2008 Woodie Awards
Violence in The Sports Arena
Mike Johnson
Issue date: 12/2/04 Section: Sports
- Page 1 of 1
It seems that so recently athletes and fans interacted on a professional level. When a player made a big play to win the game or when the team won the championship, the players would reach out for the hands of the spectators and shake. What sports fans have seen over the past 10 years has been an enormous alteration of what the player/spectator relationship should be.
Many people are blaming the athletes, while others are pointing the finger into the stands. In fact, they are pointing the finger at what comes out of the stands. The most recent incident took place last week at the Pacers and Pistons game when a fan threw a beer onto the court and struck Pacer's player Ron Artest. The result was an all-out brawl involving several players and spectators. Suspensions and fines were handed out, but no one can expect that to right the problem. This is not the only incident to illustrate such a display of disapproval by the fans. It seems that the fans are slowly becoming accustomed to dictate how the sport should be played by littering the playing area, but are they the only ones to blame?
It is a fact that the level of competition has declined in sports over the years. That can be a result of the massive amount of cities that are gaining sports franchises. Phoenix has a hockey team; can you believe that? Do they need one? There are too many teams and not enough good players. There are a lot of teams with losing records year after year and their fans are angry. When there is a massive flood of players entering the professional level each year through the draft, it is just too hard to screen players and weed out the bad seeds.
Athletes coming right out of high school are being signed to multi-million dollar contracts but have not learned that attacking fans is not the right thing to do. They have never played in front of crowds bigger than a hundred people (and half of them are family and friends). The athletes have to know that the fans are there to see them play. With no fans, there would be no multi-million dollar deals.
Next time you are at a game and feel the urge to throw something, do yourself a favor. Turn to your buddy and throw it at him and let the players play the game. Being pelted with beer does not motivate the athlete to win.
Many people are blaming the athletes, while others are pointing the finger into the stands. In fact, they are pointing the finger at what comes out of the stands. The most recent incident took place last week at the Pacers and Pistons game when a fan threw a beer onto the court and struck Pacer's player Ron Artest. The result was an all-out brawl involving several players and spectators. Suspensions and fines were handed out, but no one can expect that to right the problem. This is not the only incident to illustrate such a display of disapproval by the fans. It seems that the fans are slowly becoming accustomed to dictate how the sport should be played by littering the playing area, but are they the only ones to blame?
It is a fact that the level of competition has declined in sports over the years. That can be a result of the massive amount of cities that are gaining sports franchises. Phoenix has a hockey team; can you believe that? Do they need one? There are too many teams and not enough good players. There are a lot of teams with losing records year after year and their fans are angry. When there is a massive flood of players entering the professional level each year through the draft, it is just too hard to screen players and weed out the bad seeds.
Athletes coming right out of high school are being signed to multi-million dollar contracts but have not learned that attacking fans is not the right thing to do. They have never played in front of crowds bigger than a hundred people (and half of them are family and friends). The athletes have to know that the fans are there to see them play. With no fans, there would be no multi-million dollar deals.
Next time you are at a game and feel the urge to throw something, do yourself a favor. Turn to your buddy and throw it at him and let the players play the game. Being pelted with beer does not motivate the athlete to win.