Rights of Sports Fans While in the Stands

For as long as I can remember I have been an avid follower of sports. Until I injured my knee as a teenager I played multiple sports. Since then I have been relegated to the sidelines. In high school and in college I was a very loud member of the student fan section. Fans such as myself have always been taught about an etiquette that should be adhered to while in the stands. While I have no problem with this, I do believe that fans in the stands do have certain rights. Here is a short list of a few of those rights.

Fans have the right to jeer the opposing team. This seems like a no-brainer, but you would be surprised to hear just how many times a student section has been asked to be "polite" towards the opponents. Asking fans to simply cheer on their favorite team without giving the business to the bad guys is like asking a Michigan graduate to marry somebody who received their degree from THE Ohio State University. Sure, it could happen, but the thought of it just gives people an uneasy feeling in their stomachs. It is the job of the fans in the crowd to both root for their team and rattle the opposing players. If fans wouldn't do this, there would be no such thing as home-field advantage.

Fans have the right to boo players, even if those players are on the team those fans are cheering for. I remember a few years back a I was in the front row at a Penn State football game with a group of my friends, and our Nittany Lions were stinking up the joint. Our quarterback in particular was having an awful afternoon. After he threw his final interception of the game, our little group joined in with roughly half of the fans in the student section in booing the QB as he left the field.

Several people around us thought that it was inappropriate to boo a member of our own team. I responded by telling those individuals that fans do not receive a free-ride to a university for playing Division I athletics. Nor do fans make millions of dollars. When fans such as ourselves spend our hard-earned money on a sporting event, then supporters have every right to boo anybody they want to. There is nothing wrong with a stadium of die-hards letting a home team aware of their displeasure.