Race, class changes dynamics of player-fan brawls
Date: Tuesday, November 30, 2004
By: TRACIE POWELL, BlackAmericaWeb.com
Cocky and foolish, Otto Blotz heckled loudly from the stands. Within minutes a player ???cockier and bigger ??? charged into the bleachers and pummeled the spectator upside the head, jabs bounded off the fan???s face like a golf ball from a rock, reported The New York Times.
The player wasn't Indiana Pacers forward Ron Artest. The year wasn't 2004. It was 1912, and the player who went after the heckler was Detroit Tiger baseball great Ty Cobb. Cobb, who was known as a bigot and as baseball's meanest player, clocked Blotz after he allegedly called him a half-nigger.
Cobb's penalty ??? a $200 fine and an eight-day suspension ??? was considered severe for his day. Artest, however, faces a suspension for the rest of the season and a loss of $5 million for going into the stands after a fan who threw a drink on him.
But while it is unclear whether black players who go after abusive fans face more severe penalties than white players who do the same thing, what is clear is that since Cobb's time, there have been numerous incidents in which players have left fields and courts to retaliate against rude fans in the stands. It was only in 2000, for example, when Los Angeles Dodgers coaches John Shelby and Rick Dempsey joined catcher Chad Kreuter and a slew of other Dodgers in going after Chicago Cubs fans at Wrigley Field who had been showering beer on them.
Ultimately, three coaches were suspended for 24 games, while nine players were suspended for 60 games.
But at least one expert said that economics and race play a part in the kind of fan rudeness that riled Artest.
There is a growing economic chasm between the players ??? 90 percent of them extremely wealthy blacks ??? and fans who are mostly white and certainly not as rich, Peter Roby, Director of the Center for the Study of Sport in Society at Northeastern University in Massachusetts, told BlackAmericaWeb.com.
"There???s just not as much in common with each other because the economics have gotten to the point where players no longer live in the community where the fans live, their kids no longer go to the same schools, and they no longer shop in the same grocery stores," Roby said. "And I think there???s some resentment on the part of fans with regard to that economic divide, especially those white fans that maybe feel like it???s not fair for a young, African American athlete to all of a sudden have all this kind of money. And in their view, flaunt that money and position by acting in ways that they don???t find acceptable.???
Roby, who is black, said the players also feel that they don't have to answer to fans.
"The players have gotten to a point where they???re so economically independent now, that they feel like they have the wherewithal to take matters into their own hands or lead their lives in ways that may not meet the expectations of the fans, because in their minds, they don???t need them," he said. "And that creates a recipe for the kinds of pent-up emotion and disregard that we saw on display in Detroit."
Roby, however, believes the punishment meted out by National Basketball Association Commissioner David Stern is justified.
"You have to send a strong message that that kind of behavior won???t be tolerated again and that it???s going to impact more than just yourself," he said. "I think the thing that people need to understand is that Ron Artest and his teammates put his team at an incredible disadvantage now for the rest of the season. So they???ve impacted the livelihood of the rest of their players, the franchise, and the fans."
As much as some people might suggest that Artest was right in charging after the fan who hit him, Roby said at some point he should have thought about the consequences of his actions and how his family, teammates and the league itself would be impacted.
Opinions vary on whether the response to the brawl was simply an overreaction to the fight and who is ultimately responsible. Some say Artest, others say the fan who threw the plastic cup at the player while he was down. But Jerry M. Lewis sees another culprit ??? the owners.
Lewis, a professor of sociology at Kent State University in Ohio and author of the forthcoming book, ???Fan Violence: An American Social Problem,??? said while he doesn???t excuse their behavior, fans and players aren???t ultimately at fault.
Owners typically lose money on sports teams, Lewis said, but ownership gives them status. To avoid losing more money than they???d like, owners sell hype and emotion to fill seats.
"They should be selling great athletes, but they???re not," he said. "They sell excitement, they sell emotion. The owners hand out these wands that you wave to distract players when their shooting a free throw. They hand out cards that you hold up when a player is introduced, these cards are typically insulting. Owners like fights because fights draw crowds. But there???s no dimmer switch on emotion. They try and get people as hyped up and they???re selling this with the scoreboards and the music. Then they start wringing their hands when something like this happens."
At least one owner is taking heed to the role they may play in creating an environment conducive to violence.
