It was a frigid night at Huskie Stadium, as NIU controlled its own bowl destiny against the Navy Midshipmen.

I was actually quite surprised to see the kind of fan support that was present.

Nevermind that the Huskies were competing for a bowl bid. I honestly didn’t expect many people to show up, given that temperatures had dipped below 30 degrees by kickoff and Tuesday was the last day of classes at NIU, so many students had already gone home for Thanksgiving break.

It was a pleasant surprise, however, as the Red Sea was loud and energetic throughout.

Huskie fans weren’t without competition, though, as Navy brought with it a full complement of fans, as well as a band of their own. The Navy fans and NIU faithful were pushing each other and raising the intensity level, as Huskie fans had the numbers, but were out-shouted at times by the visiting fans.

The student section brought its usual disapproval of officials’ calls, but the east bleachers surrounding Brigham Field held a surprise of their own: Navy fans.

That’s right, Navy fans were sitting smack dab in the middle of the NIU student section, right on the 40-yard line. These weren’t student-aged fans, either. This group of fans I found sitting directly in front of me were no younger than 50 years old.

Now, I’m not one to condone blatant and gross misconduct at sporting events, but I’ve always thought myself to be a strong proponent of sports fanaticism. In my opinion, not only should fans be allowed to lay into officials when they disagree with a call, or lay into the opposition’s fans whenever something goes their way, they should be encouraged to.

With this said, I can’t fault the middle-aged Navy fans for being loud and jawing their way around a section full of 20-something-year-old Huskie fans.

“That’s it, everyone who obviously doesn’t belong can go home,” said a male Navy fan after the Huskies turned it over on downs in the fourth quarter.

What his wife yelled immediately afterwards was anything but discernible.

It’s not that I’m upset with these Navy fans for rubbing in a convincing victory in the opposing team’s student section, because they had every right. It’s never easy to take a verbal thrashing as your team gets beat.

I’m more upset with the demeanor and actions of my fellow Huskie fans, or rather, lack of action.

As they were spouting away about their great victory, not a solitary soul dressed in Huskie red even had a reaction. Nobody looked at them, said anything in retort, or even gave them a shred of attention.

Normally that’s a good way to deal with someone who’s annoying you, but this is NCAA football.

There was a bowl game on the line. To say that you’re a fan who just lost your shot at a bowl game with no hostility in your veins is a fallacy.

I’m not condoning gross misconduct, violence, or anything of the sort. I just couldn’t believe that nobody out of thousands of fans had anything to say back to them.