When "no cheering in the pressbox" goes wrong.

There aren't fans in the pressbox. The pressbox is for the media. Fans sometimes find their way into the pressbox (hey, that's me), and because of that, they do announcements in the pressbox saying "if you cheer, you'll be kicked out". I've been pressboxing it since 2013 and have never once broken the rule.

I've come to very much enjoy watching a game from the pressbox. The main reason? I'm insulated from opposing fans cheering. I'm the guy who can barely stand it when four Michigan State fans have tickets behind me in the stands, so being in the pressbox affords me the ability to watch a game MSU-fans-behind-me free.

However, as more fans have been credentialed - perhaps the best way to say that is "as more media have learned that reporting on the game as a fan will make them more money so they become quasi-fans" - there's more noise in the pressbox than ever before.

So for the last six minutes of this game, I had a Purdue fan to my right. Watching the last six minutes of THIS GAME with a Purdue fan to my right was excruciating. Much of the Illinois media headed down to the locker room, so this guy made his way down to the front row. He wasn't really cheering, just "dammit" when Illinois would pick up a first down and "yes!" with a clap when Purdue would make a play. (I'm doing the same thing, only internally.)

When Purdue made the stop on fourth down to end the game, I was internally crushed. He was externally happy. No cheering in the pressbox is dead, and I'm the one the most angry about it.

All of that to say... I'm bitter in this FTS. Why does it have to be this hard?

I hate everything.