<p>Writer Dave Zirin of the Nation Magazine has an interesting take on the Marcus Smart incident at the Oklahoma State U vs Texas Tech game in Lubbock over the weekend.</p>
<p>Why should this 19-year old apologize to an abusive 50+ year old man masquerading as a sports fan? And Smart’s teammates back him up when they say they also heard a racist insult from the fan. And former OSU players are coming out of the woodwork to say that racism from fans at Lubbock has been going on for years. This isn’t the first ugly incident regarding college basketball in Lubbock. Years ago a black female coach was wrongly accused and detained for shoplifting in Lubbock.</p>
<p>Why are adults allowed to shout vile insults in a college arena?</p>
<p>Marcus Smart is a head job so he would be wise to seek anger management therapy. This is not his first altercation. But if he felt it necessary to respond to the abusive fan, then why not just use a little colorful language like Dick Cheney.</p>
<p>Fans are always going to “say things” to players. Every game. That doesn’t give anyone license to put their hands on someone else because of what they’ve said. They can either have some good comebacks at the ready or ignore them and take care of business.</p>
<p>An athlete who cannot tolerate heckling doesn’t need to play sports. </p>
<p>Players can’t touch fans and shouldn’t interact verbally in a heated manner with them either. They have to restrain themselves and be penalized if they don’t. On the other hand, fans who use slurs, racial, gay or anything else should be ejected and have season tickets taken away if they have them IMO. Slurs are different than heckling.</p>
<p>I don’t believe that Jeff Orr did not use a racial slur. If he did, I don’t blame Marcus Smart for pushing him. Marcus didn’t chase him into the stands. Marcus fell into the crowd behind the basket and reacted instantly to something Jeff Orr said. I suspect “piece of crap” was just part of it. Yes, Smart is a head case, but I still can understand why he reacted the way he did. It would have been better if he had not pushed Orr, but he did. If I heard a visiting fan say anything like that to one of my team’s players, I think I would probably be hauled off in a patrol car. We’ve had a few near-misses at Vanderbilt basketball games in our section of the arena. Kentucky and Middle Tennessee fans, in particular, are just horrible. A very gentile retired judge (Vandy fan) in coat and tie was chest to chest with a Kentucky fan who was totally out of control a couple of years ago. But the players, fortunately, are not close to the seats for the most part.</p>
<p>If Bobby Knight were still coaching at Tech and a fan behaved that way towards another team, that fan would never set foot in the arena again. I promise you that.</p>
<p>Our Vandy point guard was interviewed on TV Sunday night and was asked about comments from the visiting fans. He said that after his father passed away and he got a tattoo on his arm with his father’s picture, one Georgia fan yelled to him that he was glad Kyle’s father died! Can you even imagine saying something like that to a student-athlete? </p>
<p>MOWC, I tend to agree with you. I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if Orr used a racial slur which drew such a swift reaction. While I don’t think what Marcus Smart did was correct, Orr seems to be a total jerk. I saw other film of Mr. Orr at another game making a profane gesture to a player. </p>
<p>sticks and stones will break your bones but being called a piece of crap or thinking you are called the N word will not hurt. you. Pushing a fan will cost your team the game and get you a three game suspension. Smart is dumb and Orr is not the problem, responding to people like Orr is the problem. And has Smart ever used the N word? I bet he has plenty of time.</p>
<p>I listened to the audio and I can hear “piece of crap”. I don’t hear any racial slurs. Shame on Smart if he is falsely accusing Orr of making a racial slur.</p>
<p>These criticisms about Smart’s usual demeanor are surprising because every report I have listened to (including the play-by-play man who covered the game for ESPN) said that Smart was a model citizen. Hmmm.</p>
<p>Smart got frustrated a few games ago and kicked a chair. He is sort of a hot head, but I don’t hold that against him, frankly. He took a big chance in coming back for his sophomore year, which I respect. I’m not sure his coach has managed him well, but I am not concluding that without knowing a whole lot more about it.</p>
<p>It would have been better if he had not pushed Jeff Orr, but I just don’t have a real problem with him doing so.</p>
<p>If you’ve ever been to a college game, you may have seen these self proclaimed super fans. Some are nice but the ones who are abusive should be banned by the school they follow. Some have been. </p>
<p>I think the suspension was warranted because you don’t want players hitting fans. Period. But the fan should be banned, not merely allowed to stay home by his own choice for the rest of the season. </p>
<p>It’s easier to find out about pro teams doing this. Or in some cases not doing this. One reason I find it easy to hate the Jets, for example, is their repeated refusals to stop mass sexual harassment in the concourses during their games, even after the NYT wrote a long article about hundreds of men standing on the ramps yelling at women. The Giants, sharing the same facility, have tried to stop it. Turning to the positive, the Patriots are aggressive at yanking season tickets from fans who cause fights or use a lot of profanity, even taking season tickets away when they’ve been sold or handed to a guest (holding the owner responsible). </p>
<p>Most of the super fans in college have some association with the booster clubs. The schools need to lean hard on the booster clubs to enforce discipline with the threat of “or else”. </p>
<p>So what actually happened here? The OSU players said they heard the insult. Orr said it wasn’t racial. If someone near Orr behaved like a racist and not Orr himself, Orr remains responsible for instigating a near ruckus, does he not?</p>
<p>And I remember the reports of the despicable behavior at Jets games Lergnom. Just awful, and the Jets management should have been called on the carpet by the Meadowlands Authority governors, because that venue is STATE, i.e. PUBLIC property.</p>
<p>Incidentally, I am reminded of Coach Dean Smith’s recollection of the hard time opposing ACC fans gave to Charlie Scott, one of the first black stars at North Carolina. I don’t see why bigots have to be handled with kid gloves. Scott never ran into the stands but he left UNC early for the NBA, with Coach Smith’s encouragement. I never heard of such moronic fan behavior at UNC home games, undoubtedly because of the character of Dean Smith (and John Wooden at UCLA, for that matter).</p>
<p>Sometimes only so much can be proven. I think the penalty was appropriate. In the absence of no prior bad behavior, I think Orr’s apology would be enough. But I think TT may have ‘suggested’ he not visit anymore this year and there may be a past behavior reason for that. A post or two in this thread have indicated that though I don’t know their veracity. I think the matter is over and appropriately settled.</p>
<p>You have already convinced yourself that Orr made a racial slur and there is absolutely no evidence of this so far. Maybe its time to check your assumptions.</p>