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‘Goodfans’ Gear Tries to Inspire Dignified Sportsmanship Among Fans

Tuesday 10th of April 2007 07:24:45 PM

After being witness to too many sporting events where cursing, drinking, and physical altercations ruined his spectator experience, Framingham, Massachusetts, USA resident Doug Cross decided to create a web site called ‘Goodfans’ that offers T-Shirts, hats, and other items in an effort to promote good sportsmanship among fans. “The deterioration of the respect and tolerance of one another is taking all the fun out of the game. Ninety percent of the fans are good fans, but it's the 10 percent of fans who can ruin it for everybody. It's like the bully in school who, by virtue of being the loudest and most obnoxious, gets all the attention. Going to a game, being surrounded by F-bombs, it spoils the experience,” said Cross.

While Cross admits fans misbehaving at sporting events such as baseball, soccer, basketball, and American football games have been the norm for a long time, he thinks the violence is escalating. In an effort to help people learn how to control their anger and not ruin the game for others, ‘Goodfans’ offers a humorous way to control rude behaviour by offering T-Shirts and other items that are meant to be funny, but also promote better behaviour in the stands.

This behaviour unfortunately makes its way into youth sports as well. Parents of children yelling obscenities to coaches, other children, and parents sometimes lead to physical altercations. This behaviour often results in hurt feelings, legal troubles, and more violence.

“I really do believe that as a culture and a society we do have a civic responsibility regarding respect and tolerance for each other. We're just asking people to keep the big picture in mind regarding the greater implications of the way we behave,” said Cross.

Cross will donate ten percent of the earnings from the site to local youth sport groups that only tolerate good sportsmanship.

(c)Patrick NijHuis, www.sxc.hu