I have been doing sports broadcasting/PA work for nearly 40 years. I played sports both in high school and college. I have been a sport official at one time in my career. Heckling officials, coaches, players and broadcasters have become a way of life for those of us who do it. I have been heckled, harassed and ridiculed in my career. That's my choice to continue to be a PA announcer/broadcaster. But they way fans are behaving is beyond comprehension.
It is a paying customers right to yell and cheer or boo teams, officials, broadcasters, and even players. Lately it has gotten out of control and it is time for organizations to take control of these situations. There was an incident this past weekend at the College World Series, in which two Texas Aggie fans decided to harass and ridicule the coach from Florida because of the tragic death of a former batboy for the team 3 years ago. I am sure plenty of readers have heard or read about this incident.
Yes the fans were escorted out of the facility and told they could not come back to the baseball complex or even the city it is being played at. The coach from Texas A&M who I respect greatly as a coach and person has apologized on behalf of Texas A&M, which was needed. I still think the University needs to apologize as well to the coach and players and families for Florida. Texas A&M should go one set further and find out who these two idiots are and ban them from attending any Texas A&M sporting events no matter where they are play.
We don't need fans like this in sports today. Clearly they have no idea or clue the harm they created. But unfortunately we continue to see more outbursts like this in all sports, whether its youth sports, high school, college and professional sports. Its time for sports organizations, high school, colleges and pro sports organizations to hold their fans accountable for their actions. . The two fans who did this need to issue public apologies to all parties involved. You hold people accountable and maybe some of these incidents will not get out of hand.