Did you see the story about the Alabama fan who was really upset after his team blew a 31-10 lead and lost to Arkansas in double overtime Saturday? What's that? There were hundreds of thousands of Tide faithful who were upset?
True. But only one is charged with trying to shoot his 20-year-old son in the head. According to a police report, Joseph Alan Logan of Pinson, Ala., became enraged after watching the game on TV and proceeded to slam doors and throw dishes into the sink.
His son chose that moment to ask his father for a new car. Logan, 46, allegedly got a 9 mm handgun from his car and held it to his son's forehead. The son moved his head just as the trigger was pulled. The bullet whizzed just past his ear. A SWAT team was called, but Pinson walked out of his house with another son, 13, and surrendered without a fight. He is charged with attempted murder and out on $7,500 bond.
Sheriff's Deputy Randy Christian had this quote to the Birmingham News: "I know we take football serious in the South, but that's crossing the line." Uh, yeah, it is.
Of course, the crossing of that line is hardly confined to Alabama or the South. It happens in all parts of the country and around the world. In fact, when it comes to sports-related violence, we Americans are amateurs.
However, on the college football beat I've often witnessed the flipside of fans' deep passion. It's ugly and it's dangerous. It's a pretty thin line between a screaming fan, so enraged his eyes and veins are bulging, and an attempted murderer. Sometimes all that seperates them is the availability of a gun, or a knife, or a bottle.
A fan was shot near Legion Field following an Auburn-Alabama showdown that GameDay attended. I believe the year was 1996. Clearly, there are too damn many guns available, but that's another column for another web site.
Taking a couple Pysch classes in college doesn't qualify me to comment fully on the roots of violence. That's another column, too. But it seems pretty clear that when a mob sets cars on fire or a guy puts a gun to his kid's head, there are other issues involved besides the score of a football game. Postgame rage just becomes the spark that ignites more dangerous emotions. Emotions escalate quickly.
Ask yourself if have you ever been enraged enough after a loss by your team to point a gun at someone? An official? A coach? A player?
You probably answered no. I hope you did. But I've seen plenty of fans who certainly looked angry enough to kill. When I was younger, I could be mad enough after a game to fight, if somebody said the wrong thing.
Making sports a career will certainly tame the instincts to take a team's performance too seriously. But I have to admit that several years ago, a certain team's missed field-goal attempt (a game-winner in a rivalry game) made me hurl a bottle at a TV set hanging from the ceiling of an ESPN conference room.
OK, the bottle was plastic and no harm was done, except for some spilled Diet Coke. And I've gotten tamer still since that day.
Seriously, I find it especially tragic when games designed to entertain, provide an escape or release, and unite people serve instead as triggers for violence. So, if your team blows a lead and loses in overtime, take a few deep breaths and take a minute to regain perspective. It's gonna be OK.