As
a resident of Central Ohio, I know that I live in the land of toxic nuts --
also known as Ohio State University sports fans.
I believe in sports traditions and cheering for favorite athletes and teams.
Winning athletes work hard. Many of them have sacrificed and endured significant hardship. They struggle to overcome adversity and succeed in lifting themselves up to the best they can be. That deserves honor and respect.
Living vicariously through athletic accomplishments of top-notch athletes is a harmless pastime for most of us. I was never much of an athlete, but I have always enjoyed watching well-executed sports competitions. It’s good entertainment.
Unfortunately, many contemporary fans are not respectful, intelligent, mature people who adhere to the kind of values I associate with sportsmanship.
The extremism that surrounds sports often creates an artificial, toxic environment filled with overly emotional, ranting, drunken, immature sports nuts who disturb the general peace.
There are too many rude, obnoxious
fans who don't understand the rules or appreciate the skill, stamina, or
strategies for sincere, honest, intelligent sports competition. The so-called experts and self-important, over-rated talking heads of
the media are among the worst offenders.
Sports posts on social media
blogs are filled with the kinds of invectives, idiotic opinions and ignorant
outpourings that were once considered rude or in bad taste -- if not criminal.
In the current culture, when it comes to being loyal to one's team and
denouncing the opposition, all manner of stupidity, hypocrisy, foul language,
slander and libel is permitted, endorsed and encouraged.
Central Ohio traffic on an OSU
football Saturday can be worse than weekday rush hours, as the faithful speed
to the stadium or their favorite sports bars.
When I lived near the OSU campus I
often walked, rode my bike or stayed home on Saturdays rather than risk playing
dodge-cars with pilgrims making their way to and from the great Horseshoe
shrine.
That was back in the 1980’s when
the stadium only held about 70,000 people. Its capacity has since grown
to 104,000, and I now reside in the suburbs where there is still a noticeable
flood of cars headed toward campus when the games are in Columbus.
Self-respecting
Central Ohio motorists can do themselves great disservice in not being aware of
OSU sports traffic. I once made the mistake of driving near campus on a
Saturday following a Buckeye football home loss. People were weaving in
and out of lanes, honking, screaming and giving each other the finger.
On the rare occasion when the Buckeyes
lose a football game, the negativity is palpable. The thud lingers in the
air for days and weeks.
Behaviors and attitudes that surround
winning are often worse. Drunken mobs of Buckeye fans celebrating major
team victories have disrupted traffic, set fires and destroyed property.
Many among the Buckeye faithful seem to think this kind of behavior is as much
a part of Buckeye tradition as the “O-H---I-O” cheer and “Hang On Sloopy.”
I saw many social media comments
opining that law enforcement was over-reacting when police officers donned riot
gear and sprayed tear gas to control the crowds that gathered on High Street
near campus after OSU won the national college football championship in January
2015.
Some of my friends were horrified at
my suggestion that members of such mobs be shot. I believe that if law enforcement
made it a regular policy to shoot people who engage in this kind of mass,
unruly behavior, we would have fewer riots -- whether the cause is celebrating
a sports victory or protesting social and political situations.
Women’s basketball has always been one
of my favorite sports.
I attended Buckeye women’s basketball
home games and was a season subscriber for several years.
I was a proud member of their booster
group. I went to meetings, helped with fund-raising and enjoyed editing their
newsletter. I appreciated opportunities that club membership provided to
spend time around players, coaches and staff and to know them as real human
beings; not just distant, pedestalled basketball automatons.
But even with this less popular sport,
the intensity of toxic nuttiness seeped in and eroded my enjoyment and
enthusiasm.
I thought boosters were supposed to be exemplars of respect; good will; maturity and upbeat, forward-looking optimism. I felt
embarrassed when booster club members blamed bad officiating or opponents’
dirty tricks for Buckeye losses, while our coaches and players extolled the
skill and talent of the opposition, acknowledged our team's shortcomings and
expressed a renewed commitment for future contests.
The guy with the long,
walrus-looking handlebar mustache who jumps up and down, screams and derides
the officials at every home game should have been ejected years ago and barred
from the arena.
Ditto for the crude, self-important
jerk who sat next to me and shouted random insults at players, coaches and
officials. In addition to his loud, foul mouth, he stank from cigarette smoke
and stale beer. Things improved when I moved to another seat, but the
general arena noise and fan screaming still bothered me.
Perhaps it was a quirk of growing older, but women’s basketball games and booster club membership just weren’t fun any more. So I terminated my booster affiliation and stopped going to games.
When
I unexpectedly encountered a booster acquaintance at a recent concert, she
tried to make polite small talk.
“We miss you at the games,” she
told me.
I mumbled some unintelligible response and
turned away.
I don't miss going to games.
I don’t miss the traffic.
I don’t miss the crowds, the chaos, the
screaming and the overall noise.
I
don't miss watching adults dissolve into bratty, self-centered, poorly behaved
children, in the sacred name of supporting “their Buckeyes”.
I don't miss the rancor, smack talk
and the disrespect toward officials, opposing teams and their fans.
I am happy to be away from all of it.
I live in Central Ohio, which is ground zero for
Buckeye sports fanaticism. I survive by
trying to minimize my exposure to toxic nuts.
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