So then what is the solution? What measures are strong enough to stop the basic human urge of throwing themselves into a game, and developing a mob mentality after a win? The only plausible solution seems to be taking away the win itself. This appears incredibly harsh, and apt to only cause more outrage and violence, but it appears that this is the only solution large enough to alleviate the problem. If you implement the rule that if fans become to unruly or rush the field after a game, you would simply hand the win over to the other team. Thus making these extreme celebrations after games meaningless. This solution is very extreme and it is not cure all solution. It will not stop a fan from living vicariously through his team or being exuberant at a game, but it might at the very least provide the incentive to be calm enough to not storm the field or riot in the streets of the city. This type of solution is absolutely necessary because you are not just talking about rowdy fans. The mind set of these fans after a game have degraded to the point of being animalistic, destroying millions of dollars worth of property, and killing inadvertently killing innocent people. It is time something is finally done to stop this before more people lose there lives in this haze that persists in sports. A solution must be implemented soon to stop this slow downward spiral out of humanity before it becomes to late, and a disaster beyond our imagination occurs.
This idea of fan violence seems to have been around as long as sports themselves. It dates all the way back to the Roman empire. In 532 A.D under the rule of Justinian around 30,000 people were killed during a chariot race when a riot broke out between the opposing Green and Blue chariot racing teams. The riots lasted for five days before finally being broken up by the Roman militia. The term most commonly associated with fan violence is hooliganism. Although this term usually refers to soccer hooliganism. Soccer has a long and storied history of rambunctious fans, and is typically seen as having the most violent and dangerous supporters. Especially in England, brawls and fights during a soccer game are seen as completely commonplace. These hooligans even take it as far as to schedule these fights at a predetermined location with organized groups of people. One of the deadliest of these hooligan melee’s occurred on May 29, 1985, during the 1985 European Cup Finals between Liverpool and Jueventus of Italy. The tragedy began an hour before kick off when a large mob of Liverpool fans attacked a group of the Italian fans. The fight pushed back against the stadium wall which caused it’s collapse and ended up killing thirty-nine people, and injuring hundreds more.
While the term fan was actual derived from the word fanatic this behavior seems exceed the simple love and passion for the game by a long shot. In many cases it appears to devolve into pointless violence, and destruction merely for the sake of destroying something. I personally do not see a problem with the usual cheering, yelling, and drinking during or after a game, but when it comes down to car being flipped in the streets, and innocent people being killed something has to be done. And while it is true that sporting events have tried to increase security and police awareness it still seems apparent that more drastic measures must be taken to keep fans, players, and innocent citizens on the street safe. A recent violent tragedy broke out in 2004 during a Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees game. After the winning game of the American League Championship Series a riot broke out on the streets of Boston. Police responded and attempted to use pepper guns to try to disperse the crowds. These pepper guns killed Emory student Victoria Snelgrove after being struck in the eye. It seems obvious that if these actions are left unchecked they will continue to progress, and while you cannot simply tell a fan to not be enthusiastic about his team, something must be done on the security and management end to prevent these events from occurring.
Although it is a necessity to develop a new and possibly harsher system for dealing with these out of control fans. There have been a variety of measures taken in the past to solve this very problem. One of which is setting up so called, “Hooligan checkpoints” in an attempt to prevent these soccer hooligans from entering the match. Although this is a step in the right direction, it is simply not good enough. Hooligans are obviously taking not of this security ramp up, and changing there appearance from the stereotypical hooligan apparel. This is making it harder and harder to actually determine who the hooligans actually are. Another example of past security increases can be seen in college sports. Where schools are being fined for excessive and inappropriate jeering from the crowd, and even larger fines for rushing the field and tearing down goal posts. An example of this can be seen in South Carolina where Joe Solomon of The Birmingham News reports that,”The SEC announced today South Carolina will be fined $25,000 because its fans rushed the court after Tuesday's win over No. 1 Kentucky”. This appears that it would be a very effective measure for preventing this activity from occurring, and strictly on the college level it may have a somewhat meaningful effect. The problem with this particular course of action is that it is only being suggested for the college level, and would be much more difficult to implement on a professional level. Finally one of the solutions being recommended is banning alcohol from professional sporting events. On paper this particular solution actually makes a little sense. Alcohol is a major catalyst to rambunctious fan behavior, and if you were able to effectively stop alcohol from entering these events you could probably solve most of the problems. Unfortunately just as we saw in the days of prohibition it’s just not practical to think that you can completely stop the stream of booze. People will always find ways to sneak it through the gates, and then you have the same problems as before. Not to mention many of these sporting events major sponsors come from alcohol companies. This is true not only in the United States, but in Britain as well, as Stephen Adams reports from the Telegraph, “Football also has a strong association with the industry: more than half the clubs in the Barclays Premier League list beer companies as sponsors.”
Being a fan of sports is one of the most enjoyable and popular forms of entertainment in America. According to a February poll from, CNN/USA Today/Gallup around sixty-three percent of Americans classify themselves as sports fans . It is a superb form of entertainment that allows people to break away from the pressures and restraints of their normal day to day lives, and escape into the simplicity of enjoying a game. Some people become so involved in their love of sports they begin to almost live their lives through a particular player or team which they follow. Unfortunately this intense love and passion some fans feels can sometimes manifest itself into destructive and dangerous behavior. This can range anywhere from simply jeering or name calling from the stands, to violence between fans, to full blown riots in the streets of cities, but where does this behavior originally stem from. Clifford Bryant and Robert Horton, authors of School Athletics and Fan Aggression, seem to believe that we are socialized from as early on as High School to be excessively enthusiastic and competitive. They write, “Schools, in fact, often actively strive to develop a kind of “we-they” feeling, a type of “in-group/ out-group” identification, and an intensive type of ethnocentrism” .While it is perfectly healthy to be enthusiastic about sports some people take it to an extreme which can evolve into unpredictable and vicious actions.
This clip explains what it means to be a sports fan. The video, narrated by a middle aged Yankees fan, is asking many of the same questions I hope to answer throughout this blog. Why are people drawn to sports? Why does it seem that some people feel that by watching their favorite sports team they are helping them win? It appears that people have such a deep bond with a team that they almost see them as a family member. He concludes that it is our inner child that allows us to feel this way. It is the youthful exuberance to be able to find importance, and joy in something that you yourself are not directly involved with. The things that he considers in this video show this strong connection people have with sports, and the reasons why they do so. Even if he is a Yankees fan.
Throughout this blog I hope to explore the influence that professional sports has on our society. Professional athletes are some of the highest paid people in the world, and millions of people every year spend there hard earned money to watch these people preform there craft. I want to examine the reasons why people are drawn to sports, and the impact that sports has on our lives.
