Fanatics evolve

By Eamon Ducey

In a dictionary of sports terms, certain words would pop up, such as player, coach or fan. It is clear that a player is supposed to play the game and a coach is supposed to coach the game, but what is a fan supposed to do?

The term fan comes from fanatic, but in our current society the term fanatic has developed a negative connotation.

All of the videos from the first half of the 20th century show a tranquil crowd at baseball and football games, dressed in suits and dresses. They cheered for their team when they did something good and sat on their hands the rest of the game.

Now fans are a part of the entertainment. They dress in their teams’ colors and start cheers that they believe will enhance the players’ performance. They also try to detract from the opposing players’ efforts.

The Rider Screamers are a great example of the new millennium’s fans. They all wear a Rider Sixth Man T-shirt and paint their faces cranberry. They start chants to get the crowd involved, but they also attack the refs, calling them fat or blind. Many of these acts would have been frowned upon 50 years ago.

We have incorporated more distraction into the games by including mascots and cheerleaders. These forms of fanfare attract a younger, more lively crowd.

I wish I could say this was the only change in the fans’ dealings at games. Now fans feel that they should get involved in the actual arena in negative ways. Many fans will sometimes run past security and dance around the field. Although these exploits can be considered very amusing, especially when they run the bases nude, it has no place in sports.
Fans’ conduct has gotten even worse over the last couple of decades. In the early ’90s, Shea Stadium fans were notorious for throwing batteries at visiting players, sometimes even their own.

One of the common threads in the new fans is alcohol. They sit outside the stadium for three hours drinking and they enter the arena with their beer muscles on, trying to intimidate opposing fans with violence.

One of the worst moments in American sports history happened at Auburn Palace in Detroit when a Piston’s fan hurled a beer at Indiana Pacer Ron Artest while he was on the court of play. An upset Artest ran into the stands, and a brawl broke out between players and fans. Fans were heaving chairs that were connecting with senior citizens and children.

Another truly disturbing black eye to professional sports was when a drunken father and son rushed the field at Cominsky Park. They did not do it to celebrate a White Sox victory, but rather to attack the Kansas City Royals first base coach Tom Gamboa. Many Royal players came to Gamboa’s aid.

Fans should restrain themselves and limit their energies to supporting their own team with chants like “de-fense.”