Crossing the Line

Photo Credit to Andrez Mucka on Pexels

If you have visited my blog for some time, you may already know that I am a diehard sports fan. I’ve spent the past seventeen years cheering on my son’s teams. He played football for ten years (two years in junior high, four years in high school, and four years in college), and now he is making his living as a college football coach (seven years). My wife and I have attended many games in person or streamed them online. He’s doing what he loves, and as a parent, that’s all you can ask.

I enjoy most competitive events, be it football, baseball, basketball, boxing, horse racing, or tennis. My rooting interests go beyond sports. Perhaps I’m not as invested, but I also enjoy a good game of Jeopardy or even watching a spelling bee. It’s interesting because I don’t consider myself overly competitive, yet I love most competitions.

While I get into the games as much as anyone and root for my favorite teams like a true sports fan, there will be plenty of times where our favorite teams or players will come out on the short end. Much like life, things don’t always work out as hoped. Learning how to handle these setbacks is what we do as humans. Sometimes the other team played better that day and deserved to win. It’s not always the coach’s or the ref’s fault or whatever excuse people make.

The same is true for adults. Maybe we didn’t get that job we wanted because someone else interviewed better or was more qualified for the job. It’s a time to pick ourselves back up and try again. Resiliency, grit, and perseverance are essential qualities.

I’m bringing up this topic today because I recently saw a clip from a post-game tennis interview that got me thinking about what responsibilities we have as sports fans. When we buy a ticket to a sporting event, what exactly does this entitle us? I would argue that there should be limits, and those that violate those expectations should lose the privilege of attending.

The Indian Wells Tennis Tournament is now taking place in Indian Wells, California. It is a prestigious event, sometimes called the “fifth Grand Slam,” due to its significant prize money and large attendance. It is the home to the world’s second-largest tennis stadium, surpassed in size only by Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York. Former number one women’s player Naomi Osaka played a second-round match against Russian player Veronika Kudermetova when a woman in the stands yelled out, “Osaka, you suck!” While not over the top compared to what many fans shout, it rattled the Japanese star. She went to the chair umpire to ask for the fan’s removal. The umpire explained that he couldn’t take any action because he didn’t know which fan had commented. Osaka made the unusual inquiry to speak to the crowd in the middle of the match but found her request denied.

Osaka dropped the match 6-0, 6-4, but still wanted a chance to speak. Fighting back her tears, she thanked the audience for coming and congratulated her opponent. (See below) She also referenced a prior incident at Indian Wells that Serena and Venus Williams went through. Osaka, the highest-paid female athlete in the world, has admitted to “long bouts of depression” after capturing her first major at the United States Open in 2018. She has since gone on to win three more major tournaments, but her young career has been interrupted a few times due to her struggles with mental health. Having played in only a handful of matches recently, she has dropped to 78^th in the world rankings. She has shown great courage in speaking publicly of her challenges with depression.

Naomi Osaka, addressing the crowd following her tennis match.

The incident that Osaka was referring to occurred in 2001. Star tennis sisters Serena and Venus Williams were heckled by fans, including some who allegedly used the “N” word. Twenty minutes before the semifinal match between Venus and Serena, Venus withdrew with an injury. Many tennis fans were angry at the late withdrawal. A rumor circulated that father, Richard, had orchestrated this move so that 19-year-old Serena would be fresher in her finals match.

Serena Williams defeated Kim Clijsters of Belgium in the final 4-6, 6-4, 6-2, but not before intense jeering from the crowd. When Richard and Venus came into the stadium to watch the match, the crowd booed, and some allegedly used racial epithets toward them. Richard created a stir before the match by raising his fist toward the crowd in a gesture that reminded some of track stars Tommie Smith and John Carlos’ 1968 Olympics Black Power Salute. Clijsters, a popular player on the tennis circuit for many years, received the support of most of the American crowd. Serena was rattled in the first set when the pro-Clijsters fans began cheering Williams’s unforced errors and double faults. Serena rallied to win the final two sets, and the crowd loudly booed when she went over to celebrate with her father and sister after the match.

2001 clip of Indian Wells final between Serena Williams (USA) and Kim Clijsters (Belgium). Sorry about the grainy footage.

Upset by the treatment from the crowd, the Williams sisters boycotted Indian Wells for several years afterward. Serena didn’t return for fourteen years until 2015, while Venus sat out fifteen years until 2016.

The question on my mind is, at what point does the behavior of spectators cross the line and become unacceptable? It seems visiting teams and star players in professional sports are used to being booed. It’s been a part of sports for years. However, in more recent years, it seems that spectators have taken things too far. More recently, I’ve seen ejections occur when fans have dumped drinks on visiting players, shouted verbal threats, or taunted athletes with negative comments about their race or sexuality. I think permanent ejections of fans are appropriate in these circumstances. If we’re bringing our children to a sporting event, is this the kind of behavior we want them to learn?

I feel the same way about parents behaving terribly at youth sporting events. It sets an awful example for kids when adults scream at the referees, coaches, or other players. If these behaviors go unchecked, we are, in effect, sending a message to children that this type of behavior is acceptable. I’ve attended games where these loudmouths spoil things for the rest who are there to cheer on their children. I was at an elementary school watching a basketball game a few years back, and the referee had to call the police because an unruly spectator refused to leave the premises when ordered to do so.

It’s not realistic to monitor every action in a crowd of people, but I believe that simply buying a ticket doesn’t allow people to act in offensive ways. I tried to think of other instances where taunting is permitted. Besides sporting events, the only other places I remember seeing heckling were at a music concert and a comedy show. The common denominator seems to be a public event where people have paid to see a performer.

Seinfeld, one my all-time favorite television shows, even took a poke at this topic years ago. After being heckled by Kramer’s girlfriend during his standup comedy act, Jerry goes to her workplace and gives her a taste of her own medicine. What follows is a lot of absurdity, and I’ll let you be the judge as to whether you find it funny.

Clip #1 Kramer’s girlfriend heckling Jerry’s comedy act.

Clip #2 Jerry goes to the girlfriend’s workplace to heckle her.