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BY JEREMY SCHILLING
NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM
COMMENTARY
“Last time I went was for Jets-Pats. Saw a guy cursing at a little kid and someone threw a bowl of chili at a bunch of teenagers. So yeah, I'd say the crowds there are awful.”
“My first trip to the Meadowlands for Pats-Jets (in 1998) I was 10 and was heckled for wearing my Robert Edwards jersey. Unpleasant.”
Those were two of the responses I got when I posted on my Facebook page that my next column would be about in-stadium behavior. It has gotten seemingly much worse in recent years and unfortunately lives are now at stake.
San Francisco Giants fan Bryan Stow’s story made national headlines after he was assaulted and put into a coma by a Los Angeles Dodgers fan on opening day in LA last April. He is gradually improving, but his long and arduous recovery will continue for an untold amount of time.
An Oakland Raiders-San Francisco 49ers preseason game got out of hand in August after two people were shot and injured. Apparently it all got started after a Raiders fan wore an inflammatory shirt to the game.
And possibly the worst one of all, especially for anyone living in this metropolitan area, a New York Jets fan was assaulted by a Kansas City Chiefs fan outside of MetLife Stadium on December 11 and was left with a broken cheekbone, jaw, and eye socket. The Chiefs fan was arrested and has been charged.
This incident also began with heckling, this time over 9/11. According to the story on cbsnewyork.com. the Jets fan’s brother and father are active and retired FDNY, respectively, so one can imagine how that easily got under his skin.
People have many different reasons for the seemingly out of nowhere rise in the intenseness of these incidents. Some say it’s the age old problem of people drinking too much and losing control. Some say its social media giving fans more plans to mouth off, get ticked off, and ultimately in the mood to start a problem.
The problem I see is the lack of respect for the opposing fan.
I go to two to three New York Jets games a year and it seems like every single time I look around another fan of the opposing team is being taken away by security. Now I have seen fans of both teams get taken out as well, but it is rarely two fans of the same team involved.
It has gotten so bad that I have said to my dad that I am not sure I even want to attend a Jets game on the road anytime soon – it may just be too hostile an environment.
For change to occur, in my opinion, a couple things have to change.
