College football season has returned. Having had season tickets for many years (over 20) I have noticed a gradual change in the attitudes of the fans. In case you weren’t aware, way back in the day we were instructed on proper fan etiquette. You stood for the National Anthem (and you did NOT applaud). It was expected that you cheered for your team and acknowledged a good play by the opponents with polite applause. You participated in the cheers led by the cheerleaders. You parked your behind in your seat and only in your ticketed spot. You were encouraged to stand when something exciting happened and THEN YOU SAT DOWN!
Sadly times have changed. Now it seems that standing for the entire game is seen as a personal choice that results in forcing everyone behind you to stand if they want to see the game. The cheerleaders are no longer leading cheers but providing entertainment (dance and feats of strength and acrobatics) for those in the stands. Some even use the game as an excuse to drink in excess and behave badly. But the worst is the poor sportsmanship. Booing your opponent is seen as normal. Making comments about players appearance, ethnicity, intelligence, ability (and that extends to the coaches, referees, band, and cheer squad as well) is not only accepted but encouraged!
In my opinion, and possibly I’m not alone, the jeers tossed at the opposing team are not only poor sportsmanship but inviting bad karma. I’ve seen it in action. The fans screaming names at the other team’s quarterback gasp when their quarterback is sidelined with a back spasm. The fan spewing vitriol at the Heisman contender on the other team has the fan behind them vomit down their back. You never know how your behavior will impact others and how the cosmos will respond…
Okay. My rant is over and we can resume the regularly scheduled programming. Just remember when you put negativity out into the world it will often come back and roost in your hair.
A Different Perspective 
Gross behavior, isn’t it.
There were almost 110,000 fans in our college stadium last Saturday night. I hear maybe the behavior was ok. But that volume gives me hives.
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The standard for ok behavior has dropped to the lowest level. If there are no arrests, deaths, shootings, then anything goes. 110,000 fans gives me hives too – I can only hold my breath and wait to see if it became a “super spreader event”…
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footy is just an excuse to legitimate violence and many levels … I gave it the toss in my teens! Hey if you’d done this in poetry style you could have formulated a ‘rant’ poem 🙂
Hope you’re feeling better for getting that out … here they crucify our top players for being First Nation People 😦 What they say and do should be against the law …
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It isn’t just football/soccer it is all sports and it has shifted from professional athletes to even High School and younger players. I’m very disgusted… A rant poem you say? You are feeding the muse now!!
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meant to, guilty as charged!
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You are a sly one Kate! Well then, just you wait!
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never sly, I am way to obvious for that!
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Hehe! Okay maybe not sly but you sure jerked my chain!
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only if you let me 🙂
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permission granted!
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I couldn’t agree more, Valerie! I’ve even seen this happen on the elementary school level and parents of members of one team trash talk members of the opposing team- PARENTS, ADULTS! Great example to set for their children, huh? Ive even seen news clips of parents getting into fist fights during a game or after it. It’s disgusting behavior and it’s a turn off to people with any social intelligence.
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Absolutely!! I’ve seen it at the elementary level. A friend’s daughter (5th grade) was bullied by a referee who told the team after the game that they were the most untalented team he’d ever refereed! (He was the uncle of one of the girls on the other team and had made very questionable and even unfair calls) Yet the girls lost the game by 2 points! There was so much outrage about his bias that the principal (the referee’s brother) had to calm the crowd and ask them to restrain themselves… The good news was that there were so many parents taking video that he was banned from being a referee after review of the footage!
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Wow! I’m so glad that referee got his comeuppance. What he did to that girl was child psychological abuse.
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The berated the whole team and left many in tears. That was last year. This year the 6th grade only had enough girls to have a single team. Most of them switched to other sports. My friend’s daughter is on the Volleyball team now…
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Wow! It’s astonishing how simple amd ignorant people can act! I wish your friends daughter and the rest of the girls all the best in the future. This will serve as example to them on how NOT to behave.
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At least they understood that the actions of the referee resulted in dire consequences for him. They were able to speak up and be believed.
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That’s the best thing right there! Their sweet little voices were heard and the referee got what was coming to him. And that will make all the difference because they got the justice they deserved, therefore, the girls won’t be afraid to speak out should something like this happen again. 💪💪💪
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It was very fortunate that they were believed – it didn’t hurt that there were several parents just around the corner who were able to corroborate their account.
