Beware of the Mob

This Leodis McKelvin story is so sad I almost don't know where to begin. If you missed it, the Buffalo Bills corner and return man had his yard vandalized following their loss to New England. An obscenity and the score of the game were painted on his lawn. McKelvin was the guy that had the ball stripped which allowed the Pats to get the game winning TD. When I read the story, I thought of a recent Youtube clip I saw of an Alabama fan watching the Va. Tech game. Watch if you haven't seen it.

NOT SAFE FOR WORK


Clearly there is a funny element to this. But it's also scary. How easily the racial slur comes out of his mouth is bad enough. But, to even consider the "threat" about blowing the officials head off is a reminder of how far fans sometimes go. And before you dismiss it as a crazy Bama fan, think about what you and your friends do and say during games. If your friends secretly taped you, what would we all see and hear?
The key word is, and will always be, boundries. Just know where the line is and don't cross it. And I think it's safe to say vandalizing a player's yard crosses a line. At least, to my knowledge, the Bama fan just yelled and acted like an idiot in front of what looks like 6 people or so.
So know the boundries, shout your opinions on the web, and stay out of players' yards. I feel for McKelvin's family, friends, and teammates. His fame does not give anyone the right to do that. It's just wrong. There's an old saying that when you get more than 2 guys in a room together, the IQ of the room goes down exponentially with every additional guy. So don't let the mob mentality take you over. It's sports. It's entertainment. If we let it go too far, do you know what we become? We become soccer fans. People that make a game so important they'll hit, scratch, maim, beat, kill, riot, and throw their own bodily fluids at each other over the outcome of a 0-0 tie. We can never let college football and the NFL get to that point. Today is not just about Buffalo fans. We should all be ashamed and mindful of the boundries.