An advertising campaign for the Charlotte Bobcats, the team owned by Black Entertainment Television founder Robert Johnson, could become a casualty of what happened between the Pacers and Pistons. The commercials were scheduled to begin last week, but the team???s president said a climate change has taken place and the franchise is reviewing a decision to run the ads, a spokesman announced last week.
The television commercials feature a fiery Bobcats fan who appears around Charlotte with cardboard cutouts representing star players on opposing teams, including Kobe Bryant, Yao Ming and Shaquille O'Neal. Under the care of the character, however, the cutouts are plagued by various exaggerated acts of mayhem that render them smashed, wrecked, soaked, buried or ruined. The O'Neal cutout falls into a barbecue grill at a cookout and is incinerated.
Johnson???s office did not immediately return a phone call from BlackAmericaWeb.com to say whether a final decision on the commercials had been reached.
Player-fan violence is the rarest form of sports violence, said Lewis who has studied sports for years and is a fan. The most common form of violence takes place while fans are celebrating, most times don???t involve an opponent, and results in vandalism. The third kind of fan violence involves fans fighting fans.
Historically, most fan violence takes place at hockey and baseball games. But violence was very prevalent at basketball games in the 1970s, that is until Kermit Washington of the Los Angeles Lakers nearly destroyed Rudy Tomjanovich's face with a devastating punch. Tomjanovich, of the Houston Rockets, suffered fractures of the face and skull. His nose was broken, and he suffered a separated upper jaw, a concussion and lacerations around his mouth. He was leaking spinal fluid into his nose. He recovered and won a $3.2 million lawsuit.
Washington was fined $10,000 and suspended for 60 days (a loss of about $75,000 in pay), and saw his career plummet. He played with four teams over the next five years and retired in 1982 at age 30. And, at least for a while, fights at NBA games were virtually nonexistent.
Roby said American prisons are full of good people who made bad decisions in a fit of rage. But he and Lewis both agree that the Pistons-Pacers event is a rare, isolated incident.
"There are plenty of players who are law abiding, respectful citizens of their communities," Roby said. "And I don???t want people to lose sight of that. This isn???t a nightly occurrence on an NBA arena where players are going after fans. But it is still something that needs people???s attention."
Date: Tuesday, November 30, 2004
By: TRACIE POWELL, BlackAmericaWeb.com
Cocky and foolish, Otto Blotz heckled loudly from the stands. Within minutes a player ???cockier and bigger ??? charged into the bleachers and pummeled the spectator upside the head, jabs bounded off the fan???s face like a golf ball from a rock, reported The New York Times.
The player wasn't Indiana Pacers forward Ron Artest. The year wasn't 2004. It was 1912, and the player who went after the heckler was Detroit Tiger baseball great Ty Cobb. Cobb, who was known as a bigot and as baseball's meanest player, clocked Blotz after he allegedly called him a half-nigger.
Cobb's penalty ??? a $200 fine and an eight-day suspension ??? was considered severe for his day. Artest, however, faces a suspension for the rest of the season and a loss of $5 million for going into the stands after a fan who threw a drink on him.
But while it is unclear whether black players who go after abusive fans face more severe penalties than white players who do the same thing, what is clear is that since Cobb's time, there have been numerous incidents in which players have left fields and courts to retaliate against rude fans in the stands. It was only in 2000, for example, when Los Angeles Dodgers coaches John Shelby and Rick Dempsey joined catcher Chad Kreuter and a slew of other Dodgers in going after Chicago Cubs fans at Wrigley Field who had been showering beer on them.
Ultimately, three coaches were suspended for 24 games, while nine players were suspended for 60 games.
But at least one expert said that economics and race play a part in the kind of fan rudeness that riled Artest.
There is a growing economic chasm between the players ??? 90 percent of them extremely wealthy blacks ??? and fans who are mostly white and certainly not as rich, Peter Roby, Director of the Center for the Study of Sport in Society at Northeastern University in Massachusetts, told BlackAmericaWeb.com.
"There???s just not as much in common with each other because the economics have gotten to the point where players no longer live in the community where the fans live, their kids no longer go to the same schools, and they no longer shop in the same grocery stores," Roby said. "And I think there???s some resentment on the part of fans with regard to that economic divide, especially those white fans that maybe feel like it???s not fair for a young, African American athlete to all of a sudden have all this kind of money. And in their view, flaunt that money and position by acting in ways that they don???t find acceptable.???
