Euros Complain U.S. Fans Too Boozed Up

[Rick Martin]

People yelling dumb stuff like "mashed potatoes" is to me on par with the crowd doing the wave at a ballpark.

Yelling dumb stuff makes it to all of USA's livingrooms and very few people enjoy that.  Wave at the ballpark first of all is so 80s, and secondly doesn't affect home viewers who often don't know it's even occurring.

[saevel25]

98% THINK IT IS OK TO ACT LIKE A JERK... Non here of course. Just stating that is the type that do it.

Most people I know would call them idiots. I guess I know only 2% of people. I think your generalizations are way over exaggerated.

I think it is primarily the sporting culture in America. You take a guy who only plays golf a few times a year, but is probably a huge Football fan, dump him into a golf event, give him a few beers he's going to regress to how he acts while watching other sporting events. He's going to be loud and obnoxious. He's probably 95% other sports fan, 5% golf fan. It has little to do with social economical issues or how much money Europeans make versus Americans. It has more to do with people not understanding the golfing culture versus other sports.

[neophyte]

Some things I remember.

European soccer fans are the world's worst.  They have major battles.

Some high schools have banned fans from football and basketball games.

NFL teams have paid out large sums of money for damages to spectators who have been severely beaten at their games.

I have friends who won't take their children and grandchildren to Steeler football games.

Have you noticed the number of undercover armed security at golf tournaments.  I've seen them on tv guarding tiger and Annika.

Paige MacKenzie had trouble with stalkers at tournaments.

Federer had a fan charge onto the court for a selfie.

One of the Lady tennis players was stabbed on the court in a tournament.

Would fans want to take their families into war like zones?

[Gunther]

Some things I remember. European soccer fans are the world's worst.  They have major battles. Some high schools have banned fans from football and basketball games. NFL teams have paid out large sums of money for damages to spectators who have been severely beaten at their games. I have friends who won't take their children and grandchildren to Steeler football games. Have you noticed the number of undercover armed security at golf tournaments.  I've seen them on tv guarding tiger and Annika. Paige MacKenzie had trouble with stalkers at tournaments. Federer had a fan charge onto the court for a selfie. One of the Lady tennis players was stabbed on the court in a tournament. Would fans want to take their families into war like zones?

I always took my kids to pro sporting events, albeit never in England. Gotta live man, can't let fear keep you in the house.

[dkolo]

Yelling dumb stuff makes it to all of USA's livingrooms and very few people enjoy that.  Wave at the ballpark first of all is so 80s, and secondly doesn't affect home viewers who often don't know it's even occurring.

If you're watching a baseball, basketball, or hockey game, there's no way you can't see the wave every time it passes by. The stands are clearly in view. In either case, it's a second of rolling my eyes and then I've already forgotten about it. It's not a big deal.

[dave s]

I wholeheartedly agree with the premise of the article, 'US Fans Boozed Up.'

America has long since become a culture where life revolves around the next opportunity to consume alcohol.

Go to a football game, drink.  Baseball game, drink.

A weekend hunting trip is more an opportunity to get together with the boys and drink all weekend.

'We're going 4-wheeling this weekend,' means we're packing coolers full of beer and drinking all weekend.

Going boating on a holiday means packing a cooler with enough beer for an entire weekend of drinking.

Football games are an excuse to start drinking at 8am to make sure to be good and drunk by kickoff at 1pm.

Holiday family gathering - more alcohol than non-alcoholic beverages consumed.

18 holes?  Yeah, we're drinking!

Concert?  Yeah, we drank 'til we puked!

Look, I'm not a prude and enjoy pouring back a few beers like everyone else. However, drunken a-holes (referenced in the article) ruin things for me, and probably many others as well.  Drunks ruin family events, sporting events and just about anything else that can be enjoyed without being drunk.

Not sure I have much company with this way of thinking, but honestly I don't go to concerts or pro or college football games anymore.  Had it up to my eyeballs long ago with a drunk a-hole sitting in every other seat.  Can easily watch a game from home, drink a couple of pints, eat better food and actually enjoy the game.

dave

[jamo]

