What’s the point of running an award-winning blog if not to a) have a voice and b) call upon others with a voice to share their opinions.
We’re in a fiery time and, while we can debate over exactly how fiery they are in respect to other combative times in our nation’s history, that does not change the fact that multiple sports figures have been a little testy of late.
For some of them, it’s been a rough week.
After another home loss to Ohio State, a game the Nittany Lions could (and perhaps conceivably should) have won, Penn State head coach James Franklin walked off the field once again after a crucial loss. It was their eighth straight defeat to the Buckeyes.
As Franklin headed off the field and into the locker room, a fan from the stands, what appeared to be a kid, heckled Franklin about his team’s performance. Franklin was quick to respond.
Philadelphia Eagles head coach Nick Siriani had a similar reaction lately. As fans began talking smack to Siriani on the sidelines, the coach clapped back. As is generally the case, the fan was ill-prepared.
Speaking of Philadelphia, all-star center and Olympian gold medalist Joel Embiid accosted an Inquirer reporter who he felt had been a little too personal with his coverage. Embiid has yet to play this season. Fans have come to question his availability and dedication. So did sportswriter Marcus Hayes who, in an article, questioned Embiid’s work ethic, going so far as to bring up Embiid’s son and late brother, citing Embiid should set a better example.
And finally, although I’m sure there are more incidents of people fucking around and finding out, Jason Kelce accosted a fan who questioned his brother’s relationship with the world’s biggest pop star. In defense of his brother, and perhaps future sister-in-law, the former Philadelphia center grabbed the heckler’s cell phone and threw it to the ground.
I know where I stand on these incidents, there’s a line of decency we shouldn’t cross, yet continue to as that line can be blurred by the eye of the beholder. When it comes to decency or the lack thereof, I’ve consulted a few of my fellow brethren to ask them where they stand on these incidents, how they could have been avoided and perhaps even who was right and who was wrong.
Or maybe it’s just something in the Pennsylvania water.
Like another unwanted Avengers sequel, I’ve assembled some of the greatest minds on the internet and asked them to share their thoughts. Enjoy their posts but, knowing them like I do, I can only imagine what some of their responses might hold. In other words, I’d be careful what you write in the comments section.
Michael Lortz (Author of Curveball at the Crossroads)
How fitting that you write this article in this month of this year. As an NBA fan, I know you are celebrating – or looking down with disdain – at one of the ugliest moments in NBA history. November 19th will be the 20-year anniversary of the Malice in the Palace. Remember when an idiotic Pistons fan named John Green lobbed a cup at Pacer Ron Artest and all hell broke loose? That remains the bar from which all fan-athlete altercations will be measured.
Here is another one that just passed its 27th anniversary: October 27th, 1997. Houston Rockets star Charles Barkley gets into a bar fight in Orlando at Church Street and throws a man through a window. According to Barkley, the man threw ice at him. It was Barkley’s second bar incident following a fight outside of a Milwaukee bar in 1991. According to Barkley, that incident happened because three big men shouted insults at him as they followed him and the wife of a Milwaukee Bucks player to their car.
Fans can be idiots. Fans can be dangerous. Fans can let their feelings and passions about their favorite team or player get them in trouble. One of my favorite Jimmy Fallon skits was back in 2010 when former Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano returned to play the Yankees in New York for the first time. Fallon’s “on the street” interviewer asks fans to boo a picture of Cano. After booing, the real Cano comes out from behind the picture. Every fans’ reaction immediately changes from negative to positive. It is absolutely hilarious. Find it on YouTube and give it a watch. By and large, that’s normal. But sometimes fans go too far.
Did you know Wikipedia has an entire page dedicated to fan disturbances? Wonderful reading, although it does not yet mention the two knuckleheads who tried to rip Mookie Betts’s hand off in New York last week. It also doesn’t mention any pro wrestling legends or their bar fight stories. That might be a whole other page.
You can’t blame players for being defensive, especially when fans enter the field of play. Possibly the most heinous attack on an athlete was in Bonn, Germany on May 1st, 1993, when an attacker leapt onto the tennis court during a break in the quarterfinals of the Citizen Cup in Hamburg. He stabbed the number 1 ranked tennis player in the world with a knife. Although she went on to great success, many still wonder how tennis history would have played out had Monica Seles not been attacked.
Despite the recent rash of incidents, I’m not sure we are in an age of more or less bad fans. I know we are in an age of more instant videos and more commentary and more over-analysis. Check out Ty Cobb at Hilltop Park in 1912. Cobb punched a disabled man for heckling him for years. Although Cobb was suspended for one game, according to Wikipedia sources, “the entire Georgia congressional delegation, including both senators, sent Cobb a telegram applauding his actions”. That would have broken the sports internet and shorted Stephen A. Smith’s brain.
