Infectious spectator violence

After this summer's 27th Olympic Games, a chorus of criticism arose from both foreign and domestic sources about America's domination in the medal count. Critics used the Sydney Games to attack America and the dreaded trend of "Americanization" that apparently threatens to corrupt the rest of the world.

NAOMI PEASE/YH

It seems unreasonable to use the Olympics as a peg on which to hang these complaints, since athletics are one of the few areas of American culture not heavily coveted by the rest of the world. The world watches America and adopts its trends as quickly as possible. Some countries tend to lag a bit—in Germany, for example, the Vanilla Ice/MC Hammer baggy-orange-pants-and-hightops look is just now falling out of vogue. Yet throughout Europe, Asia, and Latin America, the younger generations study American culture and try to adapt it to their own national lifestyles. The Europeans want American music and they don't care if they cannot understand the words—as long as it's Michael Jackson (or, by now, *NSync.) The Russians want our fast food, the Asians want our denim jackets, and the Chileans want our television.

The opponents of Americanization believe our culture is insidious and think it will destroy the traditional aspects of native cultures. The French are notorious for expressing their fears about "crude" Americans, those large, loud people that cannot appreciate the finer points of civilized life, such as eating frog legs and wearing berets. Similarly, the British have been known to look down their (rather long and aristocratic) noses at American culture, condemning its excessive violence. Let us leave them to their crumpets for now and examine one of the most vital elements of British "culture": the beloved sport of soccer, or football, as any fine Englishman knows it should be called. In the first place, the fact that we Americans call the ultimate European sport by a different name must really tick those Brits off.

DAN ISOPRESS/NEWSMAKERS Rowdy fans in London and all over the world threaten the future of professional sports, while setting a dangerous example for teenagers.

I'm not trying to fault the game of soccer itself. I think it is a fantastic sport, and my suitemate who is on the Yale team, displays the grace and skill that soccer demands. Rather, it is the fans, or the hooligans as they are known in England, who demonstrate the hypocrisy of Englishmen calling Americans "brutal." These fans routinely cause riots, rush the field, throw bottles at police officers, and beat up fans of opposing teams after games. Last summer, during the Euro2000 football tournament, police in Brussels detained 850 specators, almost all English, before a championship match between England and Germany. You might think the English would have learned a little bit about self-control after years of high tea and crumpets. But maybe that's the problem; the British spend so much time being polite and dignified that they are forced to use spectator sports as an outlet for their pent-up aggression. That rage, or "passion" as some fans may call it, caused English football teams to be banned from European competition for five years after Liverpool fans rioted at Heysel stadium in 1985, causing the deaths of 39 people.

Although the English are notorious for being the most disruptive fans, other countries have experienced the deadly effects of football frenzy. In July 1994, Andres Escobar, a 27-year-old Colombian football player, was killed by an angry fan for his deflection of a ball into Colombia's own net, a mistake that led to an American victory in the 1994 World Cup. So why is the world so concerned about the violence of American culture? Sure, Americans are loud and loyal fans of their sports teams, but we understand a game is just a game. Or do we?

There have been some problems recently that point to a dangerous trend in America, one that disregards the enjoyment of sports for sports' sake and focuses only on the profitability of athletic competition. Last spring in Massachusetts, Thomas Junta was charged with manslaughter for beating another father to death at his son's youth hockey match. This violent act demonstrated the rising pressures that children face to win athletic scholarships, and ultimately to make a career for themselves in professional sports. The question arises: can we Americans still remain passionate about sports without going over the edge and allowing the violence prevalent in other areas of our culture to affect our sportsmanlike nature?

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