By now the scene has been shown on TV screens across the continient countless number of times. Yes, I a referring to the incident where basketball players shoved each other around, food and drink were thrown at the players of the visiting team, players and fans picking fights in Detroit. Seems like incidents like this have been getting more frequent lately.
Of course, fans and athletes getting up close and personal is not a recent phenomenon. Player-fan interaction has involved more than a handshake or a chat or autographed items on a few occasions. However, both athletes and fans have been getting more interactive with each other lately, but not in a good way.
One theory explaining this behaviour (this certainly doesn't defend actions by unruly athletes/fans) is that there is little connection between those on the playing surface and those on the stands anymore. The athletes now make many times more than practically everybody sitting in the seats, raking in millions for playing what is a child's game. There is also a growing disconnect between athletes and fans. Athletes used to be very accessible to fans off the field, not anymore.
There are also people who believe that athletes are above the law and can do whatever they want (FYI, I'm not one of them) and there are many athletes who believe that is true. Many athletes have made remarks and acted in ways that are adhored by many people, fan and non-fan alike. A basketball player, namely Charles Barkley, once said that athletes are not role models, but is a little decency and obeying the law too much to ask for an athlete?
Many involved in sports often forget that without fans buying ticket to games and/or merchandise, they wouldn't be enjoying the lifestyle they are having. Many often claim that they care about the feelings of fans, but they snub their noses at the very fans who made them rich and famous in the first place (while we are on this topic, I could talk about the lack of input from the fans in the NHL labour dispute, but I prefer to keep the league out of my mind until the two sides actually show willingness to restart negotiations). Of course, one can't paint every athlete with the same brush, and there are many athletes who are good citizens and take time to contribute back to the community and the fans.
While many athletes do not exhibit good behaviour at all times, there are fans who take sports way too seriously. They seem to have a feeling that their ticket allows them, as Homer Simpson puts it, "to make an ass of themselves". They seem to think that their tickets is a magic ticket that allows them to do whatever they want, such as insulting players, giving them bad gestures, or heckling them. Of course, there are the hooligans, the worst component of the great game of football, who sole goal is to stir up trouble. Good thing the authorities and the people running the game are working hard to clamp down on those troublemakers. You can even say some of the athletes' behaviour is caused by the fans' constant taunts and insults.
Earlier I mentioned that some athletes feel that they are above the law. Some of that blame goes to, us, the fans — we keep on supporting a athlete even if he commits a crime, blames everyone except himself when he plays badly, pouts whenever things don't go his way (like a spoiled kid). Athletes act the way they do because we allow them to do so.
Often the fans who misbehave are under the influence of alcohol. When one is drunk, rational people may do things one normally won't even think about doing. One possible solution to this is to designate a time after which no alcohol would be sold or to ban the sale of liquor altogether. This idea is fine in theory, but binge drinkers may consume large amounts of beer shortly before the game or before the beer stand closes. Some other ways to deal with this are limiting the amount of alcohol one can consume during the game, shrinking the size of a cup of beer, raising beer prices, substitute beer with apple juice (they taste different, but they are close in colour), or selling only non-alcoholic beverage (yes, non-alcoholic beer DOES exist).
Yes, sports can be a good outlet for all the pent-up feelings (watching/playing sports may be my favourite way to let off a little steam), but there are a large number of people whose stress level multiplies when watching a sporting event. Many fans take each loss as if it was the end of the world (okay, I was once like that myself) and treat the opponents of their favourite team as if they are their mortal enemies. Too often fans forget that they are only spectators of a sporting event, not participants in a war.
Athletes are not the only ones being abused by fans. Referees are also frequent recepients of the fans' insults. The referees often find themselves in a no-win situation — no matter what they do, someone is going to criticize them. Too often we forget the officials are human, too, and they are just trying to do their job. How would you feel if thousands of people yell and heckle at you every minute you are at work?
Unruly behaviour by fans is not limited to the spectators of pro games, either. You can find fans like this in practically every sporting event, regardless of the size of the event. There are parents who yell "you suck" at kids or volunteer coaches (a fact many often forget). It would be difficult for parents to tell their children to behave and be nice to others if they yell at coaches/referees/other parents and act rudely towards others in the stands. Yes, stress is affecting more and more people, but taking it out on someone else is not the way to relieve stress.
It may seem that I am trying to cover all the bases (no pun intended), but both athletes and fans are at fault in the erosion of player-fan relationship. However, way too many fans believe that athletes are fair game when it comes to insults, taunts, and bad gestures. If fans are wondering why some athletes behave badly, maybe they should first look at a mirror.
There are many people who can write about this player-fan relationship much better than I do. I just wanted to use this space to let off a little steam that I have stored for the past little while without causing any damage to anyone (except perhaps the walls at my place). Remember, it's just a game, not a matter of life and death (okay, there had been people killed in sports-related riots/celebrations, so maybe it is a matter of life and death sometimes. That being said, the world does not revolve around sports).