Are Sports Fans Becoming Too Sensitive??

Now, In previous posts, I have talked about the sensitivity of people in life, mostly with the modern and future generations and how they have been raised. But now, I'm asking this question to the sports fans of the world. Are fans becoming too sensitive?

Recently, there were fan incidents in Atlanta (Braves bad call leading to garbage being thrown on the field) and Kansas City (Chiefs fans booing/cheering QB Matt Cassel when injured) and the Refgate Response from Green Bay (Packers whining about that call, threatening to riot allegedly)

Then, There's West Virginia.

Let it be known that I do not like the Mountaineers. I always lose money when I bet on or against them, their uniforms are ugly and I don't really care for that region personally (Ohio Valley) and I have a good friend from H.S. who attends WVU and while I know he's a good person, not much can be said for a lot of the other students based on the numerous reports I hear from writers and sports personalities and other fans who have been there and heard tons of degrading comments, racist comments and other general rude showings that they use to create their home field advantage.

2 weekends ago, WVU pulled out an exciting 48-45 win over Big 12 opponent Texas down in Austin. Back in Morgantown, Mountaineer kids started to light couches on fire, flip cars, toss garbage, the whole nine riot yards. I've never understood this behavior in any capacity, but especially during a Win? What is burning your cheap dorm furniture going to prove to anyone, other than you not having a place to pass out on next weekend?

Last week, the Mountaineer express, led by Heisman Hopeful QB Geno Smith, came to a screeching halt at the unlikely hands of Texas Tech, pretty much putting a dent into their hopes of a B(C)S Title Game. I haven't heard of any of the same violent rioting news after this crushing loss, but one can only assume some minor incidents took place.

Now this weekend, Top 5 and legit Title contender Kansas State strolls into Morgantown for what was already going to be an interesting game to watch on the field, but now might be something to witness around the stadium as well. This week, a fan forum (www.goEMAW.com) has come, if not under fire, but under the spotlight over a series of posts regarding comments over this week's matchup. A lot of different things were said, mostly joking about West Virginia's rural location, stereotypical "Drunken Meth-headed Toothless Cousin-Fuckin' Hillbilles" type of chatter that is purely satirical and to me personally, quite entertaining to read. Apparently, word got around to some WVU fans that their team was being trashed-talked on an opponent's forum (OOOH What a fucking shocker!) and they went in for blood. People lined the forum with threats of violence, attacks against a former prominent member of the board who tragically passed from cancer, and one lady even went so far as to string together quotes from the thread and write a Cease & Desist style letter to the Head of the NCAA. Let me repeat that, The HEAD of The NCAA!

How can a big, bad, rowdy group of proud Mountaineer fans go from burning couches and claiming titles one weekend to getting angry (or Butthurt, as so many on the forum claimed) about trash talk that  honestly isn't even new or clever or really hurtful (unless you are one of the above mentioned stereotypes, in which case it's true).

People don't seem to understand trash-talk anymore in sports. The whole thing is to get into someone's head so that the goal at hand isn't as easy to achieve. Gregg Williams said it best, "A mind troubled by doubt cannot focus on victory." That same mentality is active with fans just as it is players. All the time you hear road teams say we want to take the crowd out of the game. They matter just as much as the players on the field do. So with that being said, trash talk is fine and necessary for sports. It's when people want to start taking the shit that is being said personally and then things get out of line.

The passion and camaraderie of College Football is what makes it such a special and wonderful event. and people show their passion for the game and want to brag about their team and want to get their boys (and girls Title IX) fired up for the game. Taking a comment said on an opponent's fan forum so hard that you write the top suit of a top sports organization? Guess what, WVU fan who wrote that, I'm sure that the NCAA head did This with the print-out of your letter. There are over 100 Division 1-A (because I refuse to call 1-AA anything different) schools who play football, and probably have fan forum with the same kind of shit talk and chatter. Is it childish? Slightly. Are people living and dying from it, More than likely, No.

Which brings me to my next point of the fact that I am hearing that Police in Morgantown are going to be on super high alert, not just for the couch-burning, but to make sure the safety of the Kansas State fans won't be compromised. Really? I'm all for going to an opposing venue to support my teams, and I get that if you talk shit to the wrong people or cross the line at a game, you may get dealt with outside afterwards. But that's only fine if you Cross The Line. I feel that people who aren't even involved with this whole back-and-forth mess, simple casual fans making a trip to a stadium, are going to be overly harassed and possibly injured because of the harshness of this "kerfuffle" (someone else's term, not mine)

People want to slam Soccer supporters in England for their violent behavior in matches, but like everything in life there is a code that is followed. If you wanna have a good old fashioned smack-talk session and just leave it between the game, that's all fine and dandy. And if you want to take it to another level and push it to an engagement of fisticuffs, there's a group or two who will happily oblige to that as well. But when you have casual fans and families around, those are people to leave alone and let them watch the game. I understand this concept, being in all three groups at some point in time as a sports fan. Everyone has to know their stance and respect that.

In closing, my family taught me to take shit just as well as you can dish it out. And I think some fans around the nation, not just Morgantown, aren't getting that memo. Suck It Up! (and accept this ass-whuppin Colin Klein and the Wildcats are gonna give ya Saturday night)