It doesn't matter if you’re a sports fan or not, I’m pretty sure that you’ve all heard of the recent string of fights and violence breaking out at different sporting events in the past few weeks.

While violence is hardly ever the solution to anything, I think I may know the reason for the current surge in aggression. It’s pretty simple actually. We miss hockey.
 

With an end to the National Hockey League’s lockout nowhere in sight, players have begun touring in Europe, leaving us back home looking for other means to channel our aggression.
 

Player-fan confrontations are nothing new. I even found one that dated back to July 1886, when umpire George Bradley was hit by a beer mug during pandemonium in the sixth inning of a Cincinnati game.

With the NHL lockout in effect, it will be a long time before we’ll see another fight break out at a game. At least, that’s the impression I was under. Admit it, that’s one of the best parts of a hockey game.

Apparently we can’t hold our aggression in very long. It began to show back during baseball’s post-season games, when police in riot gear had to be called out during a New York Yankees-Boston Red Sox game. Nothing happened, and the police are called back and watch the wrong team win and go to the World Series.
 

About one month, later things start to get ugly. The Pittsburgh Steelers were playing the Cleveland Browns on Sunday Nov. 14. During the pre-game warm-ups, Cleveland running back William Green and Pittsburgh linebacker Joey Porter exchanged a few nasty, not-fit-for-print words, spit in each other’s faces and even exchanged several wild punches that eventually lead to Green’s lip being busted open and both players being thrown out before the opening kick off.
 

Green was not permitted back onto the field but was allowed to watch from a luxury box as his team lost to the Steelers. Soon after, Porter contacted Green and apologized. Green also apologized to Porter and stated that his next apology would be to the Cleveland Browns owner Randy Lemer.
 

The following Saturday, at a college football game between the South Carolina Gamecocks and the Clemson Tigers, a brawl late in the game ended with 67-year-old Gamecocks coach Lou Holtz diving into the pile as a peacemaker. A scuffle between the two teams began before the game even started, and pushing and shoving continued throughout the game.
 

The actual fight began when South Carolina failed on a fourth-and-11play with only five minutes left to play in the fourth quarter. South Carolina offensive lineman Chris White began fighting with Clemson players. That triggered other players to rush to centerfield and join in, including South Carolina receiver Matthew Thomas and Clemson cornerback Justin Miller, who exchanged swings.
 

The fight had moved into the end zone before security, state troopers and other law enforcement officers could settle things down. Both teams were assessed unsportsmanlike conduct penalties, and after a 10-minute delay, the game resumed and Clemson went on to win 29-7.
 

Sure, disagreements are going to happen. Emotions are going to run high, especially during a championship game. But there is no excuse for what happened when a brawl recently broke out involving the Indiana Pacers, the Detroit Pistons and fans.
 

The Pacers were leading 97-82 with 45.9 seconds left in the game when Indiana’s Ron Artest fouled Detroit’s Ben Wallace as he went for a lay up. Wallace would turn around and give Artest a hard two-handed shove to his chin. This lead several other players to begin pushing and shoving each other.

Artest goes to lie down on a score table. Meanwhile, Wallace was trying to get to Artest but being held back by teammates and coaches. Wallace throws his wristband at Artest, who gets up but soon lies back down. An unidentified fan then hits Artest in the face with a cup filled with ice and some beverage. Artest reacts by storming up into the stands and attacking a fan who he believes hurled the cup at him. Teammate Stephen Jackson joins Artest in the stands and starts throwing punches. Members of both the Pacers and Pistons try to separate the fighting fans and Pacers.
 

Back on the court, Artest punches a fan wearing a Pistons jersey. Another fan tries to tackle Artest, but Jermaine O’Neal stops him with a vicious right hand in the face.
 

Pacers players and coaches leave the floor area while being showered with beer, popcorn, and assorted debris. Apparently Frank Francisco was there, because a folding chair was thrown. For those unfamiliar with baseball, that’s a joke. Francisco was the Texas Rangers’ relief pitcher who threw a chair into a crowd, breaking the nose of an Oakland Athletics fan this past season.
 

Meanwhile, back in Detroit, as things are calming down, players and coaches are still on their way to the locker room when Indiana's Jamaal Tinsley tries to go back to the court with a metal dustpan but is turned back.
 

Within days, the NBA handed out it’s harshest penalties ever. Nine players were suspended for a total of 143 games with no pay. Artest received the harshest penalty by being suspended for the rest of the season. Jackson was suspended for 30 games and O’Neal got 25 games for their roles in the incident.

It’s bad enough that the players started to fight, but when fans start throwing things at the players, that is totally unnecessary. Many have said that serving alcohol at games where emotions naturally run high is a big mistake. Many drink responsibly, but it only takes a couple of idiots to ruin it for the rest of us.

Even though it goes against most of what I just said, if I ever go to a Red Sox game, I might just be tempted to throw my beer at one of them. Well, maybe not my beer, but something is going to be launched at one of them. More than likely, it will be a baseball. My intentions are not to hurt the poor guy I’m going to bean. I just want them to know that I think they stink. I expect to be escorted out of the stadium, maybe thrown in jail or fined. I don’t expect Johnny Damon to rush into the stands and bludgeon me with a bat. Damon’s going to have to brush it off and let the authorities deal with me.
 

No matter how much the players are heckled, they have no business in the crowd. That goes the other way too. I expect quite a few lawsuits from the NBA Brawl a couple of weeks ago. People injured in the stands should get something. But those few that were fighting on the court should get nothing. A fan should know better than to get involved. If they choose to intervene, they deserve every punch they receive. Fans have no reason to ever be out on the court or on the field.
 

As with every story, there are two sides to be told. I don’t know exactly what happened since I wasn’t there. I found out about these incidents the same way you probably did, the TV news and the newspaper.
 

I understand there are going to be misunderstandings. Disagreements are going to happen. Words will be exchanged, along with a few shoves, but hopefully they will end like the incident between William Green and Joey Porter, with an apology and no hard feelings. Apparently the two are friends again.

I applaud the NBA for the decision to hand out something other than a slap on the wrist. Maybe it’ll set an example for the rest of the so-called “professional” athletes who believe they can get away with anything. All involved should be criminally prosecuted. This includes players and fans. It doesn’t matter if you’re in a bar, at a game or on the teacup ride at Disneyland. A fight is a fight, no matter where it takes place. All should be prosecuted and dealt with equally.
 

Come on guys, I miss hockey too. But there are better ways to deal with your frustrations. Is that the type of role model you really want to be? Is this the example you want to set for the thousands of young children who look up to you? What ever happened to the old saying, “It’s not whether you win or lose, it’s how you play the game!”