Derrick Coyle
Some sports are known for intensity and passion, others offer exhibitions of precision and consistency. Sporting events can be frenetic, physical, explosive. Or, they can be deliberate, methodical, strategic.
The demeanor of the faithful followers of sports teams can be a reflection of the sport itself. Hockey, football, and soccer fans are apt to be more exuberant and passionately expressive, than might be the case for the loyal, yet comparatively composed, enthusiasts of tennis, curling, or golf. Add to the mix, post-season / championship level motivators, and free-flowing adult beverages, and the distinction becomes acutely evident.
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A recent incident at The Bell Centre in Montreal captured widespread public attention after a young Ottawa Senators’ hockey fan posted, in social media, an account of various abuses she and her sister endured from a cluster of home team fans. Along with continuous verbal badgering, the women claimed to have been repeatedly towel-whipped, aggressively shoved, and ultimately doused with beer at the end of the game, won by Montreal.
The well-circulated Facebook Post was met with outrage and numerous comments of regret from angered and apologetic hockey fans. Most expressed disgust with the behaviour of the offending men. Many of the comments were from Montreal fans, embarrassed by the treatment the women experienced. Some apologists reportedly offered to provide complimentary tickets to a future game.
The incident caught the attention of the Canadiens’ organization who offered an apology on Twitter. Montreal Mayor, Denis Coderre, denounced the behaviour and called for the brand of respect he purports to be a longstanding part of Montreal’s reputation.
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The reality, of course, is it’s hardly news that supporters for a visiting team might endure some heckling by home team fans at a playoff hockey game. It is also fairly safe to conclude, the long and frothy tradition of beer, unceremoniously visited upon the heads of opposing fans in arenas and stadiums throughout the free world, is never likely to disappear outright. In the grand scheme of things, these practices are invariably exceptions, but even exceptions have their limits.
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While social media provides an interesting platform for issues of this type to be raised and public indignation to flourish, the chances of a balanced perspective for any event through a social media post, will always be slim. But in this case it is difficult to imagine a scenario of provocation that would lessen the jeers of repugnance over how the women were treated.
Fans should be able to wear the jersey and root for – or against – any team, without being subjected to verbal and physical abuse. As the young women’s Facebook post explained, “We have been to the Bell Centre to cheer on the away team before and are used to the good-natured chirping from Habs fans…what we are not used to is being genuinely scared of being injured by grown men.”
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It is important, however, to keep the incident in perspective and not mistake what is clearly an exception, for something more endemic. There are arguably few franchises with fans as intensely supportive and insufferably proud of their sports team, as the Montreal Canadiens.
The majority of Habs fans – and those of every other major sports team, for that matter – detest the obnoxious minority responsible for verbal, physical, or beer bomb attacks that spoil the event for legitimate fans and horrified kids, caught helplessly in the crossfire.
It is, after all, an isolated incident involving a few buffoons masquerading as hockey fans.
Now … LET’S GO WINGS!!
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