tonytalkssports My Take on Sports, particularly the Yankees, Maple Leafs and Browns

Fan Violence Out Of Control

Opening day series between the Giants and Dodgers resulted in the beating of a Giants fan outside Dodger Stadium leaving the man still in a coma.  A Jets fan and his son were attacked outside of Cleveland Browns Stadium.  A husband and wife who happened to be rooting for the Toronto Maple Leafs had to leave HSBC Arena because they were threatened and verbally assaulted.

I've been attending sporting events for over 40 years.  I've witnessed plenty of attacks on people.  I've been the subject of attacks.  All because of what team I was supporting.  By the way, it doesn't matter how old you are either as I have witnessed kids being taunted and mocked.  As a 13 year old I had a beer dumped on me because I happened to wear a Leaf jersey to a Sabres game at the old Aud.  It was the first Leaf jersey I ever had.

What's the root cause of such stupidty???  The answer: alcohol.  Go to a NFL game and see what goes on in the parking lots.  The amount of beer consumed is unbelievable.  If you had the 5 cent deposit for all the bottles and cans of beer consumed for the past decade you could probably pay off the national debt.

Now don't get me wrong, I love having a good time at a game including having a few beers.  In fact, since the Browns have been back the best part of going to a game has been the tailgating.  However, some people develop beer muscles and are going to show their team loyalty by going after other fans who paid money to get into the game but happened to be rooting for the other team.

I've attended football games at Notre Dame.  There is massive tailgating that goes on before the game.  And I can tell you that beer and other alcoholic beverages are consumed.  But I have never witnessed any fan violence.  The main difference between the college game and the pro game: no beer sold inside the stadium.

What would be the odds of beer sales being prohibited from pro sporting events???  Slim and none.  Yet, that's where the problem lies.  I love sports and there's nothing like supporting your team.  But when you have to fear being attacked it's gone over the top.  That's why I usually will only go to a game when my team is home.  Even then I'm disgusted when I see fans of opposing teams being ridiculed. 

A young man lies in a coma in Southern California because he happened to be a Giant fan.  What a sad state of affairs.  Actually, its enough to make you sick.