Gubar: I actually think the worst fans of all may be youth sports parents who threaten refs, berate their children and occasionally let fists fly. When parents exhibit poor sportsmanship on the sidelines, they teach their kids to follow in their disgraceful footsteps. If parents are raising the next generation of sports fans in their own shadow, it doesn’t bode well for those who will be sitting in the stands in coming years. Barca: If there is one factor that leads to awful fan behavior, what do you think it is? Gubar:Booze. An executive from one of the top professional leagues in this country tells me in Fanaticus that there is a direct correlation with the amount one drinks and the way one behaves. There’s little reason to think there will be significant change on that front anytime soon. At last year’s <a href='
www.futcoins2sale.com'>cheap fifa coins</a> World Cup, the Brazilians were forced by FIFA to serve beer inside the stadiums. Even though they generally ban booze during soccer matches there, FIFA insisted on the availability for World Cup because of its lucrative sponsorship with Anheuser - Busch InBev. Barca: The book definitely goes international in your search for answers about fan behavior. How did you find the soccer hooligans and, for you, what was the most eye-opening aspect of that subculture? Gubar: There’s a whole “hit and tell” genre of hooligan memoirs in the U.K. I counted over 100 on Amazon U.K. one day. I chatted with an editor at a publishing house in England who suggested some folks for me to track down. I also reached out to a photographer who spent years documenting Belgian hooligans. The raw violence of his work drew me in. He provided an introduction to one hardcore fan, now in his 40s, whom I met with in Antwerp and who still skirts the edges of acceptable fan behavior. Barca: So the Ohio State fans have moved on from trolling and harassing you. They win anational title, find happiness and move on. Or is it that fans have this momentary mob mentality on social media and once the case passes, they move on to the next thing to attack? Gubar: Hey, one Ohio State fan recently reached out on Twitter to Cardale Jones chastising Jones and telling him to stick to football after Jones tweeted about social issues. This is how you treat the guy who just quarterbacked your team to a national championship? Jones lashed out in response, the conversation went viral and that fan wound up deleting his account. Twitter grows each year.
