Some Fans Should Just Stay at Home

"Excuse me, sir? Can you sit down? I can't see."

This question was posed to me while I was shockin' the world at the Fiesta Bowl two months ago. Boise State and TCU were playing in Arizona, and with over 70,000 people, the odds that people were gonna stay in their seats were pretty slim. What made it bad for the person who asked me is that Marcia Masenda, my sister and loyal TCU fan and alum, goes to damn near all of TCU's games, and knows a fair-weather when she sees it. She just looked at the lady, and didn't even bother sitting down. Shoot, my sister may have even cursed her out, but I was so live and excited that it didn't matter what the lady said. There was no way in hell I was sitting down, and why should anyone? It's the Fiesta Bowl for God sake, but see, this is why some fans are meant to attend games, and why some are better off staying at home.

Seriously, you'll be hard-pressed to think of a more aggravating sight than a fan who either complains about folks not sitting down, or even worse, someone who takes a book or magazine to a game. Now don't get me wrong; I love to read, and take a book pretty much anywhere I go, but there is one place a book will never come with along with me, and that's to a game. You go to a game that's a sell-out; not an empty seat in the house. The game is great, filled with highs and lows, only to look over to the side to see some clown sitting down with their head buried between the pages of a book. In my opinion, if it's not the program you buy at the game, it needs to stay at the house, or in the car.

It's understood folks pay their money, which gives them the same right as any fan in an arena. That's understandable, but there's still something about certain types of fans that comes off as pompous and seditty to me. If folks really don't like people standing up at the game, because they can't see, they need to save their bread for courtside seats, or sit in the skybox, or shut the *bleep* up, and deal with it. Sure, there are times when a view could be better if someone took a seat, but that's something that comes with the territory of going to see a game. Folks are gonna be loud, do chants, and if they're live enough, and you're in the right atmosphere, you may even see something like this:



So for anyone who reads this, attends games and feels similar about this as I do, keep making noise, having fun, and doin' what you do. As for folks who do the opposite, try embracing part of what makes going to the games fun. I'm not speaking of folks who get drunk and act a total donkey, but just do better. Leave the book at home, come out of your shell, and enjoy yourself. If not, the odds that a game will be enjoyable will continue to remain slim.

-K. Masenda
http://www.edthesportsfan.com/