An alarming trend has been occurring over the past couple of years that has us here at That Fan worried: laser pointers aimed at the playing field. New incidents of laser pointing seem to arise every month or so, with no end in sight (no pun intended…okay, pun kind of intended).
Check out this picture of Aris striker Javier Campora from the recent Greek Cup final:
This is not The Incredible Hulk playing soccer...
Ladies and gents, this picture has not been altered in any way. A Denver Broncos game was stopped in the fourth quarter in December after a similar incident. Same with a St. Louis Cardinals game last summer. A hockey match between the Vancouver Canucks and Calgary Flames received a lot of publicity after Calgary goalie Miika Kiprusoff took a laser beam to the face in the middle of a shot. Video below:
That Fan is always supportive of fans doing what they can to impact games in favor of their respective teams, but something like this has no place in sports. This type of activity can cause injury to athletes and some say it can even cause blindness. However, some fans think this is nothing but harmless fun, and hopefully a way to gain a bit of an advantage. What are your thoughts?
Everyone knows the Backyard Brawl is a heated rivalry, and anything can happen when West Virginia and Pittsburgh lock up in any sport. The fans in this rivalry are so adamant about their hatred for each other, and That Fan thinks it is amazing! However, what happened at last night’s basketball game was absolutely uncalled for. If you missed it, fans threw debris onto the court after West Virginia gave up a large lead. This prompted a quick response from head coach Bob Huggins:
“That’s stupid” he says. Well apparently one fan was in the restroom or the beer line during his announcement, because someone proceeded to hit a Pitt assistant coach in the face with a penny. Watch this video and listen to how angry the announcer gets:
That Fan expects a lot out of fans and wants them to be as crazy and rabid as possible, but throwing things on the court is going too far. Someone could have gotten hurt, and that is not what being a sports fan is all about. To take it a step further, a technical foul was called against West Virginia which resulted in free throws being shot. Think about it, if your team is in a close game that could be decided by a point or two, you could be costing your team the game.
Hmmm…come to think about it, does that mean I can go to an away game and try and get the fans of the team we are playing in trouble by throwing something onto the court?
Last Sunday there was an epic battle in Houston between the Texans and the Patriots. Okay, not really epic, but it was historic in that Houston won the game and came away with their first winning season since they joined the NFL (yes, I know about the Oilers, and no, I’m not counting them).
A golden rule of sign-making in the world of sports fandom: If you are going to go with your friends to the game and have everyone hold a letter (or paint said letter on your chest), please be sure to stand in the right order!
In case you haven’t seen it, a recent ESPN Page 2 article outlined the “20 things that make you a sports doofus”. I am picking through the list one by one and giving my opinion on each of the 20 items, and then stating whether I agree with the author, or whether the author is the real doofus (you can read prior critiques here: #1, #2, #3,#4, #5, #6, #7). Please be sure to leave a comment with your opinion. By the way, who says the word ‘doofus’ anymore anyway?
Also, the author is “that guy” and obviously not “That Fan”, because “That Fan” would never make a doofus reference to Sixthpence None the Richer to begin with. He must be “that guy” who also has Wilson Phillips on his iPod, and when he is ridiculed from his friends for this, he blames it on him having 10,000 songs on his iPod (naturally a moderately embarrassing song must have passed through the cracks, right?).
Whether the author is confused or listens to amazing horrible music is not the issue at hand, however. We are here to state whether we agree with him or not, and as much as it pains me to say this, That Fan does agree with him on this one. What is wrong with a little mild PDA in public? If you’re not comfortable with that then I suggest staying home since you obviously don’t want to be seen in public with your significant other anyway. Or at the very least stay away from the punt-blocking megatron at Cowboys Stadium unless you want an astronaut seeing your awkward kiss from the Space Station. Just be thankful your significant other is cool enough to attend the game in the first place.
That Fan verdict: The author is correct again…he is back to batting .500 (4-4)