The Dark Side of Fandom

Sports and fandom provide many people with positive experiences. Better relationships with those around them, increased excitement in everyday life, and an outlet to enjoy. At the same time, fandom can bring out the worst in people. It can bring out the worst in people through their actions and I have experienced it countless times. It is important to remember no matter what happens in the game, it is just that— a game. There is no reason to become a person who changes the course of their lives because their team lost. Grow up. Life goes on and unless you are a member of the actual team, your negative actions are irrelevant and will only hurt yourself.

I do not live in the city where my favorite team plays. As such, I am often going to stadiums to see my team play in away games. I am not one who gets offended by trash talk and oftentimes laugh when it is creative. My favorite was in Chicago where a man with a mullet and wearing a bathrobe had some fun things to say to me. I attend sporting events for the experience and I believe healthy trash talk is a part of that experience. That being said if you are an adult shouting obscenities at the refs, fans of other teams, or players, and there are children within earshot, you may need to evaluate yourself. It is a game. Children should not be subjected to a lesser experience at the hands of an enraged adult. If you choose to trash talk, evaluate your environment and act accordingly.

At the same time, booing players is also a weird thing to me. Athletes performing at the highest level of their ability are recipients of performing their jobs in the public spotlight. They do not mean to drop a pass, miss a tackle, strike out, or make any other mistake. Mistakes happen. I recognize fans have the right to boo because of free speech and their ticket of admission but I have heard a perspective recently that made me reevaluate the need for this practice. Imagine you are a salesperson and every time you mess up a call you have 40,000 people boo you. Imagine you are a waiter and when you mess up an order you have 40,000 people boo you. Imagine your life, with your job, and think of the mistakes you make and how you would feel if they were performed on stage in front of 40,000 people.

Simply trash-talking or booing players is not necessarily going to change anyone’s life for the worse. It is when trash-talking elevates to a further confrontation that the dark side of fandom can manifest itself. Fighting, throwing bottles, and dumping beers on people, are shameless acts performed by fans that I have no respect for. Go to the game, watch the game, and leave. Those are the core actions fans should perform. That is it. The extracurricular activities that cross into the physical realm are nothing short of disgusting. I have witnessed multiple fights and other actions like this at games. I am sure while reading this you can think of your own memories of these types of actions, they are very common. The frequency of these actions is sad to me. I truly believe if you act this way when your team loses or because someone trash-talks you, you live a sad life and need to evaluate your purpose. If you are sucker-punching fans at a game, I hope you get the assault or battery charge coming your way. I hope you get banned from the stadium and never get to experience the joys of fandom in person again. There is no place in sports for these actions.

In addressing the root of these problems I strongly correlate these behavior choices with the consumption of alcohol. Tailgating and drinking are synonymous with the “in-person” experience of going to a game. I am not going to say don’t tailgate or don’t drink. I am going to say don’t drink to a point where you cannot enjoy the game yourself and where you cause others around you to not enjoy the game. I maintain fandoms are strong and trash-talking is a part of this experience but I can also assume a majority of people who get into fights, throw things, or dump drinks on people are not bad people. I assume all of them wake up the next day and regret their actions from the day before. I also assume a majority of these actions would not have happened if they had not let alcohol alter their decision-making.

Last Sunday at the game I had an adult man fall from his row on top of me, knocking me into the next row on top of two ladies. The man was completely hammered and was very lucky no one was hurt by the situation. I personally feel lucky it was me he fell on compared to the 5-year-old girl who was 2 seats next to me. This situation occurred solely because of the effects of alcohol and if it had gone worse, he would have had to deal with the consequences. Consequences he could have easily avoided and would have regretted. I added this personal story to show the prevalence of these types of events. I also want to emphasize we moved on and were able to celebrate together as our team did well. Our fandom shone through and we cheered together. On the flip side, the negative side of fandom almost caused a problem.

I recognize some of my opinions here may be in the minority, specifically my stance on booing players. They are opinions for a reason. I am not saying I am right or wrong, but I do hope my writing prompts you to see different perspectives and then evaluate your particular stances on the themes I discuss. I hope if you have a habit of becoming an aggressive fan you can take steps to mitigate this practice before you end up doing something you will regret. Sports are a game, they are played to be enjoyed. There is no reason to act in a way that can change your life for the worse.