CHAUNTE’L POWELL:When the fan experience exceeds the price of admission

The only thing funnier than a December collapse by the Dallas Cowboys is Philadelphia Eagles fans rubbing their faces in it. An Atlanta Falcons collapse wouldn’t be complete without countless jokes from the New Orleans Saints delegation. NBA free agency just isn’t right without fans heckling the Lakers for failing to land a big name despite the countless Photoshop images from the purple and gold faithful declaring they would do otherwise.

The bottom line is fans and heckling makes sports better … until it doesn’t.

Last week the Oklahoma City Thunder were eliminated from the playoffs in Utah. On his way to the locker room, Russell Westbrook was seen smacking a fan that leaned all the way over the guardrail to film him. This is after he got into it with a different fan for a similar incident during the halftime break.

This week, James Harden was recorded slapping a Utah fan’s phone for calling him the worst flopper in the league, which I felt was nothing more than uncomfortable truth. Harden is in fact the worst flopper ever. This case aside, I’ve always sided with athletes when it comes to fan quarrels.

I remember being a recent college grad and taking to my blog at the time of the Marcus Smart incident. For those that don’t remember, then Oklahoma State guard Smart got into an altercation with Texas Tech fan Jeff Orr. It was reported that Smart heard Orr hurl a racial slur, Orr denied it and said he called him ‘a piece of crap,’ the media ran with his version and Smart was vilified and forced to apologize. The whole incident was unsettling to say the least because the perspective of a 19-year-old black kid did not matter in the least bit.

Since then, I’ve been of the belief that sports is a microcosm on how society truly sees black men, but that’s a topic of discussion for a different day. For now I would like to hone in on what the price of admission DOES NOT get you at a sporting event.

It does not get you the right to hurl racist or homophobic slurs at an athlete. It does not get you the right to invade their personal space no matter how innocent you believe your actions to be. Finally, and most importantly as seen during the Malice in the Palace, it certainly does not get you the right to assault players by throwing things or touching them in any way.

People have a tendency to forget and or ignore the fact that athletes are still human beings, too, and shouting at your television is a lot different than shouting at them in person, so be mindful of your actions.

Sports is fun. Don’t be the person that takes away from that, please.

Contact Chaunte’l Powell at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @chauntelpowell