A 76ers fan in Philadelphia dumped a bucket of popcorn on Russell Westbrook on Wednesday night. I wish it were an isolated incident and the worst transgression by a sports fan this week, but that’s debatable.
A couple of Dodgers fans left their crying child unattended for a spell so they could fight Astros fans at a baseball game in Houston. Also, a Knicks fan appeared to spit on Atlanta’s Trae Young on Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden.
What I’m saying is, welcome back idiots.
Also, I’m asking this: Have we lost all civility?
There will be 8,000 fans at Moda Center tonight for Game 3 of the Trail Blazers-Nuggets first-round NBA Playoff series. Some of them will be sitting in designed vaccinated sections. Others will be spaced out in the home arena. But all should be delighted that we’re being allowed safely back into sports venues. And nobody should be getting all dressed up to square off with each other, spit, or throw something at a participant.
Fan misbehavior isn’t new. Idiots were punching each other at games before this pandemic. Also, Westbrook and others in the NBA have had run-ins with bad-acting fans before. I guess I just sort of expected that the first fans back in 2021 would appear joyful to just be there.
The NBA issued a statement on Thursday, reminding fans of the league’s “code of conduct.” But lets be real, the accountability starts individually with us all, and then extends to keeping each other honest. That a business has to have a conduct code that reminds attendees to “respect and appreciate each other” in the first place is absurd. We should wake up doing that every day.
None of this fan misbehavior is new. I suspect we’re just seeing more of it because cameras, social media and awareness has evolved. Also, because of an increase in alcohol consumption at most sports venues. Also maybe because franchises have figured out they can sell high-dollar seats that are so closed in on the action that ticket holders practically sit on top of the action.
It’s time we all took a deep breath.
Years ago I worked in the Bay Area covering the NFL. Before one game at the Oakland Coliseum, I noticed that Raiders linebacker Bill Romanowski took extra time to secure his helmet and keep his head down as he left the locker room and ran through the home tunnel to the field.
I asked Romanowski about it later and he said, “You know how many times I’ve been sprayed with beer in that tunnel?”
I shook my head.
He continued, “At least I hope it was beer.”
I don’t blame players one bit for demanding respect, safety and protection. They deserve it. We all do while at work. But I’ve wrestled for some time about what it is about sports that brings out the worst in some of us.
Players aren’t alone here. As a media member, I’ve had a beer bottle thrown at me by a Beavers’ fan in the parking lot at Reser Stadium. I’ve received death threats. Out for dinner once in a restaurant an Oregon Ducks fan walked up to the table where my wife and I sat, mid-meal. He said nothing, but dropped a folded note in the center of my plate and scurried away.
It read: “I hope you choke on your food and die.”
The guy hurried toward the restroom and locked himself inside it. I chased after him and waited outside the door. My wife got up and paid the check. When the coward finally opened the bathroom door, he put his head down, embarrassed, and tried to slip past me.
I wadded up his note and bounced it off the side of his head.
Then, I walked over to his table.
You know what I found there?
The guy’s wife and his in-laws. They were horrified. He sat with them, eyes low, embarrassed. I went from wanting to flip over the table to realizing the poor guy hadn’t thought this all the way through. I wished them a good night and walked away, feeling sorry for him.
Years later, I received another note.
This one, an apology.
I try to remember stuff like that when I see disappointing scenes like the ones from Wednesday night. Westbrook plays with a lot of passion. He’s polarizing because of it. But the guy who threw the popcorn at him should be banned from sporting events for life. So should anyone who dumps a beer on the head of an NFL player, or spits, or throws a punch in a sports venue.
I get it. There’s untapped passion out there. People care deeply about their teams. We’ve been through a rough time and there’s a lot of pent up emotion. But in no way should any of us tolerate the actions we’ve seen from fans this week. Or frankly, any time before it.
There’s been a deterioration of values in our culture. Ethics get thrown out in business and politics. There’s an ongoing shortage of courtesy and civility in the world. But the sports world should be a leader for any good society, not a mirror reflecting its ugliest parts.
Sports has to lead, not follow here. Just like it did 15 months ago when the teams walked off the courts and alerted the world that COVID-19 was to be taken seriously. The players and franchises seem to grasp their role better than ever. It’s time fans did, too.
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Email: John@JohnCanzano.com
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