John Doublin | Fans Against Violence

Two years ago today the sports community was forever changed when San Francisco Giants’ fan, Bryan Stow, nearly paid the ultimate price for his team loyalty. Stow traveled the 300 miles to cheer for his beloved Giants at the home of their rival, and was beaten almost to death in the parking lot of a Los Angeles Dodgers’ home game leaving him with severe brain injury.

This incident brought the issue of fan violence to the forefront, prompting the creation of FansAgainstViolence.org. All of a sudden, fan violence was a topic of conversation on a national level. Major news outlets, such as CNN, FoxNews, and MSNBC were all talking about the violence in the stands.

Bryan Stow and Family

Since that day, Mr. Stow has been slowly recovering from his injuries, though a full recovery is not likely, as his injuries were numerous and severe. Mr. Stow’s family has since started a website, which updates well-wishers and fans of his current condition, along with improvements and changes in his condition.

So, what does all of this mean? What should we take away from this tragic and senseless act of violence? Is there a “silver lining?” Those questions are difficult to answer.

One way to look at the result of this terrible incident is that the NFL, MLB, NHL, NBA and the NCAA have all taken steps to protect fans in the stands. There are emergency security text code numbers fans can use to report fights and disturbances, stadiums have increased security and, most importantly, most fans are no longer tolerant of people such as those men who attacked Mr. Stow. Decent people in stadiums all across the country, and the world, are reporting violence in the stands more readily. This incident also prompted California legislation, the Improving Personal Safety at Stadiums Act, authored by Assemblyman Mike Gatto(D-Los Angeles) which requires all professional sports venues in California to have a Security Text Code program in place. That, in and of itself, should be counted as a minor victory.

It’s sad that it took the near death of a fan to bring this problem to the forefront of conversation, but as Mr. Stow and his family attempt to heal and return to some sense of a normal life, they can take solace in the fact that, although it came in the wake of such a horrific event in their lives, the likelihood of this happening to someone else in the future is greatly diminished due to his story.

Fans Against Violence continues to support Mr. Stow and his family as they live through this tragedy. As always, we send our well-wishes and prayers to the Stow family. FAV will continue to do everything possible to prevent this from happening again.

To see ways you can help or get involved with FAV, please visit our Get Involved page.
If you would like to donate to Bryan Stows family directly, you can visit our Donate to Bryan Stow page.

We cannot change things on our own, but by raising awareness and offering suggestions to prevent this sort of thing, through the support of fans, teams and leagues, we will be able to make a difference in “Taking Back the Stands!”

We see and hear about it at nearly every sporting event around the world: Two or more fans get into a shouting match about their favorite teams. “My team is better than yours. Your team sucks. You guys are going down!”

If it remained simply a war of words, that would be fine. In fact, that’s the whole point of fandom; supporting your team regardless of how bad they are, or what’s happening on the field.

Unfortunately, it almost never ends with verbal exchanges. Invariably, a fight breaks out and someone gets hurt.

What are the reasons behind this? Why does “trash talk” almost always end in hurt feelings and emergency room visits? The answer is multi-faceted.

Perhaps the biggest contributor to these incidences is passion. Passion for the game, passion for the team and a passion for being able to call your team a “winner.” Passion is great, but only if it’s restrained and directed in a positive manner.

The next time you hear a fan of the opposing team spouting off about this or that, just remember…that person is just as passionate as you are and they are simply looking to cheer their team on…just like you.

Don’t take offense, even if what they’re saying is offensive and rude. Keep in mind that if you react to their venom, you become no better than them. “The fight avoided is the fight best fought.”

Be the “bigger,” more mature person in these cases.

Another factor that often leads to fan vs fan violence is assumptions. Assumptions about a particular fan base, an assumption about a person’s intentions and assumptions that your words aren’t as inflammatory as you think.

Often times, appearances can lead people to make assumptions about the character of a given person. These assumptions can cloud judgement and cause a person to act in a way that is outside their normal personality.

On Halloween, when a six-year-old boy knocks on your door wearing a hockey mask and carrying a pretend ax, do you automatically assume that he is a serial killer that has been raised from the dead? Of course not.

For some reason however, when fans of opposing teams go to, let’s say, an Oakland Raiders game, they tend to assume that the people with the spiked shoulder pads and face paint are automatically thugs that don’t deserve the common courtesy of respect.

That is narrow minded and unfair. The fact is that some of these “Super-fans” are pillars of the community. Their game-day personas are simply that—personas. Wayne Mabry is not actually a “Violator.” He’s a regular person with a job and responsibilities just like you.

Mr. Mabry is not only a “normal” person, he’s a passionate philanthropist, having raised a ton of money for local and national children’s charities. I have been given the honor of interviewing Mr. Mabry and the transcripts from that interview will be available at Raider Nation Times soon.

“Don’t judge a book by its cover.”

The most obvious reason for these confrontations between fans is the one thing professional sports leagues absolutely refuse to remedy: The sale of alcohol at games.

The fact is, there is just too much money to be made from alcohol for the teams or leagues to remove it. It’s sad, but it’s true. Everyone knows that professional sports is a business and the leagues and the team owners are in it to make money…and alcohol is extremely profitable.

It is a proven fact that alcohol lowers inhibitions and causes people to over-react to volatile situations. It has also been shown to amplify emotions. Think about that for a second. Your ability to control your actions and your emotions are skewed and your team is losing. Nothing good can come from that.

This alteration of the frontal lobe of the brain results in bad judgement and stupid decisions; decisions that send people to jail and the hospital. It’s not rocket science.

What can fans do to prevent this? That’s simple…DON’T DRINK AT GAMES! You can wait until you get home. We’ve all heard the expression, “I don’t need alcohol to have a good time.” So, why do we need it to enjoy a sporting event? We don’t.

Please, “drink responsibly”…or not at all. You’ll be doing us all a favor.

Take a look at this video and ask yourself these questions:

Is this how I’d want my children to act? Are the people chanting “let them fight” really the kind of people that represent my feelings about this game? Do I want my children subjected to this behavior? Is this scene enhancing or detracting from my game-day experience?

Ultimately, there is only one group of people that can prevent fan vs fan violence; the fans themselves. Report potential problems to security, (there are text codes to reach security posted at most every stadium). Don’t drink to excess. Don’t make assumptions about other fans. Be passionate, but be mature and think of the message you’re sending your children.

If fans don’t police themselves, the leagues will do it for them. We, as fans, have to step up and do the right things. If we don’t, the teams and the leagues will do it for us…and that will suck the fun out of everything for us. The rules for attending games will be overly restrictive and ruin our experience. “…the trees are all kept equal by hatchet, ax and saw.”

Please, don’t let one or two bad apples ruin the bunch for the rest of us.

Follow John Doublin on Twitter: @CoachJayDee and find more of his work at www.RaiderNationTimes.com