Annual Bay Area Battle Scrapped from Preseason Schedule: Fans the Losers in this Decision

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Last summer when the Oakland Raiders headed across the bay to face the San Francisco 49ers, fans had no idea that it would become the last time these two teams would face each other until 2014. Following the game in 2011, two fans were shot in separate incidents that occurred in the parking lot of Candlestick Park and a 26-year-old man was beaten in the Candlestick Park bathroom.

Fans Against Violence - Battle of the Bay

Annual Battle of the Bay cancelled by NFL

After these violent attacks occurred, San Francisco 49ers CEO, Jed York, recommended that the NFL end all preseason games between the 49ers and the Oakland Raiders in the future, and for an indefinite period of time. When the exhibition schedule was released for 2012, the annual Bay Area battle had been nixed. The franchises have met for 12 of the 13 past preseasons, but as a result of the fan violence that took place, a few bad apples have ruined the game that many look forward to every summer.

There have been a few ideas as to how to stop violence at sporting events, including a bill that is currently proposed in the California State Assembly. If the legislation passes, the Golden State would be the first to create a “Ban List” that would “prohibit violent fans from attending professional sports events anywhere in the state for up to five years under newly proposed legislation.

The NFL has also proposed putting undercover cops in visiting team’s gear in order to catch those who would subject fans of the visiting team to mistreatment. While I believe that idea makes a lot of sense, the second portion of that idea seems a bit unrealistic. According to Gary Buiso of the New York Post, the NFL will require ejected fans to pass an online code of conduct exam before they can return. ProFootballTalk published a good article as to how and why this could go wrong.

In any case, for now it appears that the two teams will only meet every four years in the regular season, and the handful of criminals who show up at sporting events to cause trouble are the only winners in this battle.

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