Sure, fans pay the bills. For professional athletes, in one way or another, fans pay the salaries of the players, coaches, and even team owners. Without fans, there would be no professional sports or athletes who get magnificently wealthy off athletics. But all too often, fans are ugly, nasty, vindictive jerks who think that they are part of the team, that they belong on the field, that they are one of the boys. All too often, fans will disrupt games, throw trash on the field or court or insert themselves into an event. They make it about themselves.
When Hank Aaron hit his 715 homer, he was between 2nd and 3rd base when he was manhandled by two fans who ran onto the field. Fortunately, they were just jerks wanting to be part of history that they had no business being part of. It was somewhat benign, but every time I watch it, it bothers me that Mr. Aaron wasn’t allowed to be in the moment by himself and with people he cared about.
Thirty years ago, 19-year-old professional tennis player Monica Seles, then 19, was sitting in her courtside seat during a changeover at the Hamburg Open when a man named Gunter Parche stabbed her in the back. Seles recovered physically, but she was never the same.
A brawl in the stands broke during an NBA game in Detroit after Ron Artest (who now goes by the name Metta Sandiford-Artest ) and Ben Wallace got into an on-court fight. While Artest was prostrate on the scorer’s table, an angry fan named John Green threw a water bottle and hit Artest. Artest went into the fans and attacked. But he attacked the wrong fan. NBA players are massive men, and it could have easily resulted in something no one could take back. It did result in NBA rules being changed. It even has a name. The Malice in The Palace.
Fans get out of control because they get drunk or because they think that they are part of the “family” and the player cares about them. Generally, that isn’t the case. Most athletes are warned about getting too invested with fans. There are always fans who think making eye contact with an athlete is their invitation into the athlete’s life. It isn’t.
For me, one of the most entertaining events on TV is the American Century Golf Tournament in Lake Tahoe, Nevada. Mardy Fish was leading when the final group teed off on the 18th. Fish needed to put the ball in the fairway to set himself up for a birdie, but a faceless Steph Curry fan yelled during Fish’s downswing, causing Fish to shank his drive into the woods.
Spectators were furious. Steph Curry told Fish to hit another (he couldn’t, it’s a tournament). The damage was done. The announcers spent the next few minutes talking about the coward. Yeah, that lowlife had his day in the sun. He ruined the tournament. Congrats, coward. The bottom-feeder scurried away – likely “celebrating” because he made Fish pull his drive into the woods. Curry sunk his eagle putt on the 18th green and won the tournament.
But most people (including Curry) will see it as a tainted victory. It was an ugly end to a fun week. Curry will celebrate. Fish will recover. Hopefully. Fish had to quit playing professional tennis because of anxiety.
What’s my point? I just needed to vent. I thought the thing I hated most about tournament golf was ubiquitous drunks yelling “GET IN THE HOLE!” over and over and over again. Now it’s that random coward who is convinced he was the one who won ACC today. A charity event that everyone loves was ruined by one loudmouth jerk.