Responsibility for effect of cheers

[jtwcornell91]

[Q]Greg Berge Wrote:

 These things (all things) are cyclical.  This is *nothing* compared to fan behavior at baseball games in the 19th century.[/q]

You mean like when they shot the umpire?  ::help::

[billhoward]

Steve, the gist of the full article - my interpretation - was that loudmouth fans (of all sizes) perhaps assumed they could say anything at all and get away with it because athletes don't go into the stands. You and I can bang on the glass in the zoo separating us from the tiger knowing the glass is pretty strong. Same thing with the fans, except this one time, the imaginary glass curtain was breached by Ron Artest.

Eric Zorn, the writer, did note some of the fans mouthing off in the Pistons-Pacers game were small of stature, but I think that was a tangental point. Well, maybe not. If you're small, you got stomped by big guys as a kid and perhaps 30 years later you figure the stadium is one place where little guys can talk back to big guys. (Hey, it works in publishing, too.) Some of the noisest dogs are the little tiny ones who only yap when they think they're safe from the harm of the outside world.

[jtwcornell91]

[Q]billhoward Wrote:

 Steve, the gist of the full article - my interpretation - was that loudmouth fans (of all sizes) perhaps assumed they could say anything at all and get away with it because athletes don't go into the stands. You and I can bang on the glass in the zoo separating us from the tiger knowing the glass is pretty strong. Same thing with the fans, except this one time, the imaginary glass curtain was breached by Ron Artest.
[/q]

So you're comparing Artest to an animal?

[Rob NH]

[Q]Greg Berge Wrote:
In the first three instances, no reconsideration of the line is needed -- all of those actions were always clearly over the line of Lynah Faithfulness and well into Clueless, Classlessness.  In the case of the jailbird (cough "Wrong piece of wood!" cough), it's fair game.  If the guy was idiot enough to get himself arrested and the coach was lax enough to reward him with ice time, then they reap what they sow.[/q]
So a "Your goalie is porous, who can blame Morris?" sign for Clarkson would be over the line. :-D

[Steve M]

I didn't read the whole article because it has restricted access, so I may have missed some of the context.  Zorn's quote you that published, however, carries a "might makes right" message.  Based on what he said, it would be OK for prize fighters in the stands to go as far as they wanted especially if they're heckling smaller players, because after all they could back it up with fisticuffs if they said it to the player's face in a dark alley.  But the geeky computer programmers and other 98 pound weaklings better keep their mouths shut, because the players might come and beat the crap out of them if they're not careful. ::rolleyes::

[atb9]

Yeah, the mindset of a tiger when some dumbass is beating on the glass.  That Tiger would like nothing better than rip that persons head off, like how Artest reacted when he went into the stands.

I love you guys, but geez...nothing like a little rib poke, huh?

[billhoward]

One small gesture toward civility in sports was here on eLynah: In discussing signs to hoist and cheers to yell at the Army game, a couple posters said, in effect, "Leave out the stuff about Iraq. It's our army." That would not have happened a generation ago during the Vietnam war. Back then, to a lot of people, all soldiers, even unwilling conscripts, were baby killers.

You can, as John Kerry said, support the warriors regardless of your support for the war. Or for the guy now in the White House for four more years.

[puff]

Yes, but there were also those who didn't care and wanted to let them have it with everything.

[Rob NH]

I had people tell me I was unpatriotic for wanting to bring a Canadian flag for the US-Under 18 game, they're a friggin hockey team, not armed services.

[Will]

[Q]Rob NH Wrote:

 I had people tell me I was unpatriotic for wanting to bring a Canadian flag for the US-Under 18 game, they're a friggin hockey team, not armed services.[/q]

At the Michigan State games, an older woman screamed at us after we shouted "RED!" that we were disrespecting the country or something.  Geez, it's not like we were shouting "sucks" after "Knights" or anything.  We only do that once or twice a year. :-D

[Rob NH]

[Q]Will Wrote:

 [Q2]Rob NH Wrote:

 I had people tell me I was unpatriotic for wanting to bring a Canadian flag for the US-Under 18 game, they're a friggin hockey team, not armed services.[/Q]
At the Michigan State games, an older woman screamed at us after we shouted "RED!" that we were disrespecting the country or something.  Geez, it's not like we were shouting "sucks" after "Knights" or anything.  We only do that once or twice a year.[/q]
Personally, I'm far more offended by the schools that change the lyrics at the end, such as "and the home of the SIOUX!", putting emphasis on one word is far different than changing an actual lyric. And as for Clarkson, well, it's true damn it.

[KeithK]

Well, yelling "RED" during the anthem is disrespectful.  But it's not a huge deal and I do it anyway.  When our cheers get under the skin of the opposing team's fans I consider it a good thing. :-)