As a child getting into sports we are taught the importance of teamwork. As a student in sport we are taught the importance of discipline and hard work. As a fan of a team we forget about all those important qualities that shape a person, a team and an athlete.
According to Kevin Young article “Standard Deviations: An Update on North American Sports Crown Disorder “North American fan violence is not limited to any one particular behavior, location, or sport.” Any avid sports follower in North America can think of many instances of player and fan violence. In America we condone violence and although the leagues do a great job at trying to prevent and fine for violent acts I know that with the obsession of contact sport and aggression in America that we will continue to see violence in sports.
In the article “The Effects of Team Identification and Game Outcome on Willingness to Consider Anonymous Acts of Hostile Aggression by Daniel L. Wann, Zachary Culver, Rubaba Akanda, Melek Daglar, Carla De Divitis, and Anthony Smith a study was conducted to show just how hostile fans can be when it comes to the success of their favorite team. The study found that “persons with high levels of team identification were particularly likely to consider the violent acts, and these persons were especially likely to consider the acts when imagining that their team had just been defeated.” ( Branscome & Wann, 1994; Wann, 1993).
The fact that anyone would even consider murdering a person or breaking the leg of another human being because of friendly competition says a lot about the society we live in. When we think about competitive sport we think about good friendly competition, or do we?
What does it mean in sport when the opposing team defeats you? It should mean that the team worked hard and put in lots of daily effort to compete and win.
In life we are taught to work hard and be the best we can be. If a player/team is not performing the best and is outperformed by another player it is up to that player/team to improve performance. When sports are competitive to the point where players and fans are resulting to violence, crimes and are losing the element of fun, friendly competition sport begins to lose it meaning in society.
Sports have become so competitive that it has lost its existence in America. Instead of being an avenue to connect, meet new people and come together sports have became an avenue to vent and take out your frustrations.
Acts of fan and player violence take a huge toll on what sport means to society. When you look up sports you see words such as recreation and sportsmanship. When fans and players bring violence into the world of sports they forget about the ethics and respect that sports build from. Sports have become so competitive that it has lost its existence in America. Instead of being an avenue to connect, meet new people and come together sports have became an avenue to vent and take out your frustrations. When the team is winning the fans are happy when the team is losing the fans are upset and act aggressive, violent and out of character. People cannot live their lives through sports. Sports are a form of entertainment when people live their lives through sports it takes away from the entertainment aspect of the game and makes it serious.
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