All American attacks fan

[Da Coach]

19th ranked Oklahoma State's All American guard Marcus Smart was involved in an incident where he went into the crowd and assaulted a fan in Oklahoma State's loss at Texas Tech yesterday. It is not clear what happened to provoke it, though Texas Tech was leading Oklahoma State 63-61 in the final seconds when Oklahoma State turned the ball over, then Smart fouled a Texas Tech player at the other end to help lead to their 3rd loss in a row loss.

Here is a quick video-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ha3S3kwAQE

Here is a more complete story and video-

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/10426105/marcus-smart-oklahoma-state-cowboys-shoves-fan

We've seen a couple instances of similar bizarre behavior in professional sports (NBA, NHL), but can anyone recall this happening in college basketball?

[bradleyfan124]

The player has a responsibility to control his emotions during a game but at the same time I think fans have a responsibility also. Too many fans want to verbally assault the opposing players. Why? they are just kids. Let them play the game. MR. Fan you are not part of the game. You are just there to watch them play. A few years back one pro player..not sure who.. went after a fan who was being abusive. The player got kicked out but I would have thrown the fan out also. Some fans think the game being played is personal for them. It is not. It is just for the players and the teams and or school

[tornado]

some in the media are now turning on the fan and claiming to support Smart and his actions....insisting without any evidence at all that the fan must have provoked it with the N-word...
BUT - the bottom line is that every NBA team saw plainly what they needed to see about Smart's demeanor and self control....
This impulse move by Smart may have just dropped him some spots in the NBA draft and may have cost him millions.
He has been predicted to go as high as TOP THREE in June

http://www.nbadraft.net/nba_mock_drafts/consensus/

[bradleyfan124]

You know I felt that was why I never got drafted..or was it that I am 5'10" and cant dribble....

[Da Coach]

Fans everywhere hurl verbal abuse. This has gone on since the Roman Colosseum days. If a fan gets too far out of line, there are rules that allow them to be thrown out. We saw that this year at Carver Arena, though I am not at all comparing these 2 incidents.
But IMO, there is simply never any excuse for an athlete in any sport at any level to ever assault a fan. No kind of verbal abuse from fans ever justifies this. With all the noise and the fact that Marcus Smart was not facing the fan and was several feet away from him according to the video, how could he tell for sure what he heard or who said it? My guess is that he had heard this same fan yelling stuff earlier in the game, and with them getting beat, he finally lashed out.
He needs to be suspended several games. This kind of behavior cannot be tolerated.

[tornado]

agree - but why is this not a crime? - Marcus Smart did what some people get arrested for...
The fan should talk to a lawyer about charges or civil action...

[bradleyfan124]

I rememeber a game at Tulsa several years ago when Dick Versace went into the stands after a fan because of the verbal assaults that were being thrown at them. The host school has a responsibility to make sure their fans do not get out of control with visiting schools. Tulsa fans were out of control and Tulsa was doing nothing about it. Dont get me wrong the player has to develope a thick skin and just play the game but the door swings both ways. Mark got thrown out for verbally abusing a referee not a player. Hell everybody abuses the referee.

[Bradleyfan1]

The player has a responsibility to control his emotions during a game but at the same time I think fans have a responsibility also. Too many fans want to verbally assault the opposing players. Why? they are just kids. Let them play the game. MR. Fan you are not part of the game. You are just there to watch them play. A few years back one pro player..not sure who.. went after a fan who was being abusive. The player got kicked out but I would have thrown the fan out also. Some fans think the game being played is personal for them. It is not. It is just for the players and the teams and or school

NOPE! Fan: Fanatic!

Its part of going on the road!

Smart gets up and goes right at poor Mr Fan, Who Id like to congrat on a HUGE upset home W!

If Smart played here he'd be sitting at least 4 games. I know it was late in the game but he needs to be ejected and taken to his locker room, The refs handled this very poorly IMO.

Smart was way out of line, No matter what was said ...if it was bad enough ...research who he is and take his ass to court.

[bradleyfan124]

Dont get me wrong. I am not saying the player is ok to do this. Follow the normal rules players have to follow. But the fan bears a responsibility if he gets out of hand. Go root for your team, get fanatical about your team winning but not when it goes so far to verbally or physically attack the opposing player. A fan does not have that right. That is not part of the game. It is the obligation for the host school to maintain a level of safety for the visiting team

[lefty]

agree - but why is this not a crime? - Marcus Smart did what some people get arrested for...
The fan should talk to a lawyer about charges or civil action...

arrested?…..it was a little shove and the guy hardly moved….part of what's wrong with this country is suing over something like this….


and I'm not supporting Smart…just saying going to one extreme doesn't mean to go to the to the other extreme

[Toyota12]

civil action

I agree lefty! Heck if the fan can take legal action for the shove, what action can Smart take against a racist slur? or a possible racist fan!!

[Da Coach]

I agree lefty! Heck if the fan can take legal action for the shove, what action can Smart take against a racist slur? or a possible racist fan!!

I am not a lawyer, but regardless of what was said, how is that a crime? Is their a law against speech? And before you say "hate crime", even the overreaching federal and state hate crime laws require some kind of crime to be considered a hate crime. Speech alone that does not threaten or include violence is not a hate crime.

[lefty]

I am not a lawyer, but regardless of what was said, how is that a crime? Is their a law against speech? And before you say "hate crime", even the overreaching federal and state hate crime laws require some kind of crime to be considered a hate crime. Speech alone that does not threaten or include violence is not a hate crime.

legal action by either in this situation would be an extreme act??¦..they shouldn't make any more out of it than it is??¦??¦.and if you didn't have it all over the internet,social media,cable and everyone and their brother giving their opinion it would be a non issue??¦...

[Da Coach]

legal action by either in this situation would be an extreme act??¦..they shouldn't make any more out of it than it is??¦??¦.and if you didn't have it all over the internet,social media,cable and everyone and their brother giving their opinion it would be a non issue??¦...

"Non issue"? I'm not sure I agree. Incidents like this where a player attacks a fan, are extremely rare and are a a significant issue. The reason now that it is "all over the internet" is because it is a big deal and people want to talk about it.

This NBA incident happened almost 10 years ago (11/9/04), well before social media and before everyone was on the internet, and it is still being talked about-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYAs4-Fa0CA

And this NHL incident happened 35 years ago (in 1979), and it is still a big deal.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ef1YVXM9IU

[lefty]

"Non issue"? I'm not sure I agree. Incidents like this where a player attacks a fan, are extremely rare and are a a significant issue. The reason now that it is "all over the internet" is because it is a big deal and people want to talk about it.

This NBA incident happened almost 10 years ago (11/9/04), well before social media and before everyone was on the internet, and it is still being talked about-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYAs4-Fa0CA

And this NHL incident happened 35 years ago (in 1979), and it is still a big deal.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ef1YVXM9IU

Are you comparing these incidents???¦??¦.these two clips you have here aren't even remotely close to what happened with Smart??¦now if they suspend Smart for a game or two then that's fine??¦but my response was to the fact about the fan taking legal action??¦that's ridiculously extreme??¦.

Heck on the other board I'm sticking up for the fan because they think he should be banned for 5 seasons??¦??¦??¦.