Do Fans Fan the Flames

So what is a fan? To me it's someone who supports a team by rooting them on, by cheering for them, and by following their every move. Fan's can get nasty they can do some unthinkable things, and they can be very negative. Unfortunately that's the side of fans we seem to see more often now a days. Watch or go to any sporting event and you'll see this. But since when does cheering your team on have to be shown by being disrespectful to their opponents?

A few years ago I was working the Girls' State Tournament and had to deal with a group of fans from a local high school yelling disrespectful comments to the opponents. There were even "cheers' directing at specific players. When trying to tone them down, I heard comments like....Let them cheer....They're only being kids.........It's not that bad. I was surprised that their school's officials didn't try & control them. I did have some of their parents apologize for their behavior though. Recently I was at a college hockey game where the student section directed dorogitory comments at the players from the other team. These comments included words like "You suck'...." Asshole" ...& others. They even created t-shirts which "Implied" sware words on them directed against the opponents.

I'm just wondering why? Why do fans feel it is their right to belittle & disrespect the opposing team & players? Why can't they just cheer on their team without disrespecting the other team?

Let's carry it a bit further. How many times in the past year have you read about or seen footage of fans fighting or beating up fans of the opposing team? There was a fan in San Francisco beaten so much, he was paralyzed. How about the youth league parents that berate the other team or their own child's coach because their child isn't playing enough? They even did a Law N Order where a parent murdered his son's coach. How far will they take it? What are we teaching our children? Has SPORTS gone to far? Is it just sports? Do Fans Fan the Flames?