Sportsmanship and the Fans Today

LeGarrette Blount was no doubt an NFL prospect when he signed his letter of intent to go to the University of Oregon. Does that mean he should get special privileges and not have to follow the NCAA rules and regulations? Or for that matter does that make him exempt from the general rules of sportsmanship applied to all competitive activity never mind at the collegiate level? Blount for those of you who do not know went up to an opposing player after losing last week’s game and sucker punched him in the face. In the same breath we can mention people like a Joba Chamberlain. Perhaps one of the best young pitchers in the game and undoubtedly a hard thrower with above average command especially when coming out of the bullpen, how does a guy who fits that description throw at at least one person a game or every other outing? Kevin Youkilis can attest to this as well as Evan Longoria of the Tampa Bay Rays. It’s not like he is throwing at guys who cannot hit and he is simply just missing his spot high, those two players bat clean-up for their respective teams. Do these facts become overlooked when he throws at a guy’s head?

Are these two players alone? Not by any means but these are the two most common examples that come to mind right now. It is the common rules of sportsmanship that get overlooked by league officials and commissioners everywhere today. To show a little Red Sox bias into the argument Josh Beckett threw over the head of Bobby Abreu and did not hit him, he was suspended for 5 games; however Joba Chamberlain hits Kevin Youkilis and Even Longoria in the head and gets nothing at all? Seems a bit puzzling to me, but back to my bigger point and issue, people in the old days were just as guilty as the players of today’s age, Ty Cobb used to spike short stops and second basemen when trying to break up a double play. However there were guys like Bob Gibson and others who knew how to be intimidating and sportsmanlike at the same time and these are the people we as fans need to focus on.

It appears as though us as fans have begun to root more for the bad boys and seem to enjoy a player stepping out of bounds and getting a little fired up. I had the pleasure of witnessing the Red Sox-Yankees brawl in which Pedro threw Don Zimmer. Was that a good thing to watch? Yes. Was it good baseball? Absolutely not. It is the same reason the Bruins are able to sell half of the tickets that they do, it has nothing to do with the purity of the game but instead has everything to do with the amount of fighting that takes place in the sport. People like PJ Stock and Milan Lucic have become idolized in this town because of their ability to take a punch way before their ability to split the defense or set up a one timer. Fans loved when Kevin Youkilis charged the mound against Rick Porcello earlier this season without realizing that his absence due to suspension lost them 4 of the next 5 games. As I type this it makes me wonder what type of fans there really are in the United States or the world for that matter? How many people actually love the game that they watch? And even if they do love the game is it because of someone who plays or is it for the purity of the game. I know that I love baseball because I could watch a pick-up game between seven year olds and that would be fine with me, but how many baseball fans can say that across the country? Or any sport for that matter, are you waiting for the next punch in the face after the game, the next brawl at center ice, the next fans vs. players brawl in Detroit or are you watching because you love the game and truly enjoy seeing that game played at the highest ability possible.