Unless we go back to COVID-era ballpark rules, I don’t think we will ever have a cessation of ballpark hostilities. There is a whole lot of passion in sports both on and off the field. Where there is passion there will be fanatical behavior. The best we can do is hope for the best. And avoid any bars Charles Barkley goes to.
J-Dub (Founder of Dubsism.com)
So, Chump’s got the videos of all these incidents from the X artist formerly known as Twitter. He also mentioned the key to all of this. To fully appreciate the damage that has been done by social media to civility and American society as whole, here’s a classic example of “fuck around and find out” moment.
The guy who just got his lights turned out is Chris “Mad Dog” Russo, who at this time is on his rise to becoming a godfather of sports radio along with Mike Francesa. The guy who just altered his consciousness is none other than former NFL linebacker Matt Millen. See, Russo said something along the lines of “Matt Millen sucks,” and while you all can feel free to debate the merits of that statement, one thing remains undeniably true.
As Americans, we have the right to free speech, but that doesn’t mean there’s a freedom from responsibility for what you say. There are statutes about slander, libel, and defamation of character of bulwarks of the civil justice system, and people get hauled into court all the time in the name those laws.
The problem is social media destroyed “street justice.” It’s become far too easy to hide behind the interwebz and spew bile being confident there will be no reprisals. That level of comfort has spilled into the real world, and the only way back from that is for people to “fuck around and find out.” In other words, if you’re stupid enough to talk shit to a 300-pound ex-offensive lineman, you deserve to get your phone shoved up your ass.
Dr. Milhouse (Defending Champion of the Distinguished Degenerates Fantasy Football League)
“Most people are in a factory from nine till five. Their job may be to turn out 263 little circles. At the end of the week, they’re three short and somebody has a go at them. On Saturday afternoons they deserve something to go and shout about.” – Rodney Marsh
The world is riddled with stories about the fun you can have as a heckler. Oscar the Grouch. Statler and Waldorf. Spike Lee.
Before my days of running March Madness pools in elementary school and Super Bowl Squares at recess, I was a professional wrestling fan. Going to cramped, musty buildings around Tampa to watch choreographed violence was my weekends with dad. So, growing up in a place where you were allowed–nay, encouraged–to heckle the performers, I appreciate it when fans can get under the skin of opposing players and coaches.
There’s no shortage of times a sports crowd has stumbled upon the perfect moment of heckling and made history. Philadelphia’s fans chanting “Peter Vermes, give us your keys” after the coach’s DUI was one of the first viral moments of soccer Twitter. (Notice Philadelphia keeps popping up in these conversations?) Who can forget when news of Martin Brodeur banging his sister-in-law broke hours before he was going to play against the Lightning in the playoffs? And for the wrestling fans, when Elias and Kevin Owens got booed for five minutes straight for making a Supersonics joke in Seattle. They had to turn up the house lights because people were throwing shit.
The point is, heckling has a place in sports.
But more and more, folks are getting too comfortable behind their keyboards, losing the human attachment. Social media gives gamblers direct access to the phone of any number of athletes and coaches. Players posting a picture of their kid get flooded with comments about how much they’re hated. It’s inelegant. It’s inartful. Heckling is supposed to be fun, even if it’s mean-spirited. It’s the difference between “calling out an outfielder with a can of dip in their pocket and a ‘Say No to Drugs’ patch on his shoulder mid-game” and “tagging a quarterback on Instagram to tell him he’s a loser.”
As an extension of that, folks are forgetting the cardinal rule you’re supposed to learn when you’re a teenager: Chat shit, get hit. It’s like we got into a global pandemic and people forgot you can’t be a troll in public without consequences. It’s been four years of folks getting away with “It’s just a prank, bro” being an excuse for not being funny.
So, I support the FAFO Era where if you’re an absolute tool, you’re fair game. Maybe a couple months’ worth of viral videos of folks getting knocked the fuck out will snap some dipshits into shape.
Anthony Thalman (Former contributor, Notre Dame World Traveler, Currently in Pinstripe Recovery)
As a 45- year fan of college and professional sports I can see the profound difference in the way fans interact with players (college and pro) today versus years or decades ago and the way the play or coach reacts.
I see a couple of reasons for this.
#1 social media connect fans to players like never before. Fans get to connect with their favorite players, understand them a bit more and even see them outside games. That is a good thing and has really increased the popularity of all sports, not just the big sports.
