every week it seems, we hear stories of crazed fans acting in a reprehensible manner (often times in front of their own children). Unfortunately, I can say that I've witnessed such behavior. I've seen parents act less mature than their teenage children would even think of acting. In fact, after one of my soccer games years ago, a parent became so enraged at a referee that he tracked him down in the parking lot and headbutted him, so badly that the referee needed an ambulance and required surgery, and the parent was arrested (and rightfully so).
Then you have scenes like this, which are nothing short of sickening. What a disgraceful example we set for our future (gets going about 1:20 in):
On a slightly less disturbing note, during the weekdays before 2007's Louisiana State - University of Florida college football game, LSU fans somehow got UF quarterback Tim Tebow's number and proceeded to "blow it up" - essentially calling him non-stop to harass him via call, text or voice message, and even this year have somehow got UF head coach Urban Meyer's cell number.
In a more activist route, fans have even taken it upon themselves to contribute to coaches firings. The standard bearer for such action is that of the famous (or infamous, however you remember it) FireRonZook.com - started by ardent UF supporters in opposition to then UF head football coach Ron Zook, who had the daunting task of taking over UF football after legendary UF heisman trophy winning QB and national championship-winning head coach Stever Spurrier left for the NFL's Washington Redskins. FireRonZook.com became one of the sports' earliest internet phenomena, even getting the occasional plug from sports czar ESPN on their hugely popular college football pregame show "College Gameday".
With all these examples, it begs the question: have fans gone too far, or have they simply used the communicative resources to further voice their opinions (and, often times regrettably, made them seem more legitimate than they actually are).
I think we can all agree that head butting referees or hitting them with chairs is at least reprehensible and very much criminal, and clandestinely acquiring sports figures' cell phone numbers in order to hassle them or talk trash is at least immature, but have fans as a whole, with the availability to their favorite team's "insider" news, taken their measures too far? Have they become more than just 'fans' and moved on to full-fledged 'fanatics'?
There is quite a contrast between my age bracket and that of my parents. If I'm watching a Dolphins game with the rest of my family, my dad and uncles can count on their hand the number of current Dolphin players that they recall, while my cousins and I can rattle off all starting 22 and what college they went to. I am of the opinion that the current availability of information has caused America's sports culture to obtain an insatiable hunger when it comes to information about their favorite sport and/or team, and thus, an inflating of their self-perceived status in the sports world.
But, what do I know: I'm just some dumb fan typing on a keyboard. All I know is that I hate the Buffalo Bills and love being 4-0 in Fantasy Football. Oh, and Ronnie Brown is really good and Brett Favre still has "it", much to the disgust of cheese heads everywhere.
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