In light of recent developments involving the Atlanta Braves pitching coach, I am about to write something I’ve thought for quite some time:
Sports fans have gotten too close to the action.
I hate how fans can sit right next to NBA benches, how they can be within shouting distance of the athletes, how they can taunt coaches and front-office types via email and Twitter.
Now, I have nothing against fans. I am one. As I tell everyone, I’m just a paid fan. Granted, I also have a responsibility to be fair in my reporting and columns, but that’s neither here nor there. What I’m trying to say, I guess, is I love sports just as much as you.
But I also know that if you’re going to taunt an athlete or coach, you are not immune to getting punched in the face. May sound harsh, but if you’re going to act like a moron, you deserve to be treated like one.
The latest news comes out of Atlanta, where Braves pitching coach Roger McDowell admittedly threatened to knock out a heckler’s teeth. McDowell also made crude sexual gestures and homophobic remarks.
He has since issued an apology, and please understand that I do not support McDowell’s reaction. As mom always said, when someone says something you don’t like, just walk away. It’s the approach I take with smart-aleck readers. People who take the time to heckle are the same type who get extremely irritated when you act like they don’t exist.
But what annoys me about the McDowell situation, and so many others like it, is the heckler can say whatever he wants and get away with it. The heckler can make crude gestures and homophobic remarks, and no one is demanding an apology or filing anti-defamation lawsuits.
It’s just an accepted part of our society. And that’s just pathetic.
The reason for this is, again, we have allowed fans to become a part of the games. We have allowed them to feel like a part of the team -- certainly the result of higher salaries and the desperate need for financial support.
Honestly, it’s gotten to the point where professional sports teams want fans to have no lives of their own. Instead, they want fans to come to every game, DVR those games and watch them when they get home, and paint their houses and cars in the team colors.
You’re nothing without the team, pro sports organizations seem to say. Sadly, too many fans are dumb enough to believe them.
There is no winning with this type of thinking, this type of marketing, this type of brain-washing. But like it or not, it’s what the sports portion of our society has become.
It’s no longer about the game. Now it’s personal. That’s just the accepted, sad and sickening reality.
In return, fans act like they have the right to behave however they wish. They can taunt athletes and coaches, they can beat up fans who don’t wear their colors, they can sue anyone who responds to their right to act like an idiot.
And it’s not fair to the people who actually play the games (or the majority of good-natured fans and their children in attendance).
So to even the playing field, I propose the One Free Punch rule. It would allow athletes and coaches to walk into the stands, not say anything to their heckler, and just take their best swing -- with no punishment to follow. One heckler, one swing, then go back about your business.
Sound absurd? Of course it does. But that’s nothing compared to how some fans are allowed to behave.
Think McDowell would have apologized if he hadn’t been caught? I doubt it. After all, hecklers never apologize for the nasty things they say.
Maybe if they walked out of the stadium missing some teeth, we could let it slide.
Obviously, I'm exaggerating to make a point. Hitting someone is certainly not a real solution. But I must admit, I miss the days the days of bare-knuckled fist fights and pro athletes being allowed to be tough guys.
Now we have wimpy fans and athletes who have to act even more wimpy than them. Kind of annoying, don't you think?
