The Sports Intern

Days after a spectator charged the court and briefly interrupted Rafael Nadal’s fourth-round match at the U.S Open, I started looking at some of the year’s best fan interruptions. I found myself wondering why spectators don’t do this more often. Let’s look at what’s happened so far this year.

In Nadal’s case, a fan ran toward the shirtless Spaniard simply to tell him he loved him and give him a kiss. Personally, I would be flattered if this would happen. A fan loves me? And risks being put in prison simply to express that to my face? Well, heck, isn’t that just adorable? Not to mention there’s clearly some dedication in tennis fans, something I would least expect to see at the U.S. Open given the lack of men’s tennis players from the United States.

The U.S. Open wasn’t the only major tournament to see some action from the fans this year. At the French Open, Roger Federer got to play dress-up with a fan that decided he wanted to see how the No. 1 seed looked in a hat. More dedication from tennis fans, clearly, although the intruder waved a Barcelona soccer flag, so his motives are questionable.

Finally, my favorite intrusion of the year comes from good old-fashioned American baseball. At an Orioles game, a young man (an elementary school teacher, according to some reports) took a $1,000 bet from a friend. The challenge was to run from their outfield seats down the third-base line seats to the advertisement printed on the centerfield wall and make it back to their seats without be stopped. The poor guy got to the sign and was 10 feet from making it all the way back to the seats when his failed attempt at head-faking a cop landed him in cuffs.

All of these are undoubtedly entertaining on some level. Each showed a unique look at fans in sports. At the U.S. Open, the fan simply loved Nadal enough to put himself at risk. Roland Garros’ disturbance featured a man who simply wanted attention and had something funny to do. And of course, the crazy teacher just wanted $1,000 and made a silly bet.

Despite these three brave men challenging the status quo of sitting quietly and behaving at a sporting event, we don’t see fans do this very often.



As a sports fan, this is honestly disappointing. Who doesn’t love the image of a crazed fan sprinting across a football field only to get decked by a 6-4 linebacker? Or a baseball fan living out his dream of rounding the bases after a historic home run?

For entertainment value, the crowd is one of the most underrated parts of a sporting event outside aside from actual contest. They add so much to the game and are often overlooked until something truly insane happens. Fans can get as loud as they want, as mad as they want, but unless the camera starts shaking and forces a broadcaster to mention it, we won’t hear anything about it.

Fans can truly be the deciding factor in a game of any kind and that’s too often ignored. So how can fans get the appreciation they deserve? Charge the field, of course. I’m not promoting anything dangerous or threatening like the tragedy that befell Monica Seles in 1993. But what better to loosen up a stiff crowd that doesn’t have its heart in the game than a fat man without his shirt on trying to juke policemen like Reggie Bush?

Honestly, that right there would get me to laugh. And sure, he’ll be arrested and I’ll forget about him ten minutes later, but he just got thousands of people to collectively get their panties out of a bunch and realize their noise, their heart, their love of the game can change the outcome they paid hundreds of dollars to see from the nosebleeds.

So go for it, fans! Sure, there’s a price to pay for the zany antics you may commit out on the field you’re not athletic enough to be on. But how often do you get the chance to individually change the spirit of a crowd and the outcome of a game? Unless you suddenly become a game-changing athlete sometime after reading this, a nice little romp on a tennis court or baseball diamond could be it. So don’t miss your chance and hit the fields and courts, even if it is only until you get pummeled by five angry policeman. --- TSI.