The other noteworthy story of this past weekend in the world of sports involved Oklahoma State's Marcus Smart, and his physical altercation with a Texas Tech fan. After attempting to make a defensive play, Smart tumbled into the stands, and followed that by confronting a fan in the first row. He exchanged words with the fan, and then shoved the man before being restrained by teammates and receiving a technical foul. The incident received national sports headlines, and even though it lasted only a matter of seconds, it is still part of a bigger problem that the sports world has faced for a long time, and that is the interaction of fans and players.
When Smart landed on the floor, he had his back turned to the fan, and seemed as though he was ready to lift himself up and return to the floor after a tough play. However, after video showed the Texas Tech fan shouting something in Smart's direction, Smart turned around and confronted the fan. What followed was a shove, and in terms of the world we live in outside of sports, this would really be considered an insignificant encounter. Yet, in the sports world, the conduct that Smart displayed was definitely over the line and unacceptable. No matter the sport, no matter the age of the athlete, it is unacceptable for a player to physically confront a fan. The problem with this is, it is much easier said than done.
As a sports society, we revere athletes for their physical gifts and abilities that only a select few possess. One of, if not the most, underappreciated gifts that any successful athlete possesses is the ability to separate himself from the outside world and constrict his emotions to the field of play without letting emotions get the best of them off the field. Anyone who has ever attended a sporting event can attest to the fact that while most fans are there to simply enjoy the games they watch, there are also some in attendance who cross the line and cannot be considered "fans," but are more like antagonists. No matter the reason for their behavior, those who attend sporting events with an intent to antagonize are people that I believe are let off the hook more often than they deserve, and do not receive near the reprehensibility that they deserve.
While this most recent incident has focused far more on Smart than the fan he confronted, I feel like it is time to look at situations such as this from a different perspective. I completely understand why Smart was suspended for multiple games, and I also completely understand why those in the sports world will use this incident against him. As an athlete (be it professional or collegiate), it is unacceptable to engage in a physical confrontation with a fan. There is no question about that. However, I think we, as fans, are getting too much of a free pass here, and we have proven time after time that that free pass is unwarranted.
I have attended football, baseball, hockey, basketball, and soccer competitions at both the professional and collegiate level, and it is almost a normality to hear fans in attendance shouting all types of obscenities to not only opponents on the field, but to fans of opposing teams as well. No matter what the sport is, and no matter where in the world we are watching the sports from, fans have continually crossed the line when it comes to verbal abuse of athletes. I cannot count all of the reasons that fans vociferate their hatred for the opposition, but it has to do with all types of things. Team affiliation, upbringing, athletic history, sexual orientation, skin color; the reasons are endless. No matter, fans feel like they have the right to say anything they can imagine to athletes without any type of consequences, and the fact of the matter is, far too many times, there are no consequences. The behaviors of fans is too often overlooked, and in many cases, fans who cause such a ruckus with their language are not reprimanded in any matter.
Both Marcus Smart and the Texas Tech fan he confronted have since come out with public apologies for their actions. Smart did not say what he heard that caused him to react the way that he did, and the Texas Tech fan apologized for calling Smart a "piece of crap." I have a very hard time believing that Smart would be offended enough by being called a "piece of crap" that he would have physically confronted the fan, but that is all we have to go on right now. I don't know if the fan used a racial or personal slur, but for Smart to physically confront him, I assume it must have been something very offensive. As I have tried to say though, Smart is definitely at fault for his actions, but I think we, as sports fans, need to come to the realization that what we say can actually be infectious, and we need to learn to behave in a more genteel way at the sporting events we attend. While we might be watching people who are more physically and mentally gifted than we are, we need to remember that they are still human, and there is always a line that can be crossed in which we go from a simple fan to a crazed fanatic, and until this point, that is a line that we have clearly ignored.
Daily Nets Update: Still no different than yesterday. Wins against Charlotte and Chicago before the All-Star break would be great, and the off-time will be a big help in getting the team healthy and ready for the stretch run. Aside from Indiana and Miami, the Eastern Conference is wide open, and any kind of winning streak will move a team up the standings in a hurry.
Daily Rangers Update: As I said yesterday, the Olympic break will put a big hiatus on the NHL season, so unless we see an injury or something drastic happen, there will not be much to report over the next few weeks.
Daily Diamondbacks Update: The forecast in New York is sadly not as positive as the forecast in Arizona, so it isn't quite time to start looking forward to baseball season yet, but spring training is slowly creeping up on us, and I can't wait until the season finally gets underway.
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