ECU junior outfielder Harrison Eldridge could not help but acknowledge the barrage of insults from the 285-pound, shirtless, red-haired student behind an “Avent’s Army” banner at last week’s 3-2 Pack win against the Pirates. Perhaps it was the countless jokes on Eldridge’s height from State student Reed Johnson that eventually set him off.
“How’d you like that 400-foot bomb,” Eldridge said to Johnson before his teammates warned him not to retaliate.
“What 400-foot bomb?” Johnson said. “That was 395 with the wind pushing it. Let’s talk about that catch out there, twinkle toes. Yeah, Harrison don’t talk to us; listen to your buddies. Keep your head in the game, Harrison. Keep talking crap like you’re 5’8.”
Johnson, a junior in sports management, has emerged as a frequent spectacle at home games, along with his posse known as “Avent’s Army.” Johnson and his crew post themselves on the front row behind the opposing team’s dugout for every home game and do their best to get into players’ heads.
According to junior shortstop Ramon Corona, Johnson’s tactics work effectively.
“It definitely helps out,” Corona said. “It gives a home advantage. I know it definitely affects the players on the other team. They’ll be telling me stuff on the field, like, ‘These guys won’t shut up’ and ‘I wish I could fight him right now.'”
Corona also said the rowdy nature of Johnson and “Avent’s Army” has helped recruit more fans for home games.
“It also helps to bring other fans,” Corona said. “They’ve heard about it. They’ve heard that there are fans there that are actually in the game and that heckle the other team, and that helps a lot.”
With such a boisterous nature, Johnson has forged friends in the N.C. State baseball family, as well as an entourage of enemies in opposing dugouts and stands.
The friends
According to Johnson, he first started regularly attending baseball games after befriending several members of the baseball team. One day when fishing with several team members, Johnson said members of the team urged him to start taking a vocal role at games.
“They were pretty much like, ‘Come to a baseball game, man. Yell at the other team; heckle them,'” Johnson said. “Though I questioned that, they said, ‘Just yell insults and stuff, and it really helps get the other team off of their game and out of their norm. Make them feel uncomfortable out there.’ That’s what home-field advantage is all about, making the other team feel uncomfortable.”
As a result, Johnson said he has gained popularity with other State fans, parents and boosters.
“We’ve got a core group of guys together,” Johnson said. “It’s not just me. Not at all. I’m just a small piece of a larger puzzle. The parents and the boosters really take care of you. If ever I need a beer or a ticket, anything, they take care of me. If I ever get in any trouble, it’s the same. The fans and the parents have taken me under their wing. I almost feel like a son to some of them.”
According to Johnson, even coach Elliott Avent is a fan of the rowdy crowd, as long as the “Army” keeps it clean.
“Coach Avent talked to me about it,” Johnson said. “He said ‘Look, I know what you guys are doing, I support you all. Just keep it clean, which you’ve done a great job of.’ He loves it.”
The enemies
Despite being embraced by some State fans, several of Johnson’s tactics in getting into the opposing teams’ heads have caused controversy among opposing supporters.
For example, at the ECU game on April 4, Johnson had the Facebook profiles of a majority of the ECU team in front of him in order to yell personal information to get the attention of players on the field and in the dugout.
“Basically, I want to get all of their information and dirt so I can use it against them,” Johnson said. “We have their girlfriends’ names. We have their Facebook groups. I don’t ever curse at players or threaten them, and that’s why it’s OK. I might mention their mother or girlfriend, just so they know that I know. I try not to cross that line too much, but I just want to make them as uncomfortable as possible.”
In the third game of a series against William & Mary on Feb. 11, anonymous William & Mary fans distributed fliers on the seats of the stadium titled “Wolf Cries for Help.” The flier went on to describe Johnson as “the cruelest member of that miserable group” and even called him a “rotund red headed kid” with “no manly attributes.”
It criticized the group members for calling themselves “Avent’s Army,” citing a lack of patriotism, and claimed that the “hurtful comments create a poor image of your supposed institution of higher learning.”
According to Johnson, opposing teams’ parents have even tried to get the police to sit him down and stop him from yelling at opposing players.
“Basically the other teams’ parents complain to the cops,” Johnson said. “But what the cops have to understand and what people have to understand is that it’s collegiate baseball. If you aren’t ready to take a verbal onslaught, then you’re not ready to play collegiate baseball.”
