MVN - Most Valuable Network

Chiefs Ban on Excessive Standing has the Right Intentions

So… a lot of stink has been raised over the past week about a new rule at Arrowhead that suggests that fans shouldn’t stand in the stadium. mjd wrote a particularly scathing article about the rule recently. mjd clearly overreacted and exaggerated the reasoning behind the rule–the rule was actually put in place to prevent “excessive” standing, not standing in general; however, I did find the reaction to his article extremely interesting.

I have to agree that my favorite thing to do at a football game is to stand on my feet and yell obnoxiously in support for my team. To that end, I agree that fans should stand more than they sit. What bothers me is that there is still a large contingent of fans who still believe that they have a right to do whatever they want, to hell with any fan who doesn’t approve of it. That’s where the enforcement of this kind of rule becomes very interesting. If I was to take a disabled grandfather to a Chiefs’ game, then the “excessive standing” rule makes sense. It’s obnoxious to suggest that he has no right to go to a game simply because a person in front was so intent on standing up. If I sat behind the entire Chicago Bulls basketball team, the rule makes sense. If I took a child to the game who couldn’t see above the people in front of him, the rule makes sense. In theory, people in front should have enough respect for the people behind them to recognize the visual barrier. In reality, that’s clearly not the case. People don’t care if they wave a gigantic sign that reads “Everybody Loves Spooning Partners” so they can get on national TV, nevermind that people sitting behind them can’t see what’s going on. And there are plenty of people who would downright ignore any request to sit down if asked to do so.

I love to drink and get rowdy at games. I typically stand the entire game and scream until my voice sounds like a not-so-sexy version of Al Pacino. I laugh at a good heckling and try to do some heckling of my own (when I’m actually clever or sloshed enough to do it well.) Let me also say that I’ve always found Arrowhead to be a place where most fans generally respect one another. However, I do believe that fan disrespect is becoming an increasing problem and it would be nice to see a little more internal policing from fellow fans.

The problem with “codes of conduct” is that they are official rules policed by the no-fun committee. Most of us have witnessed fan behavior that has crossed way beyond the line, whether that stems from harassment that could easily qualify as physical or verbal abuse outside of the stadium or just encountering a drunk fan who has no tact. While these obnoxious fans have their share of supporters, they worsen the game experience for most of the people around them. The most glaring example was in New York, where Jets fans were accused of yelling out to women to flash during halftime and then threw beer bottles at those who didn’t. That’s assault outside the stadium, even in a bar. It’s hard to imagine why fans believe that the insides of stadiums are bubbles where the rules no longer apply. It would be nice to believe that this stuff only happens in New York, but it doesn’t. It happens everywhere.

And then it occurred to me. The problem with fan codes of conduct is that they are rules enforced by “the man.” When your Mom tells you to do something, you often do the exact opposite. The Bengals once tried to resolve the problem by implementing a JERK Hotline. It is my understanding that the hotline received so many pranks that they scrapped the effort. It seems that the only way to resolve the obnoxious fan problem is to tattle or hope that the limited security can spot a problem as it occurs (that almost never happens). Nobody wants to be a rat. The only way to resolve the problem is for people to start policing each other.

If I had to draft an unspoken code of conduct, it would follow these kinds of rules.

• Don’t wear an opposing jersey and then act surprised when people are heckling you all game

That being said, that doesn’t mean that they deserve everything they get. There’s a line to be drawn. Here are some examples of where that line could be drawn:

• You’re not a real fan if you spend the entire game heckling or fighting other fans and don’t watch a single minute of the game. If you’re going to represent our fans, at least know what the score is
• It’s never funny to call a woman a whore or to maliciously tease a kid for… anything, no matter what team they’re rooting for
• I’m tired of this excuse that any family bringing a kid to a football game should know better. Get over yourself. There are fans of all shapes, sizes, and personalities that love the Chiefs. Arguably, a live game is a more magical experience for a kid than it is for most adults. I’m not saying people have to act PG if kids are sitting around them, but I don’t think PG-13 is too much to ask. Granted, I would argue that stadiums should do a better job communicating what sections are more kid-friendly than others

It’s downright frightening how invincible fans have become. They believe that because they are sports fans, they have the right to act however they want and that the rules don’t apply to them. And so, a fan doesn’t even think twice before pelting a full beer at Ron Artest during a live game; fans don’t think twice about pelting glass beer bottles at referees because they don’t agree with a call; fans don’t think twice before harassing women who choose not to flash them at halftime of a football game. I’ve even heard of incidents where fans heckled players about their dead relatives–seriously, where does this line get drawn? The reason these fans don’t think twice is because 9 times out of 10, they get away with it.

The answer is simple: it’s not going to happen from above, it’s only going to happen from within. Fans need to start policing each other and it needs to become more acceptable to speak out against jerks who believe they’re above the rules. I think that the number of fans truly bothered by excessive obnoxiousness would surprise you. I’m all for good-natured fun, but not when it borders on abuse. Not that I’m innocent in all of this. I’ve stood back and watched as people fight each other, usually rubbernecking and secretly being entertained at watching it. I need to do a better job too.

And so, the rule of “excessive standing” is yet another example of a rule with good intentions. It merely asks people to respect one another, even fans of your own team. It’s amazing how such an audacious concept can cause such an uproar.

This entry was posted on Friday, July 4th, 2008 at 5:53 pm and is filed under Random Observations, Analysis. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.