#2 The 24-hour news sport cycle and in particular the sports news coverage that is driven on shock statements, provocative comments and calling our players and coaches by name. Many panelists are ex-players who must have forgotten what it is like playing and dealing with the press, but big money is at stake with cable news and podcasts, and everybody wants their minutes of fame. These two make the world a bit smaller and give fans the idea that somehow, they are part of the team and have a right to get more involved. There is also more information discussed.
#3 is NIL money in college that will forever change that sport. No more are these “just kids” these are highly played players, and the coaches today make more money than ever before. I have been on the record before that NIL is an awful decision that will have massive unintended consequences to collegiate sports. Mostly for the bad.
In terms of the examples listed I found it interesting that Penn State was involved. My son had the great privilege of graduating there and I have been to that stadium and know how enthusiastic the fans are and can be. 110K fans and two idiots get involved calling out Franklin? Did the fans cross the line? Maybe, but Franklin makes millions of dollars (PSU Is a public school so the PA taxpayers partially pay his salary) and just lost a game he should have won and has a terrible record against good teams. I think he should expect the calling out and needs to get some tougher skin.
I think overall fans will continue to be increasingly connected to teams and with the reasons I’ve outlined above only going to get more and more pronounced and when you consider all these sports want fans as close to the game as possible, we will continue to see these incidents. That said, other than physical confrontation fans have a right to voice contempt and their disapproval with players or coaches. Remember Fan comes from Fanatic!
Kevin Paul (Founder of The Wife Hates Sports.com)
Franklin: This is not the first time Franklin has had the wrong reaction following a difficult or frustrating result. While there’s no proof that he meddled with the playcalling, there have been rumors that this does happen, especially in big games or key situations. It’s hard to imagine Andy Kotelnicki calling the same play three straight times inside the five during the fourth quarter. He was brought in for his creativity and unique looks. Say what you want, Franklin teams crumble in big moments. That game was there for the taking and they let Ohio State have it, and he’s starting to have negative reactions after all the pressure. Instead of his agent negotiating another larger deal to stay at PSU, it’s more so the ‘Dumb and Dumber’ image where he’s crying in the Benjamins after yet another tough loss against a top team. But in the end, would Penn State be better off with another coach? That’s a roll of the dice that I don’t expect the school to take. They’ll take this over finding a replacement that falters like Lincoln Riley or Jimbo Fisher. James just needs to keep walking into the tunnel and ignore the noise. But after years of hearing it, he’s no longer darting for the tunnel.
Sean Mo (Former contributor, Reads books upside down for a different perspective)
As a native Cincinnatian and a fan of the local teams, I am not uninitiated to the presence of unruly and upset “fans”. I place that word in quotations because I have long believed that, despite my teams giving me little justification to do so, it is the responsibility of the fan to support their team, especially if one is going to attend a game.
I have never understood the mentality of spending hard earned cash and devoting precious time travelling to a game, a place of excitement and joy, only to spout negativity and spread disdain for the franchise. Of course, NFL stadiums are no strangers to the ugliness of humanity, but for a long time they were more the outlier in that most people could live out most of their lives without encountering the type of vitriol reserved for athletes and coaches from unruly fans.
This is no longer the case as social media has brought to the forefront for us all the worst of humankind. I do not believe that these recent outbursts from coaches and players against their detractors means coaches or players have lost any of the decorum expected of them, but more so that they are a product of social media, and the unavoidable pressure exerted on them.
There was a time when players were advised not to read the press if they wanted to keep their sanity but now there is no way to escape. Not only is social media ingrained in every aspect of life but algorithms direct “relevant” articles, advertisements, and even news based upon daily tasks and integrate the stories into advertisements in web searches, shopping apps, and even in some streaming apps on smart TVs. I couldn’t imagine Nick Siriani or other public figures having any other news directed their way when the algorithm picks up the name in everything they do in search of relevancy. Unlike times gone by blocking out the negative is unavoidable, and these athletes or coaches must deal with a constant barrage of job pressure, personal attacks, and hate… so much hate, which brings me to my next point.
The Jason Kelce situation is the most interesting here as a sign of the times and a predictor of where we may be headed. Somewhere between Nick Siriani turning to the fans or the great Bengals coach Sam Wyche addressing his own fans in throwing snowballs with “you don’t live in Cleveland; you live in Cincinnati” and the extreme reaction of the Malice in the Palace, we have the question of how much reaction is too much. Mike Tyson once famously quoted, “Social media made y’all way too comfortable with disrespecting people and not getting punched in the face for it.”
