Is it just me or are brawls becoming increasing commonplace in the sports arena? During an international basketball “friendly”, Serbia and Greece got into a heated scrap that culminated in Serbian center Nenad Krstic throwing a chair at several Greek players right next to the stands. Washington Nationals center fielder Nyjer Morgan could have made this list single-handedly, after allegedly throwing a baseball at a fan and, a week later, charging the mound when the pitcher threw behind him. Over the summer, it became commonplace for some teenagers who desired attention to run around the baseball field, with security guards and players helpless. Last Friday, though, was when I realized that the violence was getting out of control. The U.S. open match between Novak Djokovic and Philipp Petzschner had to be delayed because a fight broke out in the stands.
That’s right, pushing, shoving, and cursing in the stands interrupted a tennis match, a sport known for its fan’s politeness and decorum. Now, I do not approach the issue of fighting as an old hack who yearns for the “good old days”; after all, there was never a period of time when there were no brawls of any sort. However, I do think that the line between players and fans have blurred to a dangerous extent. We all know what can happen when such a blend occurs, as the infamous 2004 “Malice at the Palace” taught us. The fact is that neither players nor fans are safe from one another under these current conditions.
Luckily, most of the recent examples of clashes have proven to be relatively harmless with respect to physical injuries. However, it does not take a leap of faith to realize that someone can seriously get hurt when a fight gets out of control, for it has happened in recent history. Remember when Chicago White Sox fans William Ligue and his son attacked Kansas City Royals first base coach Tom Gamboa for no reason in 2002? If you don’t, Gamboa permanently lost some of his hearing in the attack, and a knife was subsequently found on Ligue after he was arrested.
At what point will we stop viewing these fights as “all in good fun” or entertaining and begin examining them as a very real threat? Add passionate, enthusiastic fans with alcohol, and then throw in intense players and what do we expect to get? Upon watching the fight at the U.S. Open my first reaction was “where is security?” In fact, many of the onlookers in the stands remarked the very same thing. An older man did not have to tumble three rows down the stands; if there were an effective enough security, those involved could have been escorted out as soon as they yelled at each other during the match. The rules are especially clear in a sport such as tennis: no creating disturbances.
After a teenage fan ran onto the field at a Philadelphia Phillies game this summer, security eventually tasered him to get him to stop situation from worsening. They received a great deal of criticism for using that method to get the fan under control, but frankly what other options did they have? I don’t care whether the fan is harmless in his or her thoughts or not, it can still very easily escalate to the point of serious violence. On television, fans have the rights to yell whatever they would like, but if they are in a stadium with the actual athletes, they need to keep themselves from chaos, just as players have always had the same obligations. I just hope that the next time I hear that a tennis match gets delayed that it is due to inclement weather rather than a storm of out-of-control fans.
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