Unnecessary roughness shouldn't come from the stands

It takes an extremely outrageous activity to really appall me, especially when the act involves sports. I will admit that I often give the benefit of the doubt to any athlete, coach and even fan for the most part when they do something in the scope of sports which would be shunned in most other aspects of society. I typically contribute these actions to getting caught up in the heat of the moment and just having a short mental lapse.\nHowever, recently there have been more and more instances where athletes, coaches and especially fans have crossed the line with their actions and even stooped to lows I had never really imagined.\nIn December 2001, it was the Cleveland Browns fans who embarrassed the sporting world by throwing bottles at players and officials leaving the field after Jacksonville beat the Browns in a questionable review of a play late in the game. Last September, a father and son at a Chicago White Sox and Kansas City Royals game took the idiot stage as they ran onto the field and attacked Royals first base coach Tom Gamboa.\nThese incidents might seem isolated, but they are just a few in a slew of recent disruptions by fans at pro and collegiate events that ruin the sporting experience for the average fan. As bad as the Gamboa situation was, it seems a bit unfathomable that something similar to it would happen again, or at least so soon.\nThe Royals and Gamboa (now a bullpen coach) returned to Chicago on Tuesday to take on the White Sox. Heading into the game, Gamboa commented that he was not worried about the situation as he said, "Lightning doesn't strike twice." Unfortunately not only did lightning strike for a second time Tuesday, it struck a third, fourth and fifth time as well.\nUmpires had to delay the game three times early in the game as drunk and moronic fans ran onto the field before being tackled by security guards. Fortunately they were stopped before they could get to a player or coach. It was the fifth time lightning struck that took us back to that eerie moment last September when we saw the intoxicated father and son (what a bonding moment, huh …) tackle and beat up the 54-year-old Gamboa.\nAs the eighth inning came to a close, another obnoxious Chicagoan sprinted onto the field and tried to tackle first base umpire Laz Diaz. Diaz, a former agent in the U.S. Marines, quickly subdued the crazy fan with help from Royals right fielder Brandon Berger. While the outcome of this situation was not as serious as Gamboa's (the fan actually took more of a beating than Diaz), it is another ridiculous representation of sports fans.\nThese types of acts are what have made athletic figures so wary of coming in close contact with fans. Anytime you know there are jerks like this out there, you have to be careful about where you go and what you do.\nAnalysts argue that security needs to be increased, especially now, and I would agree with this to a certain extent. However, sports organizations and leagues can only employ so many security guards without having a personal guard for every fan entering the stadium or arena.\nIt is time for the fans to take a little responsibility for themselves, their actions and the actions of those around them. These imbeciles are tarnishing the authentic experience a fan should have at a baseball game or any sporting event for that matter. So the next time you are in attendance at a game, take some responsibility for your actions and be on the lookout to prevent more stupidity from those around you as well.