Column: A few rules for fan behavior
Over the last few weeks, there have been many instances where fan behavior has been questioned. Many people are saying that fans are simply getting out of hand. While this may be the case, the incidents look more like acts of ignorance of when to stop rather than acts of defiance.
Let’s go over what is considered acceptable by the sports gods and what isn’t by looking at what happened following the West Virginia-Virginia Tech football game Oct. 22.
West Virginia Mountaineers had just run their rival and heavily favored Virginia Tech Hokies out of town, 28-7. The fans, of course, stormed the field. While this act is not only acceptable, it is almost necessary after big wins.
The fans then attempted to tear down the goalposts. This act must be used with caution, because if it is overdone, it loses its significance. But Mountaineer fans were more than within their rights after beating the then third-ranked team in the country.
The police, however, didn’t see it that way and began to use pepper spray to disperse the crowd. That was a bummer for West Virginia fans, but when the police intervene, it’s time to go home.
Now, as the sports gods will tell you, once the fans leave the stadium, the party is over until they get home. Lighting fires and rioting, like the Mountaineer fans did, was out of line. A sporting event is never more important than public safety.
There are more ways besides victory celebrations in which fans can misbehave.
Take the Utah State-Wyoming football game a couple of weeks ago. After a third straight penalty without a play, USU fans began to litter the field with foam footballs and other garbage.
This was taking it too far. When fans litter the field like that, they show the team that they have lost faith in it. It shows that the public doesn’t support the program anymore. And all it really does is make the situation worse.
The sports gods will also tell you that players can misbehave as well.
When Air Force quarterback Chance Harridge punched the opposing team’s assistant coach after he ran on the field to congratulate his player for making an interception, that was out of line.
When a Nebraska player knocked out a Missouri fan who was storming the field after watching his team upset the Cornhuskers, that was out of line.
And while we’re on the topic of player/fan relations, let’s shift our focus to college hockey.
There was quite an incident (described by many as hilarious) last Friday night at the Utah State-Eastern Washington game. We’ll go through step-by-step to see where the line was crossed.
First of all, when a player from the visiting hockey team has to sit in the penalty box, he should expect to be heckled by the fans. After all, that’s half the reason why the fans showed up. If the player so much as turns around or does anything to acknowledge the fans’ remarks, then the berating will only get worse. There is absolutely nothing that player can do or say to make the fans shut up.
So when the EWU player immediately squirted his water bottle onto the fans sitting behind him, he had already taken it too far. The fans had every right to yell and scream at him for doing that.
Then the player decides to squirt more water on the fans. Obviously, more yelling, screaming and swearing took place. While the player had already gone too far, the fans were still behaving as they should.
Now, the fan who decided to “share” his drink with the player went over the line. The issue was now personal and had nothing to do with the game.
Both the player and the fan were removed from the game and a penalty was given to the USU fans.
The basic rule of thumb for fan behavior is as long as it’s just verbal abuse and everything ends when everyone leaves the game, it’s all right. People show up to sporting events to cheer their team and heckle the other one and they should be allowed to do so.
Follow these guidelines and the sports gods will smile on you.
Bryan Hinton is a junior majoring in print jouralism. Comments can be sent to bhhinton@cc.usu.edu