Is watching your favorite team worth your safety or even worse, your life? That is the question lingering in today’s sports world. There have been many documented acts of violence in almost every sport. The most recent, involves a bathroom beating that took place in a men’s bathroom during a San Francisco 49ers game against the Kansas City Chiefs, but it was not a chief’s fan against a 49er fan. The beating, which was caught on video by a bystander, involves two 49ers fans against two other fans. This beating left a man in the hospital in serious condition. This video is hard to watch, but it one of many videos that you can find on YouTube.

If you search fan fights, you will find a plethora of videos from different sporting events and it will boggle your mind by how violent they are. Imagine going to a game with your family to have fun and get a break from the stress of life only to be encountered by fans behaving badly and causing your family outing to be ruined. This type of behavior is unacceptable and flat out irresponsible.

I know that some people take it further than others and not all fans act this way, but I’m talking about the ones who think its okay to physically hurt someone just because they feel like it or because their team lost. I have heard many friends comment on the fact that they will not wear their favorite team’s jersey because they feel it will not be in their favor if they do so. It’s just a game for crying out loud. The only sports I ever cared about were soccer and baseball, but now it is a thing of the past and I couldn’t care less. I see what it does to people and it makes me sad for those who feel that a win or a loss is something to fight about. Most of the time, these brawls are due to alcohol, but people have to know their limits. Not only have there been beatings, it has even escalated to stabbings and shootings.

These are family events and unruly fans need to realize this. Just because someone looked at you wrong, said something about your team or you are wearing the wrong jersey, you shouldn’t have to pay for it with violence. In some of these videos on the web, you can see children, infants and elderly people around where the violence is taking place. Do these people not think before they act? Oh wait, No, they don’t because they are too busy being hot heads and ruining the gaming experience for others. I have been to football, basketball and baseball games before and they can be very fun and isn’t that what it’s all about?

I know that it is impossible to try and control other people’s behavior, but something needs to be done. There are many fights happening and these incidents tend to over shadow the team’s win, which should not be the case. Fans should learn to respect others and not act like complete fools when their team loses. There are security policies in place to avoid any security concerns, but it obviously hasn’t worked. The NFL has even implemented a bag policy that only permits fans to bring in clear plastic bags with dimensions no bigger than 12″ x 6″ x 12″ to avoid illegal weapons from being brought in to these events. This policy is a step in the right direction, more should be done to ensure the safety of those fans that are there to enjoy the game and nothing else. Those loyal fans should not get punished for the actions of other fans that could not control their temper or alcohol intake. They deserve to watch their favorite team and cheer them on without any violence to distract them from the game. I never understood why fans go crazy in sports and idolize teams, but just because I don’t share the same views doesn’t mean that they are any less of a human than me or everyone else. If sport games make people happy, then I’m all for it, but what I don’t condone is the violence that is affiliated with it.