tely. A report by the Associated Press shows that even a life-threatening injury did not prevent Philadelphia Eagles’ supporters from making derogatory comments towards Dallas Cowboys’ wide receiver Michael Irvin, after he suffered a neck injury during a NFL 1999 game (see the image to the right). ESPN writer Bill Simmons takes a humorous approach to the issue of derisive fan noise in sports in his latest article. Although Simmons’ article provides an interesting viewpoint on the relationship between sports and booing, the column ignores the consequences of the disparaging remarks: the negative behaviors children are learning by listening to profane words and watching the rude actions of adults in their lives. As Melissa Balmain of Parenting magazine writes, children will often mimic the actions of their parents; accordingly, if role models behave rudely, then children will believe that type of behavior is socially acceptable. Federal law does allow people the right to speak as they please, but that does not mean that we should condone inappropriate behavior at sporting events. If there is no popular movement to address this problem, then the federal government should involve itself, as it has in other aspects of sports, like steroids, in order to provide a safe haven for all participants and fans. Sports have changed significantly over the last few decades, with such factors as free agency and medical advances (both legal and illegal) creating stronger athletes and decreasing team loyalty, among many other developments. As Chris Jenkins of USA Today reported in 2005, even players agree that baseball has been impacted by steroids. Accordingly, some fans feel they have not just the right, but the duty, to boo. Oftentimes, fans feel justified to express their displeasure at the rising prices to attend a game, such as $8 for parking and up to $125 for a single ticket to a game at Angel Stadium of Anaheim. According to Simmons, it is as if many fans feel that part of the ticket price includes the right to boo whomever and whenever they please. While the First Amendment certainly protects the right to freedom of speech, people should nonetheless exercise good judgment before speaking. Michael Bradley, in an editorial in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, justifies unconstructive fan noise in Philadelphia by saying that, “Philadelphians have suffered more disappointment and heartache than citizens of any other city.” Bradley also argues that booing is how people “do it” in Philadelphia. He could not be more incorrect; this type of behavior is inappropriate.
Simmons, Bradley, and other writers have ignored the broader significance of booing in professional sports. Countless numbers of families bond over tailgating and then going to a football game, or over attending a basketball game on a special family pack, such as the one offered by the Indiana Fever of the WNBA. It would be naïve to dismiss the impact of adults’ behavior on children at these games. While it would also be inappropriate to limit the abilities of fans’ to express their op
inions, is it truly necessary, for instance, to imbibe significant amounts of alcoholic beverages and use cuss words to address athletes? Or to throw items onto the playing surface? The answer to both of those questions, and all other examples of scathing remarks by fans, is no. Sometimes a child mimics an adult’s behavior in an endearing way, as this father suggests; other times, as former Kansas City Royals coach Tom Gamboa can attest, a parent can lead a child to disastrous results. With regards to booing, the old adage, “Do as I say, not as I do” will simply not suffice. A change of culture in the American sporting world is needed in order to present a more fitting example for the nation’s children, and all it takes is paying more attention to the appropriateness of one’s language and behavior. Although freedom of speech is an important right, children also have the right not to be bombarded with crude behavior in a public setting. American sports fans just need to ask themselves what is more important: making negative, hurtful remarks at sporting events (as seen in the image above) or raising their children properly? Maybe then the sporting world will take notice.
