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J.F. Kelly, Jr. - Contributor

J.F. Kelly, Jr. is a retired Navy Captain and bank executive who writes on current events and military subjects. He is a resident of Coronado, California. [go to Kelly index]

Alcohol, Sports and Violence
Who's responsible?…
[J. F. Kelly, Jr.] 12/2/04

The public outcry over the near riot at a recent NBA basketball game between the Indian Pacers and the Detroit Pistons spilled over from the sports pages into the national news coverage. The reality, however is that violence in professional sports has become so commonplace that it hardly qualifies as news anymore. It should be a matter of concern to all Americans, however, because sports figures rank right up there with other celebrity entertainers as the leading role models for our kids.

Let me say at the outset that I am both a sports fan and a consumer of alcoholic beverages. I fully appreciate the fact that contact sports such as football and hockey involve a certain amount of regulated, purposeful, violent contact. Although it is understandable that tempers will flare in a hard-fought, physical contest, hand-to-hand combat is not a part of any legitimate sport that I’m aware of with the exception of boxing and wrestling. (Let us consider, for purposes of illustration only, professional wrestling to be a legitimate sport.) But fighting is already a regular feature of professional hockey in the United States and Canada and is increasingly becoming a distraction in non-contact sports as well. Not surprisingly, it is being accompanied by an increase in spectator misbehavior and fan-instigated violence.

Apologists have pointed out that the increased violence at sports events only reflects what is happening in society in general. Gee, what a relief. For a moment there, I thought sports were supposed to teach sportsmanship, not just reflect the good and the bad of society in general.

If the violence and thuggish behavior were confined to the players alone, it would be bad enough because they are role models. But the violent behavior is spreading to the spectators and, along with the outrageous salaries that drive up the cost of attendance, it threatens to destroy professional sports as a form of wholesome family entertainment. This is already happening in hockey where fighting is so prevalent that the spectators—I hesitate to call them fans—have come to expect, indeed demand, it. Hockey teams, in fact, recruit enforcers whose job includes intimidating and physically punishing opposing players.

It is difficult to take this “sport” seriously when officials skate in circles around two or more heavily-armored gorillas on skates swinging away at each other until their arms tire while the crowd screams for more. This earns them a brief visit to the penalty box where they glower at nearby “fans” who taunt them. This is sport? I’d sooner watch a dogfight. Even after last year’s notorious attack by Todd Bertuzzi on Steve Moore, breaking his neck, fighting remains part of the game.

In baseball, a supposedly non-contact sport, nothing will generate crowd excitement more than a knockdown pitch. Intentionally throwing a 97-mph fastball at a batter’s head ought to be regarded as attempted murder. Instead, we are told, by coaches, no less, that it’s all a part of the game. Just a little chin music, that’s all.

Columnists and commentators are assailing the criminal behavior of the basketball players who assaulted those fans at the Pacers-Pistons game last month, demanding harsh punishment, which, for a change, actually was meted out. But where was the outcry against the spectators whose outrageous behavior and insults provoke the athletes? Why are they so often given a free pass?

First of all, I don’t regard the inebriated, incoherent jerks who throw things at players and shout filthy obscenities at them as fans. The word “fan” is an American colloquialism meaning, roughly, “devoted follower”. These beer-guzzling, loud-mouthed morons are devoted mainly to getting drunk and attracting attention. Those who want to put the entire blame on the athletes who step over the line to confront their attackers seem to be saying that the high salaries and celebrity status of the players make them fair game for abuse and assault.

I have a different take on this problem. I believe that the primary blame belongs to those spectators who seem to feel that their ticket purchase entitles them to heap profane abuse and sometimes garbage on players, trying to create a hostile job environment for them, if you will, hoping that they will react. They are the loudest and most obnoxious of the hecklers who are under the delusion that they somehow make a contribution to the game. In the process, of course, they make life miserable for any real fans who happen to be within earshot, including women and children who may be shocked by the language.

It is easy enough for security personnel to identify these idiots. They are generally clutching large containers of beer, punctuating each gulp with an expletive or a belch. They should be ejected after one warning, but that warning usually comes only after a fan who is not intimidated by their behavior, reports them to security. Those that are brave enough to do so often require witness protection.

If the team and stadium owners really wanted to control this problem, they would drastically limit the consumption of beer in the seating areas, perhaps permitting it to be purchased only with the sale of food and then consumed, not in the seats, but in designated areas away from kids. This, of course, will never happen because beer sales generate revenue and sponsorships. Meanwhile, fan behavior will continue to deteriorate and more and more responsible fans will just stay away. Then those who bother to attend can have the stadiums all to themselves and engage in one gigantic food fight.tOR

copyright 2004 J. F. Kelly, Jr.

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