Unruly Fans Ruining Sports?

I was able to listen to a couple of great topics on sports radio recently. One of the better topics was unruly fans, the amount of alcohol they’re taking in and its effects on fans at sporting events.

People called in with a variety of responses, mostly telling their own person bad experiences with drunk fans. From people leaving in the first inning of a baseball game, or the beating of a fan in LA, there were many awful stories.

No one really called in with an answer, but perhaps it’s because it’s the reasons and answers no one wants to hear. Respect for other people isn’t even an option any more. And money drives everything in sports.

As far as drunk fans….it’s gone from bad to worse really quickly. As long as stadiums are getting $8 a pop for beer, it isn’t going to change. And as long as they draw big numbers with half off beer nights, half off ticket nights or college night…it isn’t going to change.

For sports at the League office level, or home team level, it’s all about the Benjamins, Baby. For many fans, the special event nights or even games in general, it’s just a reason to party and get wasted.

I have a hard time taking my wife and young boys to games anymore. I want to. I love sports and specifically going to the ballpark. But I fear for what they will hear, see, or be subject to. I’ve had more than one experience where an over indulged fan is vomiting his insides out.

I’ve been at basketball games where people near me freely dropped “F” bombs like there was a quota on how many they had to use in a 5 minute period.

Yeah. That’s why I came to the game. I shouldn’t be subject to that.

I shouldn’t be subject to foul language in front of me or my family. I don’t need to see stumbling fans that had too much to drink by the 3rd inning. And I shouldn’t have to worry about my safety if I have to defend myself or my family from the idiocy or ask someone to please clean up their language.

The thing is, the drunk guy doesn’ t care that my young son shouldn’t hear those words. The drunk guys don’t care that I have to worry about my wife being hit on or worry for her safety because he’s full of liquid courage. I shouldn’t have to worry about a fight breaking out because dudes have had too much to drink.

Paying for the ticket doesn’t give them the right to do any of that. They’ll say it does, but that’s my point. People today care only about themselves. Oh and by the way, I paid for my ticket too. When does your right trump my right to enjoy an evening with my family?

When I was growing up, my dad had to worry about the drunks outside of the stadiums, not the drunks inside the stadium. He worried about our safety between the ballpark and the car, not with the guy right behind us or in front of us. It wasn’t that long ago if someone did get out of control, they would either see us kids and apologize. Or my dad would say something and they’d stop. If it came to getting an usher, it was too far. And fans listened to the ushers.

Not nowadays. What’s an usher going to do? They just get cussed out too.

Here are my options. I can go to the cheap seats. But the biggest issue is in the cheap seats. Whether cheaper seats leaves more money for booze, or draws the “true” fan, it gets crazy out there. Can’t take the family there.

I could go to the nice seats, but can’t afford tickets for the whole family without dipping into my life savings.

Or I don’t go. Which is really disappointing because I love going to the ballpark. And my boys love baseball.

How about this? You go and enjoy the game. Fine, have a beer or two. I don’t know how you can enjoy a beer that cost nearly $10, but have at it. Have a good time. But more than that respect the other fans and their families. We paid our hard earned money to enjoy our night as well.