Sports fans need to remember to behave

It seems sports and their fans are at a crossroads. At a recent PGA Golf Tournament, golfer Phil Mickleson was literally mobbed by fans as he tried to make his way to the 18^th green. It was a historic moment and they wanted to be as close as possible as they broke through that piece of rope designed to separate fans from players. No one was hurt, but it wasn’t a good look, and you hate to think what could have happened. In the NBA, unruly fans are being tossed from stadiums after throwing water bottles at players, or dumping popcorn on them. More recently, a fan ran onto the court during an NBA playoff game. This seems to be somewhat more sinister than the innocent streaker of old who ran onto the field for a moment of glory. In fairness, when in college, I joined thousands of others pouring onto the football field right after a big win. But it seems there is the potential for more things to go wrong these days, and a little piece of rope at a golf tournament really doesn’t provide much of a barrier for those intent on crossing it. It probably doesn’t help some of these fans had been sitting in the hot sun downing beers for hours. But it seems if fans don’t better behave themselves, we may see less beer, or tighter security or more restrictions. Let’s enjoy our sports, but let’s stay well behaved and  make sure we don’t get too caught up in our excitement.