the bad side of sports fandom

[KnightBridgeAZ]

Last night, trailing by 2 points, Arizona football "lost" when, with 15 seconds left in the game, the opposing coach "iced" our kicker and he missed his second field goal try. The same sequence had happened at the end of the 1st half.

I say "lost" because, truthfully, we lost when we couldn't contain USC's star running back; we lost when we couldn't execute a 2 point conversion; we lost when we fumbled 5 yards from the end-zone, etc, etc.

In any case, tweets have included:
- a wish that his entire family dies of cancer
- a hope that he is thrown off the team
- more nasty name insults than imaginable
yada, yada, yada - you get the drift.

When did we become this way????

 

[RadyLady]

I am thinking that it was when they started to give out trophy's to all participants of children's soccer games (for example) regardless of winning or losing.

It is as important to children to learn how to lose as it is to learn how to win. They need to be able to handle disappointment, and to understand that by greater effort, they could be the winners.

It appears that these folks may have missed these lessons....I will add a bit from my personal blog:

"I remember my godson struggling with losing at games. He was very little, but his parents, bless them reinforced the lesson of the gracious loser, shaking hands and saying 'good game' even if he felt otherwise. (He always felt otherwise) Hey, it sucks to lose. I get that. But when he won, it was really terrific, and you could see how proud he was of his achievement because he EARNED it."

Funny, I wrote this 4 or 5 days ago....odd that it should come up again. Anyway, what do you think? Am I on the mark?

 

[vtcwbuff]

Fans (people) have always been this way - social media has given them a wider audience.

That said - RadyLady I agree that the "everyone is a winner" idea teaches a flawed lesson.

 

[ThisJustIn]

I agree with vtc - putzy fans have been around since sports existed.
As for the "everyone is a winner" contributing to their putzy-ness, I don't see the link. I think it's hard to attribute any "damage" done by that practice... it's not universal and it's usually upper economics.... Folks are just looking for an excuse to point fingers.. losing is never easy...and being gracious can be taught. A trophy or t-shirt doesn't make a difference.. The coach and parent does.

 

[HuskyNan]

KBA - you should have read the Louisville football board after a punt returner for UConn made an unclear gesture, caught the football, and ran it back for a touchdown against the Cards. The Louisville players thought the punt returner was calling a fair catch and stopped playing. The fact that Louisville was up by 11 points AFTER the weird play (that UConn fans agree was badly done by the UConn player) and still managed to lose didn't stop a few L'ville fans from wishing someone would kill the UConn player, that his mother would get cancer, etc etc. It was horrible. And if you go to the Louisville football board today, years after the event, and mention the UConn player's name (Larry Taylor) you'll get more of the same.

There is a small faction of every fan base that lives vicariously through their team. When something "bad" happens to their team, these fans take it a leeeeetle too hard.

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

Nan - Probably why I don't read football message boards, and appreciate the moderation that you and your team (and Diana over on the RU board) provide.

While I am sure the nasty opinions have been around forever, I cannot reconcile myself to the idea that it is a right folks have to share those opinions with the rest of us. Frankly, it makes me doubt the commenting fan's sanity.

 

[JS]

There is a small faction of every fan base that lives vicariously through their team. When something "bad" happens to their team, these fans take it a leeeeetle too hard.

Yep. It's egos that are too darned intertwined with the fortunes of the team. And it's not always a small faction. When a soccer outcome produces something fairly labeled a riot, one has to assume going around saying "It's only a game" would be unproductive.

 

[Zorro]

The word "fan" comes, of course, from "fanatic". Sports have changed a lot since Grantland Rice wrote this little couplet;

"For when the One Great Scorer comes to mark against your name,
He writes - not that you won or lost - but how you played the Game."

This was, of course, pre-Lombardi

 

[Zorro]

Yep. It's egos that are too darned intertwined with the fortunes of the team. And it's not always a small faction. When a soccer outcome produces something fairly labeled a riot, one has to assume going around saying "It's only a game" would be unproductive.

In Turkey damned near every game ends in a greater or lesser riot. It got so bad last season that one of the Istanbul teams (and I can't remember whether it was Besitas or Fenerbahce) was required to play some of their home games IN AN EMPTY STADIUM! No fanatics allowed.

 

[DaddyChoc]

blame it on the internet... the protection on a screen name and monitor!

#truecolors #householdtalk

 

[rvwsleep]

blame it on the internet... the protection on a screen name and monitor!

#truecolors #householdtalk

Fan violence has been around a lot longer than the internet. Here's a link of just soccer violence.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Football_hooliganism

 

[DaddyChoc]

Fan violence has been around a lot longer than the internet. Here's a link of just soccer violence.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Football_hooliganism

this thread is about "tweets"

 

[OneTrickPony]

Is it fan, as in fanatic...or Id, as in idiot...I can never remember...

 

[watanabe]

Maybe it's just the word, "loser"? Without the losing team/person, there would not be a winner. Seems that the losers define the winners and are therefore more important.

 

[Zorro]

 

[RadyLady]

Fans (people) have always been this way - social media has given them a wider audience.

That said - RadyLady I agree that the "everyone is a winner" idea teaches a flawed lesson.

True. What I should have said is that this "everyone is a winner" could be a new contributing factor to and old problem of poor sportsmanship

 

[Wonkster]

Why is Auriemma wearing Tennessee Orange? Is that why the guy with the white chair is about to clock Geno after winning the FIBA Championship in Turkey?

 

[intlzncster]

Last night, trailing by 2 points, Arizona football "lost" when, with 15 seconds left in the game, the opposing coach "iced" our kicker and he missed his second field goal try. The same sequence had happened at the end of the 1st half.

I say "lost" because, truthfully, we lost when we couldn't contain USC's star running back; we lost when we couldn't execute a 2 point conversion; we lost when we fumbled 5 yards from the end-zone, etc, etc.

In any case, tweets have included:
- a wish that his entire family dies of cancer
- a hope that he is thrown off the team
- more nasty name insults than imaginable
yada, yada, yada - you get the drift.

When did we become this way????

We've been this way forever. It just wasn't out in the open back in the day like it is now. Used to send letters and stalk. Perhaps tweets, though more ubiquitous, are more innocuous.