One of the best things about college basketball is the passionate fans. They chant, paint their bodies, hold up clever signs, rush the court and scream at unhealthy sound decibels, all for the love of their team and hatred for the other team.
Fans can also impact the outcome of a game. When the game gets close, all the fans might stand up to give their team a boost or even taunt the other teams’ best player to get inside his head. However, what used to be fun, innocent taunting has lately become degrading disrespect towards innocent human beings that are just playing a game.
An example of this is the infamous Marcus Smart shove that was felt around the world. The video shows Smart shoving Texas Tech fan, Jeff Orr, after Smart was called for a foul. The first thing everyone thought was that Orr must have used a racial slur. It was later reported that Orr called Smart “a piece of crap,” and that clarification somehow let Orr completely off of the hook. (Many still believe that more was said, but that’s a whole different conversation). Smart was suspended for three games, while Orr went unpunished.
This story received a lot of media attention, most of which criticized Smart for the incident. I do agree that a player should never lose his head and touch a fan, but why wasn’t Orr thrown out of the arena or suspended from games as well for his inappropriate conduct at a game?
I am not defending Smart’s actions (mostly because I’m a Jayhawk fan and despise OSU), but I don’t think that it’s fair that Smart is labeled the monster in the situation. Many sports analysts argued that Smart should have acted like a man and let the remark slide, but why do we expect a frustrated 19 year-old (his team was losing) to take an insult like a man? Why didn’t anyone expect the 61 year-old man to act like a man? Why is it okay for grown men to yell obscenities at young men who just want to play hard for their school?
Fans need to be held accountable for their actions just like athletes are. We expect athletes to take ridicule because it is “part of the game,” but we forget that some of them are just kids, right out of high school and they are human beings with feelings and emotions, just like fans.
The Marcus Smart incident wasn’t the only time a fan has crossed the line. In fact, incidents like this happen all the time in the sports world, Smart was just one of the first athletes to retaliate while the cameras were rolling. A couple seasons ago, it was rumored that some fans chanted, “No Mom Tom,” at KU forward Thomas Robinson, just weeks after his mother passed away. If the rumor is true, it goes to show how low people will go to belittle a player just to get in his head and win a game.
Just last week I saw a tweet towards KU’s new recruit, Cliff Alexander, saying “I hope you tear your ACL at KU for ‘accidentally’ picking the Illinois hat #scum #overrated.” Obviously on social media it’s easier to say anything you want, but this is just an example of how disgusting these fans are getting. I was relieved that Alexander didn’t respond to the tweet; but I suspect that if he had responded, he would have been labeled a hot head, ridiculed by sports journalists or maybe even suspended.
Passionate fans are what make sports and games exciting; however, there needs to be a line of respect drawn in the sand. Yelling things like “miss it” and “my grandma plays better than you,” are just part of the game. Racial slurs, offensive name-calling or wishing harm on an athlete should never be part of the game.
It’s March, the most popular and emotional month for basketball fans, but we really need to stop this madness.