Picture the scene: I am sitting at my desk surrounded by a group of people watching my every move. I can see them. I can hear them. Their eyes are laser focused on everything I do. They catch the mistakes I make, and in unison rain down a loud chorus of booing on me.
It would make for a strange scene, wouldn't it? Yet it is a common occurrence for those who don uniforms and head out to play for our favorite teams. Going hand in hand with cheering is an apparent freedom fans feel to boo when things don't go their way. A placekicker misses a field goal with a game on the line. A designated hitter strikes out with runners on base. A striker misses a penalty kick. Cue the fan outrage.
Yes, many athletes are paid princely sums to compete and when they don't perform up to expectation it is disappointing, no question. Nonetheless it is an odd scenario that has us reacting to misses and mistakes by booing and shouting whatever words come to mind. Six-time Stanley Cup winning goaltender Jacques Plante once said, "How would you like a job where when you made a mistake a big red light goes on and 18,000 people boo?"
Booing is rare in other types of venues so when it happens it gets documented; like a controversial performance by the New York Philharmonic more than 50 years ago. A guest pianist’s interpretation of a piece left the audience unimpressed and they booed their displeasure. Occasionally at film festivals a production team may hear booing at the end of a movie, and there is speculation booing might be heard for some members of the royal family at the coronation. Rare occasions indeed.
But booing in sports is commonplace and it seems to serve a dual purpose--booing the opposition to throw them off their game, and booing your own team to express frustration. Most athletes talk about fan involvement as something they either become accustomed to or learn to shut out. But a line is getting crossed far too often, and that is the growing list of athletes receiving death threats. Yes, death threats. “I’m going to have nine million death threats and whatnot,” said tennis player Shelby Rogers following a loss. “At this point in my career, I’d say I’m used to it. They are just part of the game now.”
A high school athlete in Tennessee is bombarded by hostile messages, many threatening death, when he announces a change of mind regarding which college he is going to play for.
The life of a professor in Â鶹ÊÓƵ Carolina is threatened when she comes forward with concerns of academic fraud within the athletic department.
After two fumbles by a San Francisco receiver in the playoffs, upset fans send him messages hoping he, his wife and kids die.
The World Tennis Association said the number of players targeted for online abuse is on the rise. One player re-posted some of the 2,000 threatening messages she received after a loss. “This type of hate is so exhausting and never ending,” Sloane Stephen stated, adding, “I wish social media didn't exist.”
Yet this isn’t something new. In 1978 the owner of a baseball franchise received a letter demanding he sell the team. Failure to do so within 30 days would result in his death and the death of his relatives.
One of the most targeted athletes in history was Hank Aaron when he was nearing Babe Ruth’s home run record. The FBI described letters sent to him as toxic, racist and frightening. It got so bad his teammates were reluctant to sit next to him in the dugout, fearing for their own safety.
Tragically, a Colombian soccer player was shot and killed after he accidentally scored a goal on his own net, leading to the team’s elimination from the 1994 World Cup.
How did we get so misguided over a game? One athlete says what’s driving this is simple: money. Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling says the threats focus on the amount of money fans lose from sports betting. “It’s not about the sport anymore. It’s about the finances you’re making off me.”
Athletes are often lauded, incorrectly, as superhuman. The money they make and the way they are revered cause some to feel their play should be perfect. Anything less is therefore unacceptable.
It seems strange we expect people in some professions to accept constant criticism of them on the job when what they do is not life or death, yet get threatened by the same. Perhaps we need to remember that in addition to a team logo on the outside of the uniform, is a human being on the inside. That’s my outlook.
