Fan Bill of Rights

There have been many incidents where a fan has crossed the line. A fan might have said something to a player during a game, made racial comments, went streaking on a field, caused violence and disturbance in the stands, or interfering with play during a game. The following rights should be followed by every fan when entering a sporting event.

1. Do not say any comments to a player during game.
- There have been many cases where a fan gets thrown out of a game for saying a comment to a player. Just last year a fan from Texas Tech made a comment to Marcus Smart during the game when a play ended up near the stands. The fan called Smart inappropriate names which offended Smart and led to Smart pushing the fan. "My actions last night were inappropriate and do not reflect myself or Texas Tech -- a university I love dearly. I regret calling Mr. Smart a 'piece of crap' but I want to make it known that I did not use a racial slur of any kind," Orr said in a statement released by Texas. Tech. http://espn.go.com/dallas/story/_/id/10429666/after-marcus-smart-incident-texas-tech-needs-suspend-fan-jeff-orr-rest-season The fan was suspended for the rest of the season from entering the stadium and Smart was suspended 3 games. 

2. Do not run on to a field/course/court while a game is still in progress. 
- Although it is very funny when you see a fan go streaking on a field during a baseball game and get tackled by security guards, it is disrespect to the sport and game being played. It is against the rules to run onto a field during play. In 2012 at Olympic Club the U.S. Open golf tournament took place. The event resulted in Webb Simpson winning the tournament. During his post victory trophy ceremony, a fan came onto the course and interrupted the ceremony. You very rarely hear of a fan misbehaving at a golf event, but this fan did a very odd thing. The fan ran in front of the camera and started making bird noises. The man was quickly arrested, but he now has the reputation of the Birdman. //www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_rR6j4flbw&noredirect=1

3. Do not interfere with play. 
-This rule usually applies to fans at a baseball game. The fan reaches over the fence to catch a home run and interferes with play and the umpires award a home run when the ball was clearly not going over the fence. This happened to Derek Jeter when he hit a ball that seemed to be short of the fence but a fan reached over to touch the ball and the ump awards a home run. That home run tied the game and even Jeter said after the game that it was interference, but Jeter did not care. http://m.mlb.com/video/topic/6479266/v3345251/bb-moments-96-alcs-gm-1-fan-helps-jeters-homer. The most famous case is the Steve Bartman incident. Steve reached over and touched a foul ball that eventually cost his team the playoff series. This case was different than the Jeter case because the fan that touched jeters home run helped out his home team, but the Bartman case was completely different. Steve was tormented and he eventually went into hiding after this incident happened to him. Every Cub fan hates Steve Bartman because he put a curse on the team and the entire organization. http://m.mlb.com/video/v3188917/2003-nlcs-gm-6-bartman-interference