I wholeheartedly agree with the premise of the article, 'US Fans Boozed Up.' America has long since become a culture where life revolves around the next opportunity to consume alcohol.  Go to a football game, drink.  Baseball game, drink. A weekend hunting trip is more an opportunity to get together with the boys and drink all weekend. 'We're going 4-wheeling this weekend,' means we're packing coolers full of beer and drinking all weekend. Going boating on a holiday means packing a cooler with enough beer for an entire weekend of drinking. Football games are an excuse to start drinking at 8am to make sure to be good and drunk by kickoff at 1pm. Holiday family gathering - more alcohol than non-alcoholic beverages consumed. 18 holes?  Yeah, we're drinking! Concert?  Yeah, we drank 'til we puked! Look, I'm not a prude and enjoy pouring back a few beers like everyone else. However, drunken a-holes (referenced in the article) ruin things for me, and probably many others as well.  Drunks ruin family events, sporting events and just about anything else that can be enjoyed without being drunk. Not sure I have much company with this way of thinking, but honestly I don't go to concerts or pro or college football games anymore.  Had it up to my eyeballs long ago with a drunk a-hole sitting in every other seat.  Can easily watch a game from home, drink a couple of pints, eat better food and actually enjoy the game. dave

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_alcohol_consumption_per_capita Unfortunately, the data doesn't back that up, particularly when compared to Europe.

[Golfingdad]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_alcohol_consumption_per_capita

Unfortunately, the data doesn't back that up, particularly when compared to Europe.

That article is cheating to make the US look "bad." ...

The table below lists OECD countries by the annual consumption of pure alcohol in liters, per person, aged 15 years old and over, as published in the 2013 OECD Health Data.

Just a quick search of a few random countries listed near the top of that table show that their legal drinking ages are either 16 or 18 in all of the cases I found.

Regardless of how we compare to the other countries, though, I tend to agree with @dave s that there are a lot of people for whom the pastime is the drinking and the activity is just the excuse for that particular day.

[rkim291968]

I wholeheartedly agree with the premise of the article, 'US Fans Boozed Up.'

America has long since become a culture where life revolves around the next opportunity to consume alcohol.

Go to a football game, drink.  Baseball game, drink.

A weekend hunting trip is more an opportunity to get together with the boys and drink all weekend.

'We're going 4-wheeling this weekend,' means we're packing coolers full of beer and drinking all weekend.

Going boating on a holiday means packing a cooler with enough beer for an entire weekend of drinking.

Football games are an excuse to start drinking at 8am to make sure to be good and drunk by kickoff at 1pm.

Holiday family gathering - more alcohol than non-alcoholic beverages consumed.

18 holes?  Yeah, we're drinking!

Concert?  Yeah, we drank 'til we puked!

Look, I'm not a prude and enjoy pouring back a few beers like everyone else. However, drunken a-holes (referenced in the article) ruin things for me, and probably many others as well.  Drunks ruin family events, sporting events and just about anything else that can be enjoyed without being drunk.

Not sure I have much company with this way of thinking, but honestly I don't go to concerts or pro or college football games anymore.  Had it up to my eyeballs long ago with a drunk a-hole sitting in every other seat.  Can easily watch a game from home, drink a couple of pints, eat better food and actually enjoy the game.

dave

I don't believe it is just US.   In fact, US is way down in the list according to this article --->  http://www.wsj.com/articles/alcohol-which-country-drinks-the-most-1408705249.   If boozed up Americans behave worse in Golf Tour event than their European counterparts, I wouldn't know.   It seems there are more people attending the PGA tour events and more people (drunks included) means more issues.

[turtleback]

98% THINK IT IS OK TO ACT LIKE A JERK... Non here of course. Just stating that is the type that do it.

Yeah, no.  No one thinks it is OK.  But not everything that is not OK should be made against the rules.  Reality is that the most we can hope for is for people to follow the actual rules, not what we would like them to be or would prefer them to be.

But we can't even get people to follow the multi-quote rules here (hint).

[harry hooker]

Sorry buggered that up. But whatever gives you the impression we have 3 day weekends and 4 to 8 week holidays!

[flopster]

The galleries of real fans of golf need to police this themselves to some degree if they want it to go away, I have been to sporting events where they display a number you can send text message to security to report the bad behavior, I have seen this work on many occasions and it does, idiots need to learn that just because event security isn't watching at that moment that they are still being watched.

[3putter]

Like nothing happens after a football (soccer) game in Europe?

In America, golf is available to everyone. This is what really differentiates us from the stodgy rich people in Europe and Asia. This is why our fan base is so much wider. I would rather have the wider group of golfing fans who enjoy their game and booze if they wish.

I don't drink and golf at the same time any more, but I enjoy watching all the different types of people enjoy themselves on the course. It takes all kinds to make our country so good to live and golf in, and I take the good with the not so good.

