Fans are getting out of control

-- L. Maurice Draine

Some are calling it the worst brawl in sports history. On Nov. 19, 2004, a game that featured the Indiana Pacers and the Detroit Pistons erupted in a mêlée because of a fan’s actions.

With four seconds remaining in a Pistons blowout win, a frustrated Ron Artest fouled Ben Wallace of the Pistons, knocking him to the floor. Wallace got up off the court and gave Artest a hard push in the throat. Artest, wanting no piece of “Big Ben,” decided to go lie on the scorer table. As the commotion started dying down, a liquored-up fan decided he wanted to be part of the action. John Green, a Pistons’ fan from Oakland County’s West Bloomfield Township, purposely threw a cup of beer from five rows up that hit Artest right in the face. At this point, Artest had had enough for one night, and in a heat-of-the-moment reaction, he jumped up off the scorer table and dashed into the stands. When Artest got up to the area from where the beer was thrown, he grabbed a man by the shirt; just one problem—it was the wrong man. Artest smashed the guy’s head down on his seat and asked if he threw the beer. The man replied “No.” Green, who was sitting next to the guy, grabbed Artest from the back and began to punch him in the back of the head.

The Pistons’ fans that were standing next to the altercation started throwing more beer and debris at Artest. A few of Artest’s teammates ran into the stands to help Artest, and then the riot kicked into full throttle. After the brawl subsided, the scene was somber. An elderly woman lay flat on her back in pain, children were crying and coaches looked bewildered.

What happened to the Good Old Days? It used to be if a fan didn’t like you, he or she would just say things like “You suck, you stink, you couldn’t make a shot if the basket were ten-feet wide!” or my personal favorite “Your mother wears combat boots!” Athletes have always had to be mentally tough—it comes with the job. But when does heckling become excessive? Nowadays fans have gotten belligerent and vulgar and heartless. They are dropping “F-bombs” left and right, with some completely disregarding small children sitting near or even next to them. Other fans that come to have a good time are reluctant to ask the offenders to watch their language because they’re not sure if it will cause a confrontation. Players have said they have heard fans say what they’re “going to do to the players after the game,” and even nasty comments about players’ wives and children.

Vernon Maxwell, best known for when he played with the NBA’s back-to-back World Champion Houston Rockets through 1994 to ’95, was a victim of offensive fan behavior. Maxwell and his wife had a stillborn baby, and news of the baby got around to newspapers and all over sports radio. After a game, while walking under the tunnel back to the locker room, Maxwell charged into the stands and pummeled a man who’d allegedly made a tasteless and horrible remark about Maxwell’s stillborn baby. By NBA rules, players are not allowed to go into the stands under any circumstances. But when you start talking about a man’s dead child, all bets are off.

It’s entirely OK to “boo” all you want, but it seems with some fans, nothing is off limits or too personal. Some that heckle athletes think since the fan buys an expensive ticket that ultimately pays the players’ salaries, it entitles them to say or do whatever they want to a player. With attitudes like that, all we can do is hope and pray that another incident like the one in Detroit never happens again. Fans must remember that players are not only athletes, they’re human beings too. And human beings can only take so much verbal or physical abuse before they snap.

If you have comments about the sports column or sports in general, send them to drainele@go.metrostate.edu.

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