Coaches fire back at "stupid" heckling fans
Fans heckle. They boo. They curse. That's what they do (when they're not cheering or drinking beer).
But this week, two coaches named Tony in two different sports have taken umbrage to the level of vitriol, with one saying that fans have gone "way too far."
It started in Miami on Monday when fans attending a practice at Dolphins' stadium booed Chad Henne after the much-maligned quarterback made some bad throws. Then they started chanting "We want Orton!" in reference to the team's recent pursuit of Denver's Kyle Orton.
What did Dolphins head coach Tony Sparano think of that?
"It really makes me sick," he said Wednesday. "When people come to the stadium like that in one of those kind of events to support the Miami Dolphins, that's what we should be thinking about."
(As for Henne, he would later admit that "deep down," the boos hurt.)Then on Tuesday night in Milwaukee, fans got under the skin (almost literally) of Cardinals manager Tony La Russa. The 66-year-old baseball skipper said one heckler told him he hoped he would get shingles again and others took shots at his family.
"It's going way too far when they start cursing your family and the funniest one, the guy's yelling, 'I hope you get shingles again,"' La Russa said Wednesday. "That's just stupid."
La Russa struggled with shingles for nearly two months earlier this season.
On the one hand, there is the argument that fans pay good money to see a game and are entitled to voice their opinion as loudly as they want (although, for the record, admission for the Dolphins practice was free).
On the other hand, players and coaches are human beings with feelings (presumably). They may have big bank accounts but they have fragile egos like the rest of us (maybe).
What do you think?