While I am not advocating for or condoning violence these words reign true, especially regarding the way celebrities are treated. Just as social media provides anonymity when commenting online allowing people to say the most hateful thing, they would never say to a person’s face for fear of retaliation, laws regarding privacy of public entities allow the common public to approach celebrities in ways they never would a regular person they met in the world. While judgements such as NY Times v Sullivan and subsequent verdicts are important first amendment cases establishing the rights of the press to approach public entities differently, these douchbags with their cell phones are far from the fourth estate protecting the country from the unchecked power of a shadow government.
When those decisions were made, they never imagined herds of people all with recording devices in hand mobbing public figures in ways which would be considered so far in excess of normal activity that violence would be expected and maybe even condoned if the laws did not exist removing privacy protections from these celebrities. Approaching a 6’2 260-pound man within snatch-up range and yelling hate slurs would be like climbing into a gorilla exhibit at the zoo. Sure, nobody wants the gorilla to maul the intruder but if it happens, we don’t blame the animal for doing what is natural.
Unfortunately, as will probably be the case with Kelce, the one intruded upon normally gets the worst of it in an effort to protect the intruder (another issue in which we in Cincinnati are all too familiar). If privacy and harassment laws are not updated soon to provide a generalized level of protections for these public entities the words of the great lispsy prophet will grow truer and the walking mobs of social media will grow even more comfortable until it all boils over and these incidents become more commonplace and maybe even more extreme.
BCole (Muse, Ardent FAFO Supporter, Godfather Impressionist)
I am glad I’m not a professional athlete or coach or anyone else of sufficient notoriety, as I would not be able to keep my cool in all these situations that we are about to discuss either. Not surprising they are tied to the “Red” Pennsylvania but I’m not ready for that complete rant yet.
James Franklin: Do I believe it was worth jawing back with a teenager about some missteps made during the game? Probably not on the surface but taking a deeper look past the situation itself, I think it was worth it. It’s about damn time that some of these white men are held accountable for their actions. This man was doing his job and a young fan decided to run down and criticize him for his coaching directly, 1:1, to his face. This dude learned real quick that he wasn’t behind the safety of a phone or computer screen when Franklin clapped back asking him his name. The fan of course ran off. Franklin proceeded to remind him that as a man, if he is going to have the [balls] to confront him, he better do it with his whole chest, name included. Well done, coach. This punk deserved the response…even if your coaching is questionable at times.
Joel Embiid: This is a tough one. At the core, the journalist was incredibly out of line by leveraging Embiid’s deceased brother and his namesake (his son Arthur) in an attempt to draw attention and get “clicks” when criticizing his dedication to the game. Embiid had every right to be furious and his feelings were extremely justified. That being said, Embiid did not handle the situation appropriately by breaking the law and putting his hands on the reporter. He could have easily met “force with force” and equally attacked him verbally in front of the media but battering him was crossing the line. No matter how deserving, you can’t break the law, bro but I also ain’t mad he did it.
Jason Kelce: This is another example of justifiable anger combined with unjustified physical retaliation, not to mention, tossing around slurs. I get why Jason Kelce was upset. I understand that he was being followed by some punk who deserved 100% to be put in his place because like so many others, feels entitled while wrapped in his white privilege to say whatever he wants. He shouldn’t have stooped to using the homophobic slur or damaging the dude’s property (breaking the law) but I also find it pretty funny that it happened. It’s also worthwhile noting this interaction happened while Kelce was not working, unlike the other instances.
Nick Siriani: Siriani’s feelings regarding the hostile crowd were somewhat reasonable, despite his terrible coaching. His reaction though is quite petty, being they were in the middle of a game surrounded by an entire screaming stadium. If he can’t tune out a few rowdy fans and continue coaching, it may explain his terrible play calling. He is in Philly for God’s sake. Didn’t he know that is the fan base he was signing up for??? They will write you off in a heartbeat. I also think the fans should expect that if they are going to openly scream ridicules at the head coach, then they have to be able to take his jawing in return. I don’t think he crossed a line, but I guess that’s up to his management to decide. I think the fans got exactly what they wanted and that was a reaction out of him. How many times have I chanted “Refs you suck” at a Lightning game and not once did they turn around and scream back at us. It’s part of most live sporting events, to cheer when you’re happy and yell and complain when you’re not and all parties involved should be able to handle it.
And finally, although he’s not a subscriber, we invite former NFL defensive end Chris Long to share his thoughts on the Kelce incident.
A sincere thanks again to all of you for taking the time to participate in this exercise. I think we all agree that there’s a time and a place for articulate heckling. Just be prepared, for the line in the sand is drawn differently by whomever holds the stick.
Forget about what happened Tuesday night…this sure reads like a FAFO landslide to me.