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Absolutely. The more witnesses, the better!
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🙂
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Wow. That sounds pretty abhorrent.
I love your last line about negativity coming back to roost in your hair! Lol!
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Sports fans can be really ugly. Glad you liked that little bit of wisdom!
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Very timely post, wise one. The energy of where one focuses one’s thoughts is going to be even higher until at least the winter solstice. *mystic steps away* 😉
Fasten seatbelts, and remember your focus. Carry on, warrior.
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There is definitely a cosmic pull in each of our lives – even if we are unaware. I don’t have the desire to track the stars and planets but if you see the sway and inform me, I’m willing to accept it. I suppose this autumn is going to be turbulent – weather-wise as well as politically and socially. I’m prepared physically but still buckling on my emotional armor…. Like Chuck Yeager, “Never wait for trouble.”
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I did not like ball games when I was in college. Unless my Aunt and Uncle had extra tickets and I could get out of the student section. Those were more enjoyable.
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Why can’t sports fans use their highly charged emotions for public good!
Yikes! I wouldn’t like negativity to ever roost in my hair.
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Very good question – and I don’t have any good answer. I try to avoid the negativity. With my luck that negativity would end up the size of an elephant…
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I too try to avoid negativity. It is energy sapping.
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I agree!
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sad isn’t it?
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Yes it is. I hope sincerely that good sportsmanship makes a comeback!
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I lost all interest in football of any genre when money took over the game/s.
Nothing wrong with a good rant……
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Thanks May! I needed to get that off my chest. We are in the thick of football season and it is really sad to see the degradation of polite society. I’m not surprised but very disappointed.
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It does look like the Rules of Civility is an elective course along with Critical Thinking and Morality. If there’s no money to be made by being civil, or if one is confident of anonymity, the basest conduct is considered acceptable. Do I sound cynical? It’s probably because at least a half a dozen drivers have driven past my house going at least thirty miles an hour over the speed limit, engine roaring, off-road tires growling, using the oncoming lane to straighten the curve, oblivious to the people they endanger and offend….and I promise, if elected….
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Yes. Civility has fled the country. I suspect it has taken up residence in Antarctica (far away from the maddening crowd). As a cyclist I can imagine you are more attuned to their reckless behavior. And they will be reckless until they cause a wreck…. You wonder why they think it doesn’t matter.
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Vanity of vanities! The behavior of supporters sometimes becomes unbearable and dangerous.
Love ❤
Michel
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Indeed. Fanatics and alcohol plus lack of conscience and there is anarchy!
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I must confess, growing up in NYC it was different. We tortured fans of the other team who dared show their faces in Shea Stadium. I remember once seeing fans harass Cubs fans to the point they got the Cubs fans removed.
When we moved up here I started going to a few minor league games and it was so much more casual and less intense. I think it got less rowdy over time until now. When I went to an MLB game in New York for the first time in years, I was happy with how nice everything was.
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No wonder NYC had a reputation as a very unfriendly city! Good to hear that they are trying to improve. I’m in the Midwest and we are “Midwest Nice” which I’ve heard some use as a putdown but I’m rather proud of how hospitable and friendly we really are!
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This is just a manifestation of how things changed over the years …and i’d like to highlight on the cheeeaders, during our “era” cheerleaders are really their the take on the lead and cheer today, and sadly, they are there as an acrobatic entertainment, the higher the fly the louder the audience scream, the tighter and shorter their outfits the more the audience applaud..
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I have to agree. The cheerleaders are nearly indecent. I’d love for there to be equality. Either have the girls wear outfits that cover them up so that there aren’t any “wardrobe malfunctions” or make the guys wear similarly skimpy attire (I bet the outfits would become much more modest)!
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Yes, we reap what we sow. I don’t watch football but some family members do…It’s just not my thing and I truly don’t have the time
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We used to go to the games (when I was working at the university). I enjoyed the atmosphere until it started to change… then we gave up our season tickets and don’t go anymore. The seats aren’t made for old people (too hard on the back and behind)!
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It started with Little League. When miscreant fathers started bullying the umpires, AND began living through their little sons’ performances (or lack, thereof), it headed up the chain. Of course, there have long been boorish fans at
“professional” sporting events. It used to be, we laughed at the English hooligans. Then, we began imitating them.
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Sad but true.
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