Written by It is just a game. No, I am not belittling or discounting any of the hard work that athletes, coaches, and staff put into competing. But I am talking about what people do after their team loses. Some coaches will yell at their team, others will blame the officials. Some coaches will even call out their players for poor performance. A few coaches will honestly reflect on preparing and competing and ask what they could have done for the team to better prepare and compete. Many athletes go through similar thoughts and frustrations. Fans are a different story.
While some fans may try and deconstruct an entire game and analyze what went wrong, many will just complain about it a little bit and move on. However, there are a few who will take the loss to extremes. They may demand the removal of the coach or a change in the front office staff. They may yell at the television or computer, or if they are at the competition, they may yell at athletes, coaches, officials, or even opposing team’s fans when they walk of the court, field, gym, mat, pool, or stands.
Calling or messaging athletes, coaches, officials, and support staff, or their families after the competition is inappropriate and dangerous. E.J. Liddell experienced this after his team, Ohio State, lost in the first round of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament. Some of the messages he received were hateful, vulgar, or racial in nature, some told him that they hoped he would die, and it even went to the extreme of telling him to never show his face on campus again. There is no excuse for targeting anyone about a loss.
It is just a game, and in the case of basketball, everything needs to be left on the court. Nobody deserves to be targeted like this, even if the performed poorly, which was definitely not the case in Liddell’s performance. I do not believe that anyone would want to be targeted like this because of a short-term loss, regardless of what industry they work in.
Fans have a responsibility for the culture within sports. Starting physical fights in the stands, outside of the stadium, or damaging property is an indication of the culture. How are the games going to be remembered in history, or even in a fan’s mind: That a game that was lost or that someone exacted revenge on the team that lost?