)
1y
In addition to college hoops, I'm also a big tennis fan, and you should see some of the truly insane, threatening, and abusive comments that players receive after losing a match. Particularly one that they were favored to win.
Sports betting is completely off the chain. And the growth of in-game betting, based on fluctuating "chance to win" odds, has thrown kerosene on what was already a poisonous fire.
(In response to this post by hokiepro)
1y
I could call out one guy specifically who sits relatively close to the VT bench that I absolutely CANNOT STAND, but I won't.
This guy just spews abusive crap all game long, at the refs and players.
And by the way, folks, this guy is probably about my age (60). He's no spoiled child, he's just a jerk.
(In response to this post by Gobbler Guru)
M
mghokie
1y
close to the end of the court?
(In response to this post by Will Stewart)
I went to the ODU game this past season
Sat directly behind a Hokie fan who was there with his ODU buddy. Guy complained about Pry for the entire game. My son (ODU grad) was sitting down the row so I told him about it when the guy left to go to the concourse. He paid attention when the guy came back and just shook his head. Both of us wondered why he wasted three hours. Didn’t even seem happy VT won. Dude was in his 60s.
One time you gave an example of a message board being like a party. You walk around, catching conversations, and if you don’t like it- you move on to another one.
But I couldn’t get away from this Eeyore…lol.
(In response to this post by Will Stewart)
1y
will probably only get worse.
(In response to this post by hokiepro)
Entitled, lacking parental guidance, atheist, narcissistic, no sense of
personal responsibility, poor work ethic, victim mentality, prolonged adolescence, etc. Strangely enough, being told "just be you" "and "do whatever makes you happy" doesn't turn out quality members of society.
(In response to this post by hokiepro)
1y
(In response to this post by hokiepro)
V
VT One
1y
anything and everything.
(In response to this post by hokiepro)