I'm not sure if you visit europe much, but that statement isn't true. Golf is pretty accessible if you wish to play. I wouldn't comment on the accessibility in Asia as I'm not familiar with their situation as it pertains to golf.

Secondly, yea stuff happens after soccer games in europe just as it happens in hockey or other sports, but that's not the topic. Golf fans are the main subject here.

Poulter antagonizes.

If he took accountability for his play,  kept his temper in check, did not take digs at fans, and was diplomatic, he'd win over fans.

But that's not Poulter.

Sergio is suffering from long-term fan memory. Don't know if he is capable of a mea culpa.

Let's compare them to Tiger, who has done some weird things, but he is golf greatness, and is a US Citizen. He also has a certain scowling presence. I do not think any fan wants to mess with Tiger to his face.

I don't think Poulter or anyone else's personality justifies being insulted at first sight. It's just bad manners. Period.

Sorry buggered that up. But whatever gives you the impression we have 3 day weekends and 4 to 8 week holidays!

Haha,

One more thing I'll add to this discussion is that alcohol is sold at Euro tournaments too, but you'll seldom hear any rubbish from their fans. They just tend to be more knowledgeable of golf decorum and well-behaved than their counterparts here. Maybe they consume their sh!t in moderation or can handle it better, but either way they show more respect to the game.

[GolfLug]

I don't see how the solution is so different compared to concerts or even common road traffic. You can always have more security to address this. And yes, the sheer quantity of security DOES make a difference in various ways. Now that the masses are coming in volumes bringing revenues from tickets and booze, so are people of all levels of thought processes, much like, well common road traffic.

But the solutions cost money and really how much of an issue do the tournament organizers/owners (not you or I) think it is. If they see enough of a problem that it is starting to affect either;  a) the talent (players) they attract and/or b) the good (non-rowdy) crowds or c) TV viewership to a point where the overall revenue is getting affected, they WILL REACT with sufficient security to address the nuisance. I just don't think it reached that tipping point for them to reach further into their pockets to act decisively.

[Gunther]

I don't see how the solution is so different compared to concerts or even common road traffic. You can always have more security to address this. And yes, the sheer quantity of security DOES make a difference in various ways. Now that the masses are coming in volumes bringing revenues from tickets and booze, so are people of all levels of thought processes, much like, well common road traffic. But the solutions cost money and really how much of an issue do the tournament organizers/owners (not you or I) think it is. If they see enough of a problem that it is starting to affect either;  a) the talent (players) they attract and/or b) the good (non-rowdy) crowds or c) TV viewership to a point where the overall revenue is getting affected, they WILL REACT with sufficient security to address the nuisance. I just don't think it reached that tipping point for them to reach further into their pockets to act decisively.

I'm not sure how extra security helps clean up something that is not against the rules, such as the mashed potatoes or get in the hole screams after a shot, many times from morons who aren't even drunk, they just want to impress their buddies watchin on TV. Security does clean up the truly bad actors for the most part. I think it's education that is needed. Post signs around the tournament, begin a marketing campaign similar to the Tee it Forward or Play Faster bits. Teach people that it's not proper to act that way at a golf venue. More rules or more security are not the answers.

[GolfLug]

I'm not sure how extra security helps clean up something that is not against the rules, such as the mashed potatoes or get in the hole screams after a shot, many times from morons who aren't even drunk, they just want to impress their buddies watchin on TV. Security does clean up the truly bad actors for the most part.

Mashed potatoes?? yupp, good luck with that, and good luck educating that out of that.

I was talking bout boozed up fans yelling. You can' tell me security would not help with drunks and boorish behavior coming from them.

[caniac6]

I would bet the Masters has some of the cheapest beer prices on tour, yet you don't hear fans yelling stupid thngs. They seem to encourage good behavior, and have little tolerance of bad behavior. The beer will make some people act like idiots, but the Masters is an example of a tournament where people drink, and don't get out of hand.

[dkolo]

I would bet the Masters has some of the cheapest beer prices on tour, yet you don't hear fans yelling stupid thngs. They seem to encourage good behavior, and have little tolerance of bad behavior. The beer will make some people act like idiots, but the Masters is an example of a tournament where people drink, and don't get out of hand.

That's true. On the other hand, if every tournament were run like the Masters, I have to imagine it would hurt the game by driving away a large segment of the audience. The Masters being a once a year event is charming, but that kind of stuffiness on a weekly basis wouldn't have as broad of an appeal. I know I wouldn't want to watch golf like that.