Show i. i T p a Jt U t Jt b I By Ben Anderson Sports Editor To some people sports is a way of life To others its it's a part of 1 their lives You have the sports sportswriters sportswriters writers columnists TV and z radio broadcasters broadcast rs who watch sports because its it's their job Its It's S their skill in life One of my good friends a columnist for another newspaper stated these people are considered observers instead of fans Lately in sports their o has been a lot of un sportsman ship For example the Cleveland Brown fans who threw beer bottles cups or anything anything anything any any- S thing they could get their hands handson on and throw it on the field to tell the ref refs s 's in their mind they suck At a local junior high school wrestling meet which I attended a young man of 14 was injured on the mat Then the kid that defeated him threw his hands in the air being over overcome overcome overcome come with the joy of victory while the other kid is lying on the ground helpless being attended by his coach What the kid did was OK but what was wrong is the fans fan's started chanting chanti chanti- ng yelling and torturing the injured kid with words of dis dis- dis- dis comfort Before I went over there to say some things on my mind to these young kids their schools school's wrestling coach ti took a stand This is my honor gym the coach said We come here to show you what we got and we deserve respect Administrators and policeman were sure to follow escorting all the kids out of the gym who were not with an adult What are people coming coming coming com com- ing to these days It seems like every time you turn on the news you hear of some parent or fan being charged with assault or battery just because of ofa a comment made from another player or parent Just like the father who killed the other dad at their sons son's hockey game Was it an accident Yes Could it have been prevented Yes Should it happen ever No There are some people who take things too seriously and they never seem to let it go That is why I personally hate professional sports All they are are money hungry people who think they are all mighty and deserve that extra million All they do is complain and do what whatever whatever whatever ever it takes to be happy Guess what Money doesn't buy hap hap- High school and college college college col col- col- col lege sports are the best sports out there They are just kids who are not getting paid millions millions millions mil mil- lions of dollars but paid to learn and on the side play sports They are being rewarded for their achievements Actions are louder than words Im I'm not telling you that you should sit down like a million million million mil mil- lion dollar man at a horse track in your luxury chair awaiting for forthe forthe forthe the results of the race Im I'm just saying to watch what you say to and around people Its It's OK to yell and cheer but when it gets to the extreme that's when your asking for trouble If I had a dollar for every time someone said a bad thing to a referee or a player I wouldn't be in college and I could almost retire at the age of 25 We need to be cautious Me included Im I'm not perfect Im I'm a person who wears a BYU shirt at a Utah BYU basketball game at Utah in the middle of a crowd of Ute fans yelling at their players and cheering for formy formy formy my team But what keeps me out of trouble is knowing what should be said at a certain time and respecting others We all have faults Everyone has faults Even the professional players getting paid 32 million dollars or more have faults We all need to take responsibility for our own actions and show respect to others |