Welcome Sports Fans
62The city I live in is a sports mecca. Since the weather is by and large amazing for 90% of the year, with sunshine and cloudless skies, we have the perfect venue to stage all manner of sports and, obviously, especially the outdoor ones. So on any given day in my tiny city on the southern tip of Africa you will find people running, cycling, rowing, canoeing, skiing, swimming, snorkeling, scuba diving, motor racing, motorcycle racing, climbing, walking, horse riding, playing tennis, rugby, football, Jukskei (a traditional Afrikaans sport), baseball and much much more. And that does not even include the indoor sport being played, such as squash, badminton, table tennis, gyming and the like.
As a result of this, and despite my tiny stature and the fact that I am a woman (which does not exclude me from it I suppose) I am a huge sports fan - massive, obsessive at times, fanatical. Don't get me wrong, I am not one of those fans who would stalk a player or a team, and I'm also not the type to stock up on memorabilia on any specific team, mainly because that would require a huge budget for me to be able to buy the paraphernalia from all the teams which I watch, which would fast deplete my income on what I consider unnecessary items. I have been known to lose my voice while cheering on a particular event and have once or twice had parts of my body signed by members of a team who I have been able to accost, but other than that you will not find me fighting on the stands in defence of the name of my team.
And this is what I cannot understand. Sport is supposed to unite, to bring people together, people who have a common purpose and a common goal - to support their teams, to watch the sport they love, and to, hopefully, see their team win. I mean they even called a truce during World War I on Christmas day and played football during that truce (granted, as I think about it now, being able to vent their anger at losing or their joy at winning by returning the following day to shoot the bagoolies out of each other). Yet these days you would never be able to tell the difference at times between a victory and a loss. In both events, supporters behave appallingly, running riot, causing damage to property and harm to others.
It has gotten so bad in some sports that members and supporters of opposition teams traveling into another team's home territory often take their lives into their own hands by doing so, and risk being shot at, assaulted and harassed. More and more people seem to be dying in the name of sport these days than in the name of war it seems.
How is it that someone can become that fanatical about a team which, or a sports persona who, probably has no idea of their existence? What are they doing it for? Is it really for their team or is there some underlying psyche behind it? And why do sports teams sit back and tolerate this type of behaviour in the name of support for their club and their name? Surely they should be ashamed of supporters who cause harm to others in the name of "support". And what of parents who have caused harm to others on behalf of their children and in the name of support for their children? There has to be some shame in saying realizing that you killed another person (who was the referee of the match your child played in or the parent of another child on an opposing team) because your child or your child's team lost.
What has happened to us in a society where such aggression in the name of sport is causing such harm? And is there anything which can be done about it? Would it help if sports teams spoke against this type of violence, or even refrained from playing until this type of behaviour is stopped, or do they thrive on the fans who behave in this manner, and the support which they enjoy from them (both financially and psychology) too much to want to risk losing the support? Will it be worse for the team if they lose the game or lose their fans? After all we know that the sale of memorabilia, souvenirs, tokens and others items for teams runs into millions in some cases. Teams quite obviously rely heavily on these sales, as much as staying at the top of their game to encourage the public to support them, and the sponsors to back them, but should it be at the expense of safety of those very fans who put them where they are today? They can argue that it was their talent which got them there, but the question has to be asked if they would then turn down all other means to boost their incomes (such as sale of items to fans) after they have become famous? Tennis players, golf players, baseball teams, football teams and rugby teams to name a few, would only have a fraction of the income they earn if the public did not purchase items which were endorsed by them, or which sported their logo. Would they do without the income from this, advertising and ticket sales to demonstrate to fans the error of their ways?
And it's not only the losing which can lead to harm. In 2000 Lakers' fans went on a rampage to celebrate the victory of the NBA to title and when all was said and done they had caused thousands of dollars of damage, and 12 fans were injured. And this was not the first such incident after a victory. Stories such as this often abound after a major sporting event, from fans of the teams who have both lost and won. So where is happy medium? It is (well not for me, but I suppose for others) understandable that fans would be upset at a loss by their team, but for a victory to result in such hooliganism seems quite absurd. It is not positive and at the end of the day it overshadows the victory which the team has enjoyed. And it's not only those who go to the game who behave in this manner. Hands up all you sports fans who have sat in the comfort of your own home or in the pub watching the game and shouted abuse at the television screen for one or other reason. Hmm, guilty? I thought so.
Maybe I am not a proper fan, maybe I am not a real supporter, but I consider myself to be a level-headed, rational person, much the same I assume as many of those other sports fans out there. This is why I cannot understand what turns them into the almost demonic supporters they become when watching a game, and also thereafter. It is as if a switch is tripped and, bah boom, they have a personality change. From regular Joe (apologies to Joe) to FANATICAL FAN! Their superhero outfit is the colour of their sports team and bears their logo.
Perhaps someone could explain. I will not even require crayons, charts, spreadsheets, or any complicated presentation, just some thoughts and ideas as to why sports fans behave the way they do; why their disappointment or elation requires such shows of violence; or is that sports fans, en masse, fuel each other's hooliganism, at the same time hiding behind the anonymity of a large crowd, in the hopes of not being singled out as a sole contributor. Perhaps someone could explain how it is that a father can, in front of his child, earn himself 25 to life for the murder of the referee of the game in which his son's team lost? I'm not getting it, I really really am not.
I suppose then I am grateful at the end of the day to live in relative mediocrity when it comes to sport. While there is much on offer, and while we can all enjoy it, incidents of such displays of fanaticism are few and far between. It was pleasing to see supporters from two opposing teams traveling together in shared vehicles to watch their teams play, and I am proud of this fact. But I still want to know that, when I eventually get around to getting around the world to watch all the teams I support, playing in person, that I will be safe as I wave my pom-poms and eat my popcorn and that the surge of insanity which grips sports fans will not result in my being injured. For the time being then, I think I will stay home and watch from the safety of my own couch.
