The Weekly Ringer

The University of Mary Washington Student Newspaper

It’s ok to recycle insults and banter in jest, but some sports fans take trash-talking too far off the field

3 min read
A football stadium at full capacity.

Fans fill the Washington Commanders stadium before the team was re-named in 2022. | Anders Krøgh Jørgensen, Unsplash

by ANTONIO LEWIS

Staff Writer

As sports fans all around the world support their favorite teams by buying and wearing team apparel and emotionally investing in their games to prove loyalty, some fans’ gameday conduct presents the question of what is too far in regards to fan behavior. Social media enhances the fact that certain teams’ fans have a bad reputation and are known to be more rowdy than other fanbases. So, I think that the label is justified because some sports fans do overreact.

When talking about fan-to-fan interaction, physical assault isn’t the only way that some overreact. There are numerous examples online of fans from opposing teams verbally assaulting each other, calling each other out, using racial slurs and just outright prejudiced behavior. While I’m a big advocate for a little bit of friendly trash talk, some fans may take this to the next level and ruin the experience for others.

Things went too far this past football season when a belligerent Baltimore Ravens fan who was euphoric about the team’s 23-30 win over the Washington Commanders filmed himself walking around and physically assaulting Commanders fans unprovoked. Actions like these are aggressive and totally unwarranted. To knock someone out on concrete because you’re excited your team won is insane, to put it simply.

Team pride is passed down through generations in many families, and serves as a sense of community in many cities. Especially if you’ve been supporting for a long time, it makes sense to get so deeply invested. With that being said, picking up several assault charges is not the best way to represent your team or their fanbase.

A great example of friendly trash talk in sports is UFC and boxing press conferences during their 2017 four-city global press tour where Floyd “Money” Maywheather Jr. an undefeated boxer and “the notorious” Connor McGregor a popular MMA fighter were set to fight and while talking with each other threw out many “verbal jabs” and had intense debuts during their multiple press conferences.

Not only did the heated trash talk help sell additional tickets by keeping longtime fans interested, but it also brought more attention to the fight by creating headlines with many viral quotes and funny clips. Trash talk can be used as an effective medium for growth and rating-boosting, but there are a few rules you must follow to keep it friendly and not give off negative congestion or bully the other side.

A good rule of thumb when trying to respectfully trash talk is to avoid saying something you wouldn’t say at or around your mother or whoever it is that raised you. I suggest keeping the trash talk specifically to sports and don’t make the trash talk personal. Also, being aware of when to end the trash-talking and being able to appropriately judge the situation are important factors in deciding if you should engage in trash-talk or avoid it altogether. If you’re the type of person who gets offended easily, then it would be smart to refrain from trash-talking, and if approached by someone else who is trash-talking, communicating that trash-talking is something you don’t partake in will quickly resolve the issue.

Trash-talking in sports can be very controversial and if not done properly can cause issues. If done right, it can boost views and fan engagement and create entertaining content for everyone to enjoy. Smack-talk will always be a part of sports, as being competitive is a part of our human nature. We all want to succeed and be the best at what we do. If trash-talking can give you a confidence boost or a competitive edge when competing or supporting your favorite team, then it’s clear why it is so prevalent in sports. Just remember like most things in life, there can be a few bad actors that help amplify stereotypes and give their team a bad name, but the average person isn’t likely to act rashly and is capable of casual trash talk.

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