Fans vs. Players

[ViRaL1]

In recent years it seems there has been more tension between professional athletes and fans at the sporting events. Where do you think the lines should be drawn?

What is and isn't acceptable behavior as a fan?

What is and isn't acceptable behavior from a player / coach etc?

Latest example

http://msn.foxsports.com/story/3046332

Another one

http://msn.foxsports.com/story/3012030

[indolikaa]

I'm sick of it, from both sides.


That incident between Texas and Oakland? The pitcher that threw the chair is appealing his suspension. He feels his actions are justified.

I'm sure that lady in the stands put the fear of God into him enough that she deserved to get belted by that chair.

Piss off on all of them. Especially the overpaid athletes who think a 3.00 ERA means they're suddenly worth $7 million per year.

[ViRaL1]

I remember the incident a while back where some guy and his son ran out on the field at Comiskey Park and started beating on Gamboa at the White Sox / Royals game. I think it's just getting ridiculous on both sides. I can't see a good reason to throw a chair or anything else into the stands, even if you have issue with a fan, there's no guarantee you won't injure an innocent bystander. Bunch of babies. On the other hand, if you as a fan are dumb enough to run out on to the field and you get the shit kicked out of you for attacking a player, I feel you got what you deserved.

[Tommyknocker]

What's acceptable. What's acceptable to me is what a camera shows what I was doing a sporting event, and my mother and her friends are watching the news that night and see what I was doing. Trust me, it won't be me throwing something at a fan.

[bazooka]

The pitcher that threw the chair faces deportation.

He has troubles outside of the suspension.

[jimmalenko]

I have long been an advocator of fans who go to sporting events being ejected for anything untoward. Security is very tight at sporting events in Melbourne, to the point where starting the mexican wave is an ejectable offence at cricket and football matches, not to mention the $6,000 fine for stepping onto the hallowed turf.

Fans pay their money to see elite sportsmen close up and in the flesh. There is a minority of people that believe that with a ticket they have bought the rights to downright abuse the opposition and spoil it for the majority of fans who are just happy to be there watching the game. Without a doubt, fans of sporting teams are passionate. While I don't expect everyone to act like they're at an opera or something, there still is a decorum of acceptable behaviour and those that act anti-socially or ruin other peoples' enjoyment of the spectacle should be ejected IMO.

The sports men and women don't need to be subject to this kind of scrutiny either, but I guess that with a large salary and a public life, it is expected that they are robots and not feel human emotions. Having said that, professionals should be just that - surely if a player can put up with the "friendly banter" from opposition players, they can put up with anything that comes from behind the fence.

IMO it all comes down to how concerned the sporting body in question is about it and this defines how they organise and police their security measures.

[glockjs]

fans pay the players paycheck. just as when i go to work every day i have expectations from my employer, so should the players.

[northcat_8]

A fan pays for a ticket, and by buying that ticket has bought the right to badmouth, second guess, question, make fun of any player, coach, manager or game official in person.
A player, coach, manager, and game officials accept that they will be bad mouthed, made fun of, questioned, etc, etc....it just goes with "job".

I think the line is drawn when fans start throwing stuff at the players. In Milton Bradly's case, that Miller Lite bottle did not walk itself out on that field, some fan threw it at him, or at least in his general direction.

Now I ask you...if you were walking down the street and someone just chucked a beer bottle at you...how would you handle it? Fans do not have the right to throw things on the field, but they do because they have no fear of that player coming into the stands and beating their ass. Not exactly the same situation if someone chucks a bottle at you just out in public somewhere.

As for the father and son who attacked the White Sox guy...I think security should have held back everyone else and let the team handle it right there on the spot. Correct me if I'm wrong...but had they not charged out on the field of their own free will and created the incident, then they would have gotten their asses beat by 25 major league athletes. That's not the athlete's fault, that's the creator of the situation's fault and they get what they get. If the team puts them in comas then so be it...think before you act next time...if they happen to kill them, so be it, they are doing society a favor.

This behavior goes back to the whole HS mentality. 2 people are ready to fight but just run their mouths...why? Because they don't really want to fight, they want to appear tough in front of other people and they know that school officials will not let the fight happen in their presence. It's the same reason when 2 people are arguing and the police get called, it's an argument until the cops arrive, then of course the 2 people are ready to fight...they don't really want to fight, they want to appear that way as long as there is someone there to break it up.

Things don't work like that in the Northcat classroom. I had 2 boys getting ready to go at it the other day. One got up, took his shirt off, emptied his pockets and was standing in front of the room yelling "come on, dog, lets go" the other kid was hesitant to get up but finally did so they were standing in front of my room for 30 seconds just jawing back and forth, I was still sitting at my desk and said "So are you 2 going to fight or not? If you are then quit talking and get to it, if not put your shirt back on and sit down so we can start class." They were ******* shocked. "you aren't even going to try and stop us?" I said "why would I care if you 2 want to fight? I'm a sportsfan and a math teacher, I'm making book on the fight right now and we'll use it later as a math lesson on odds and probability. Marcus is getting 3-1 odds right now but the line isn't closed yet." those 2 kids didn't want to fight...besides, both were so small they could have fought for 10 minutes and never put a red mark on eachother.

I don't know about anyone else, but everytime I ever fought or my friends ever fought, while the idea to fight might have been caused through a verbal exchange, once my decision to fight is made, there is going to be a fight and the talking is over. I would not have went to the front of the room, I don't take it outside or meet you in the parking lot....if I decide to fight, it's going to happen right now and right here and if you don't fight back, then you are taking an ass beating. Am I wrong on that? That's how it use to go back in the day when I was young and dumb.

I think what needs to happen in the sportsworld is take that guy who chucked that bottle at Milton Bradly, have security grab him up, but don't eject him, take him down to the Dodger's lockerroom and let him face Bradly alone and see if he's got all the balls in the world like he did when he threw the bottle to begin with. I don't think anything should happen to the players, they are there to play the game, I think all fines should be on the instigator of the situation, and I would really like to see MLB hand out a $50,000 fine to the player and then see the player sue the fan for creating the situation to begin with.

[jimmalenko]

so, northcat_8, what do you think about Fans Vs players ?

I found it so hard to follow your digression into kids fighting in the schoolyard that your thoughts on this thread were lost on me

[northcat_8]

I say **** the fans. Being drunk is no excuse. Your actions can carry reprecussions, I say let the reprecussions commence.

Fans have the right to cheer, to make fun of, to bad mouth, to yell but to throw things at players?? No.

You are at your job, you have an error...screw something up and it costs your company and everyone from another department start yelling "You ******* suck jimmalenko. Why don't you just quit. Boooooooooo. You suck. **** you. etc etc.". Now you aren't going to like it, but you can deal with it. Then suddenly a half a can of diet coke whizzes by your head. That's a whole different deal right there.

So I'm with the players on this instance, maybe it's because I am a coach and I am on the sideline and I hear some of the things being said and I've been with the players as we've had rocks thrown at us when leaving the field. Matter of fact, 2 weeks ago one of our assitant coaches got hit in the face with a rock as we were going in at halftime. They caught the 15 year old kid who threw it and that child now faces assault and some other charges. It appears to me that the role models sit in the bleachers...they aren't playing on the field.

[jimmalenko]

"You ******* suck jimmalenko. Why don't you just quit. Boooooooooo. You suck. **** you. etc etc."

<just another regular day at jimmalenko's workplace>




I agree totally. Players have to be protected physically. As I mentioned, I think some of the verballing has to be stopped too.