Roby, who is black, said the players also feel that they don't have to answer to fans.
"The players have gotten to a point where they???re so economically independent now, that they feel like they have the wherewithal to take matters into their own hands or lead their lives in ways that may not meet the expectations of the fans, because in their minds, they don???t need them," he said. "And that creates a recipe for the kinds of pent-up emotion and disregard that we saw on display in Detroit."
Roby, however, believes the punishment meted out by National Basketball Association Commissioner David Stern is justified.
"You have to send a strong message that that kind of behavior won???t be tolerated again and that it???s going to impact more than just yourself," he said. "I think the thing that people need to understand is that Ron Artest and his teammates put his team at an incredible disadvantage now for the rest of the season. So they???ve impacted the livelihood of the rest of their players, the franchise, and the fans."
As much as some people might suggest that Artest was right in charging after the fan who hit him, Roby said at some point he should have thought about the consequences of his actions and how his family, teammates and the league itself would be impacted.
Opinions vary on whether the response to the brawl was simply an overreaction to the fight and who is ultimately responsible. Some say Artest, others say the fan who threw the plastic cup at the player while he was down. But Jerry M. Lewis sees another culprit ??? the owners.
Lewis, a professor of sociology at Kent State University in Ohio and author of the forthcoming book, ???Fan Violence: An American Social Problem,??? said while he doesn???t excuse their behavior, fans and players aren???t ultimately at fault.
Owners typically lose money on sports teams, Lewis said, but ownership gives them status. To avoid losing more money than they???d like, owners sell hype and emotion to fill seats.
"They should be selling great athletes, but they???re not," he said. "They sell excitement, they sell emotion. The owners hand out these wands that you wave to distract players when their shooting a free throw. They hand out cards that you hold up when a player is introduced, these cards are typically insulting. Owners like fights because fights draw crowds. But there???s no dimmer switch on emotion. They try and get people as hyped up and they???re selling this with the scoreboards and the music. Then they start wringing their hands when something like this happens."
At least one owner is taking heed to the role they may play in creating an environment conducive to violence.
An advertising campaign for the Charlotte Bobcats, the team owned by Black Entertainment Television founder Robert Johnson, could become a casualty of what happened between the Pacers and Pistons. The commercials were scheduled to begin last week, but the team???s president said a climate change has taken place and the franchise is reviewing a decision to run the ads, a spokesman announced last week.
The television commercials feature a fiery Bobcats fan who appears around Charlotte with cardboard cutouts representing star players on opposing teams, including Kobe Bryant, Yao Ming and Shaquille O'Neal. Under the care of the character, however, the cutouts are plagued by various exaggerated acts of mayhem that render them smashed, wrecked, soaked, buried or ruined. The O'Neal cutout falls into a barbecue grill at a cookout and is incinerated.
Johnson???s office did not immediately return a phone call from BlackAmericaWeb.com to say whether a final decision on the commercials had been reached.
Player-fan violence is the rarest form of sports violence, said Lewis who has studied sports for years and is a fan. The most common form of violence takes place while fans are celebrating, most times don???t involve an opponent, and results in vandalism. The third kind of fan violence involves fans fighting fans.
Historically, most fan violence takes place at hockey and baseball games. But violence was very prevalent at basketball games in the 1970s, that is until Kermit Washington of the Los Angeles Lakers nearly destroyed Rudy Tomjanovich's face with a devastating punch. Tomjanovich, of the Houston Rockets, suffered fractures of the face and skull. His nose was broken, and he suffered a separated upper jaw, a concussion and lacerations around his mouth. He was leaking spinal fluid into his nose. He recovered and won a $3.2 million lawsuit.
Washington was fined $10,000 and suspended for 60 days (a loss of about $75,000 in pay), and saw his career plummet. He played with four teams over the next five years and retired in 1982 at age 30. And, at least for a while, fights at NBA games were virtually nonexistent.
Roby said American prisons are full of good people who made bad decisions in a fit of rage. But he and Lewis both agree that the Pistons-Pacers event is a rare, isolated incident.
"There are plenty of players who are law abiding, respectful citizens of their communities," Roby said. "And I don???t want people to lose sight of that. This isn???t a nightly occurrence on an NBA arena where players are going after fans. But it is still something that needs people???s attention."
