Poor Leodis McKelvin.
After literally fumbling away a Bills upset win over the Patriots, he temporarily became the most despised man in Western New York. And who could blame the angry fans? This was Buffalo’s 12th loss in a row to New England.
As irate as Bills fans were though, McKelvin had to have been surprised when he returned home to find his lawn had been vandalized by an especially pissed fan. Apparently yelling at the TV wasn’t enough for this nighttime bandit, who graduated to using a can of spray paint and choice obscenities to express his displeasure.
I admit I laughed when I read McKelvin’s lawn was tagged, but it was what I call “dead baby joke” laughter: Yeah I’m laughing, but in all seriousness, it isn’t funny.
See, it’s one thing to get angry about your sports team; plenty of walls have had intimate meetings with my fists during baseball season. But what this guy did to McKelvin’s lawn was taking it a step too far. Putting the player in a situation where he fears for his safety just isn’t acceptable.
Now before you tell me I’m overreacting, just remember athletes worldwide commonly receive death threats for a variety of dumb reasons. Former UCLA star Kevin Love got voicemails from Oregon fans promising his demise. Same goes for former Indiana player Eric Gordon, who was treated to violent language upon his return to Illinois — the team he backed out of playing for at the last minute. These threats are hardly ever acted on, but do you have the cojones to call someone’s bluff if your life is on the line?
Back to McKelvin, I know what happened wasn’t any worse than being TP’d or egged, but it was still grossly inappropriate. Even though he forgave the mystery culprit and made no call for legal action — quite the gentlemanly act — he never should have had to deal with that in the first place. We have a right as fans to whine, curse, rant, cry for coaches to be fired and make seething calls to sports radio shows — those are all reasonable reactions. Unfortunately, some of our dumber brethren take it too far.
Just a month ago Cubs fan Johnny Macchione threw a beer at Phillies outfielder Shane Victorino as he made a catch at the wall during a Chicago blowout loss. Luckily for Victorino, it was only a plastic cup, not a slightly more harmful plastic bottle. Unluckily for Macchione, not only was he an idiot, but he was just enough of a douche bag to pin the blame on another guy.
Obviously this wasn’t the first case of baseball fans throwing things onto the field. Patrons of the game have a long and proud history of tossing objects from the stands, starting with throwing back the opposing team’s home run balls. Boston fans threw money on the field in Johnny Damon’s first trip back to Fenway as a Yankee. Twins fans invoked a hurricane of hotdogs in honor of the 2001 return to the Metrodome for Chuck Knoblauch, who, perhaps not coincidentally, was also as a member of the Yankees.
As grin-inducing as chucking things at Chuck was, play was stopped for 45 minutes that game as the managers of both pleaded for fans to stop. Late ‘Dome announcer Bob Casey had to go on the PA and alert the crowd that the Twins would forfeit the game if the hailstorm of garbage did not stop. So much for Minnesota nice.
While I don’t think anybody intends to actually hurt a player with a $8 beer or a hot dog, how long before someone gets angry (or drunk) enough to chuck a camera, brick, ice pick, etc.? I don’t think it’s unreasonable for professional athletes to expect to compete without the threat of projectile bludgeoning.
And heaven forbid you throw something at an athlete who happens to have both anger issues and easy access to your seat (a la Ron Artest in Detroit). Or even an even gutsier move, directly challenge a player to fisticuffs, as an L.A. Galaxy fan did to David Beckham in July. Beckham was more than willing to oblige, before security stopped both parties. As a result, the nation lost the opportunity to witness what would have been a contender for the “wussiest fight in the world ever” award — bring on the angry e-mails soccer fans.
See, there’s a difference between verbal violence, which I have no problem with, and taking physical action. If I happen to say “Nick Punto, if you ground into a double play, I will punch you in the neck,” that’s fine. If I happen to run onto the field and actually sock Punto in the throat-holder after he grounds into a double play, then there’s a problem.
It’s reasonable for us to expect our favorite pro athletes won’t make dumb plays that lose games. It’s also reasonable for athletes to not worry about being lynched if they make those dumb plays. I know McKelvin only has to mow his lawn and Victorino only needed a shower, but how long until someone takes it too far with tragic results? If there are three things people in this country are passionate about, they’re politics, religion and sports. Plenty of people have died in the name of the first two, and all it takes is one bad game and one bad overreaction to get the third category on the board.
Yes, it’s our right, nay, our duty as sports fans to be angry when our hometown players and coaches eff up. If it gets to the point where we bring angry signs to games or even rent out billboard space across the street from the Notre Dame campus to congratulate Charlie Weis on his coaching “internship,” then that’s OK. That’s being critical. Death threats, vandalism and airborne beers? That’s just juvenile.
Adam is a junior majoring in journalism. Think fan reactions are going overboard, or would you like to throw a beer at Adam instead? E-mail him at [email protected].
