When did it
become okay to cross the line, verbally and physically, while attending an
event? Within the span of 36 hours on
Sunday and Monday, two situations within the sports entertainment world have
completely befuddled me. I just can’t
seem to grasp what causes fans to become completely classless fools. Buying a ticket does not give you any rights
outside of watching the game from a predetermined seat. Unfortunately some don’t comprehend that.
The first incident
was during Sunday afternoon’s NFL game between the Baltimore Ravens and Kansas
City Chiefs. During the 4th
quarter of a defensive battle, Chiefs quarterback Matt Cassel was sandwiched
between two Ravens defenders and sustained a concussion. As he lay on the ground motionless, there was
an audible contingent of fans cheering. While
it wasn’t every fan in the stands, it was a substantial amount where you could
hear them through the broadcast. It was
audible enough that players were angered by it, especially offensive lineman Eric Winston.
Now I’ve
heard the Chiefs apologists say the fans were cheering for a “big play”, which
was a 15 yard gain. The other excuse I’ve
heard is that fans saw Brady Quinn warming up and were excited he was possibly
going to come in the game. Both
arguments are ridiculous, but the Quinn one is downright laughable. The fans were excited for Quinn; former third
stringer for the Broncos, former back-up in Cleveland, career QB rating of 67.3
and record of 3-9 as a starter? Really? Give me a break. These classless “fans” were clearly cheering
the fact that Cassel, who has struggled this season, was injured and coming out
of the game. They cheered, and then
maybe once a small dose of intelligence seeped in, they quieted down as Cassel
was worked on.
I understand
we watch and enjoy a game based on violence and chaos, but we all like to watch
and not acknowledge this aspect. We like
to play fantasy football, cheer for our team and pretend it is not the most
violent sport every created. That’s part
of the fun for us as fans. However,
there is never a time where it is okay to cheer an injury. What is more astounding is that they cheered
for an injury to a player on their own team!
There are players I absolutely do not like. Just ask me.
I would never cheer for any of them to get hurt, especially someone on
my own team. That’s just classless and
disgusting. Winston put it best when he
mentioned they were not Gladiators in the Roman Coliseum. They are playing a game. “Your” team winning or losing, players
playing well or not does not give you the right to act foolish and entitle you
to anything you feel like saying or doing.
This leads me
to, what I feel, is an even worse case of fan interaction with an
athlete/performer. It’s no secret that I
have been a professional wrestling fan since I was five years old. I still watch and enjoy sitting with my three
year old son, Marshall, when we watch a little together. Marshall has two favorite guys, Kofi Kingston
and CM Punk. I don’t know why he chose
Kofi (other than that he’s an amazing athlete), but he chose CM Punk because “Daddy! He has tattoos like you!” It’s just a fun thing we share.
Unfortunately
CM Punk found himself in a tough situation on Monday night at the end of the
weekly broadcast of RAW. While fleeing through
the crowd near the end of the show Punk stopped on the steps, turned around to
listen to the on-goings in the ring and finish the show. It appears that the section he was to run
into was filled with overzealous fans that proceeded to push, touch and smack
Punk repeatedly. It was caught on camera
by someone in the crowd. As you can see
in the video, after numerous attempts to push him down the stairs and a stiff
smack to the back of his head, Punk lashed back. He threw an elbow and pushed a fan down. Unfortunately, it was the wrong fan. The person who really sparked Punk to lose
his cool, in the most cowardly way possible, hid behind a larger person and
smacked him in the head. He would later
brag about it via Twitter,
like the genius he clearly is. The person
who was actually attacked is reportedly not pressing charges, but is looking
into getting a lawyer and trying to cash in.
Oh the irony of this guy mentioning Ron Artest while wearing a 2010
Lakers championship t-shirt…a team in which Artest was a key piece to.
The debate
has raged online regarding CM Punk’s reaction to the situation. Quite frankly, I think he was well within his
right to defend himself in an increasingly unstable situation. Security was not in place and had not
controlled the crowd. Punk is repeatedly
pushed and smacked. Later on, he
detailed more about it:
“I think the whole situation sucks,” Punk told WWE.com. “It’s an unfortunate
and isolated incident. I was up in the stands, surrounded.”
“Somebody said, ‘let’s push him
down the stairs. I got hit in the ribs
three times. I was getting shoved and I was getting punched…Then I started
getting tagged in the back of the head. Unfortunately, I lashed out in the heat
of the moment and I apologize. I’m really just glad nobody was hurt."
Think about
it. He was getting assaulted on live TV
and we expect him not to react simply because he’s portraying a character at
that time? I don’t care what he says on
TV there is a line between fans and performers that should never be
crossed. Once you put your hands on him
in a violent manner (which was clearly happening), he has every right to defend
himself in whatever means he feels appropriate.
There were people trying to push him down the stairs! I have been to many arenas and the stairs
aren’t exactly the safest place to be.
Injuries can happen really fast once you lose your balance on them. Sometimes you have to make a statement, a
statement that couldn’t be made with the look Punk gave to a number of fans on
multiple occasions in that short time.
Watch the video
again and notice how quickly everything stopped the moment Punk stood back up after
knocking the fan down. Security finally
showed up, but everyone that had put their hands on him quickly decided it
would not be a good idea to continue. Clearly
something had to be done to get the attention of masses and that decision in
the heat of the moment, was made. It was
unfortunate for the guy who got hit, but he was crowding into the aisle with
his elbow right near Punk’s head. Stay
by your seat with your arms down and this doesn’t happen. He was too busy trying to get on TV for his
five seconds of fame.
Fact is CM
Punk reacted as any human would. The
fact that he’s a major star doesn’t remove his humanity. It also doesn’t give you as a fan the right
to lay your hands on him in any way. For
one second, just use basic common sense.
If you’re in an arena do you want pushed, punched, slapped or have
foreign objects thrown at you? Of course
not! Just because we’ve paid to see them
perform or play, doesn’t entitle us to treat them however we want. Boo if they play poorly. Cheer when they play well. If CM Punk is cutting another legendary “pipe bomb”, react
verbally however you want. That’s what
they want. However, let’s start using
some common sense and decency in arenas all across the world.
For some
reason, I have a feeling this will fall on deaf ears to the ones that need it
the most…
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