The NFL...Just A Beer Delivery Vehicle?

Sit in the bleachers at Yankee stadium with full Red Sox gear on then write an article...

When i go to a game I hate to say it but i check my degree at the door and become superfan..its so expensive to make it to games but I have to say I love the atmoshpere. I came down to watch the Giants Skins game in Dec 05..seeing a stadium full of Redskins fans was incredible..Everybody was freindly..even the Gaints fans were good natured when receiving insults..Its the luck of the draw where u will sit and how much you will be harrassed..but odds are against you of having that much fun if your a bears fan on a losing night at Fedex field.

Well to be honest, I have never attended a Lions game where I was sitted near anybody remotely sober other than myself or my buds. We never drank before or during a game, but plenty of drunken slobs starting fights, using foul language, to provide entertainment if the game itself sucked. A professional sports venue is no place for kids anymore, which is a sad indictment of how things have gone down hill. Going to Lions games as a kid you never had that problem( I am 37). That being said though, the state of affairs is a lot better than with the soccer crazies in Europe as you guys have said. God damn, they treat a game like it is war!!! I hope it never gets that bad over here.

I'm taking 70Chip III to the Dallas game next Sunday. He's 11 years old and frankly I'm more concerned about him starting trouble with Cowboys fans than I am about anything else.

What's interesting to me is that when I went to RFK as a kid, the adults would get really, really smashed, but for the most part this did not result in mayhem or violations of the rights of others. It seemed to merely make them more jovial in a drunken, homeless Santa sort of way. Sort of like Otis from the old Andy Griffith show. When people my age or younger go a bender they seem to become confrontational much more often. It's like the difference between Woodstock (peace, love, dope) and Woodstock 2 (beer, fire, sexual assault).

Also, I would never take my kid to a game in Philadelphia or New York wearing Redskins gear. It simply wouldn't be safe. Dallas wouldn't worry me as much.

It's all about personal responsibility and the alarming lack thereof in society today.


The thing in a nutshell.

Hmkay... I´m 29 years old now and I´m going to soccer games in Germany since I was about 11 or 12.

As we in Germany ain´t got that big conncers with drinking in public like hear / read it from U.S. (never been over there), there always were drunk people. There always was lots of aggression, even pure hate in the stands. Noone would ever think about going into another teams crowd during the game. After the game, that was and mainly is a completely different story. In game, there are insults, yellings, whatsoever, and after the game... I never had any problems with opponent fans before or after a game, except maybe some friendly word duels. In that nearly 20 years of soccer games in different leagues I never had a fight or even saw one. Okay, I got luck that most of the games I saw weren´t with problem Teams with a great amount of violent fans.

Which became a problem mainly in the last years. The overall violence went down, but brutality for the most people went up. In former times, Hooligans went to a game, then met outside in a wood or something where noone else would get hurt. They had a (weird, but nonetheless) code of honor. Today, their heirs watch out for victims, not opponents.

As for the mentioned game in Italy, yeah, they have a much more violent scene than we have, because there is more corruption, more politics and less discipline involved in soccer.

So, basically... the usual soccer game here is not the least bit dangerous for a child. They may learn "bad" words, but that´s all. And actually, that doesn´t kill childs.

And, if that writer is such a "sweetheart" he maybe shouldn´t watch sports in stadium anyway...

I am assuming that several of these most recent posts are written by people who are on the younger end of the spectrum.
If your at a public venue, then you have a social duty and legal responsibility to not get "drunk in public" and show your ass. You have to be responsible in all of your actions. Good natured fun between fans of opposing team is expected... getting drunk and showing your education level is not.

So, if we use your point of people sitting in the cheap seats (let's ignore which team or sporting event), then you have more of a license to be an idiot? Most young families can only afford the cheaper seats. So, your saying families with less money have to be subjected to idiots if they go to a game, but a family with more money doesn't?


Good points!I agree.

It's all about personal responsibility and respect for others.

I've been to numerous sporting events in my day (Skins, O's, Nats, Caps, Terps, and Seagulls (Salisbury represent)). On occasion, I've been know to partake in more than my fair share of booze, cheer on my teams, and shout at opposing teams fans. I have never gotten in any fist fight with another fan, nor have I been so embarrassing to the point where people have to restrain and/or remove me for the situation.

There is a fine line between superfan-ism and stupidity. Unfortunately, most stupidity at sporting events occur when people jump over that line and forget to keep their self-responsibility and respect in check. Whatever you do to yourself is fine, however if it disrupts those around you, that is where the problem lies. The person next to you as the same right to have a good time as you do, and if you disrupt that, it's not kosher.

American society is getting weak. Football is a rough sport and attracts a rough audience, get over it, deal with it or dont go, there will always be someone to buy a ticket so the owners dont care. I enjoy getting drunk and getting crazy with opposing fans, inside and outside of the stadium.

American society is getting weak. Football is a rough sport and attracts a rough audience, get over it, deal with it or dont go, there will always be someone to buy a ticket so the owners dont care. I enjoy getting drunk and getting crazy with opposing fans, inside and outside of the stadium.
Your age is showing.

IMO,I believe Beer and Alcohol in general should be banned from football games.There is no need and maybe the people that think they know the game would realize they don't.