A college athlete pushes a fan in an opposing arena. That newsworthy encounter has dominated Twitter and college sports media over the past 18 hours. And, in this nothing-is-private social media world in which we live, the opposing fan has received his share of public scrutiny, including digging up a YouTube clip that shows his boorish behavior in a past game.
We'll hear from Marcus Smart and his coach, Travis Ford, in a couple of hours. Will we hear from Texas Tech and/or the fan combatant in this story? If so, there's little coming out of Lubbock that would indicate any rush to fair judgment on this so-called "super fan" who spends a lot of time trekking from home in Waco to Lubbock to other venues where his beloved Red Raiders play ball.
It will be a shame if Tech does not, at minimum, conduct a thorough investigation into the circumstances of this incident and what, if anything, was actually said between the fan and Smart. In no way am I condoning Smart's physical contact with a fan as that has absolutely no place in sports at the college or pro level. Yet, we all have been witness to, and recipients of, fan behavior at games that runs from the boorish to the scary. I never cease to be amazed how some fans feel that their purchase of a game ticket provides them the freedom to say whatever they want, at whatever volume they want, to those seated around them and to the participants on the floor.
The word I keep coming back to for this incident is "sad." It's sad that we're witnessing, in national media, the meltdown of a 19-year old who came back to his school for laudable reasons. It began with the reputation as a flopper to the technical foul in Manhattan, KS to the kicked chair to the petulant behavior. Now, it's this--a push of a fan who didn't deserve the attention and the ensuing ill-advised decision to not escort Smart off the court immediately. Here's hoping that Oklahoma State doles out the appropriate punishment for Smart; that this becomes a time for Smart to accept the punishment, change his behavior and move on; and that Texas Tech quickly follows suit with their own announcement of what they plan to do with the fan, and improved security in their venues.
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