On wild-card Saturday, fans in team colors turned Qwest Field into a mass of Seahawks blue.
The atmosphere? It too can be tinged blue — as in blue language, heard loud and clear.
With profanity as prevalent in our culture as “12th Man” jerseys at a Hawks game, regular fans may be oblivious to off-color shouts. Qwest Field was built for deafening crowd noise, after all.
Saturday’s crowd had plenty to cuss about before the Hawks bagged a 35-14 win in the NFC wild-card playoff game — including the loss of a 13-0 lead and a fourth-quarter Redskins interception. In the end though, it was all cheers.
One woman had heard quite enough of the cussing before the playoffs ever began.
At a Seahawks game with her husband earlier this season, Alison Young-Herron was appalled at obscenities yelled within earshot of children.
“It was a great experience all the way around except for one huge thing: fans who don’t make any effort to watch their language. It used to be that a drunken loudmouth in the group was an occasional annoyance. Now it’s the norm,” said Young-Herron, 51, who lives in the Mays Pond area near Mill Creek.
Her husband, season ticket holder Sid Herron, usually attends games with Young-Herron’s 32-year-old son, Jeff Kalles. When she went in Kalles’ place, “there were at least a dozen (people) within 15 feet of our seats who were unable to shout anything without it being peppered with the ‘F’ word, at the top of their lungs,” Young-Herron said.
She cringed all game long after hearing one dad with a small boy tell people around him it was their first visit to a pro football stadium. “They were very excited,” she said. “The rest of the evening, they were subjected to loud obscenities.”
She’s certain alcohol fuels the boorish behavior. “These people generally arrive well on the way to inebriation, and it gets worse quickly,” Young-Herron said.
Young-Herron, who calls herself “a firm believer in creative solutions,” came up with a plan to curb nasty language.
“Many families have a jar into which they deposit money when they are caught using swear words,” she said. “I’d bet that volunteers would be glad to station themselves around the stadium to assist. Perhaps a jar or hat could take donations toward a charity.” It could be done, she said, “in the spirit of fun.”
“I understand freedom of speech and all that, and I’m sure the Seahawks and the NFC don’t want to come off as the big, bad parent trying to discipline the naughty boys — and sometimes girls — in the crowd, but I just can’t help thinking that there must be something that could be done,” she said.
A naughty jar for mouthy Seahawks fans? She ought to be careful sharing that plan in certain company.
The Seahawks organization takes a different approach to the problem. Suzanne Lavender, the Seattle Seahawks’ director of corporate communications, said a hotline (888-MY-HAWKS) operates during home games for fans to report disruptive behavior. They also can send a text message to HAWK12 to let staff know about “an experience that’s uncomfortable,” she said.
The system allows people to complain without confronting someone Young-Herron would see as a “drunken loudmouth.” Season ticket holders get information about a fan code of conduct, and their responsibility extends to anyone using their seats, Lavender said. Ushers and security people are scattered throughout the stadium, and Seattle police officers also are present. Offenders have definitely been thrown out, she said.
Lavender said there’s a two-beer limit per sale at concessions stands, and it’s one beer from roving vendors. Wine is available in suites. Stadium management cuts off alcohol sales generally at the end of the third quarter. The stadium has a Safe Ride Home program, and the Seahawks offer an alcohol-free family section, Lavender said.
Compared with at least one stadium, Qwest Field is downright tame. The New York Times reported Dec. 31 that the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority banned alcohol sales and blocked access to two ramps during the New York Jets’ season-ending home game.
During halftime at two previous Jets games, the article said, “hundreds of men on one of the Gate D ramps chanted at the few women in the crowd to bare their breasts. If they did not comply the men threw plastic beer bottles at them.”
In 1997, Philadelphia officials set up a makeshift municipal courtroom at Veterans Stadium, the Eagles’ former home. According to The New York Times, nearly two dozen fans were charged with disorderly conduct, illegal drinking or similar offenses. The court was established in the bowels of the stadium after a man’s ankle was broken as he tried to help someone beaten up for wearing a rival team’s jacket.
Imagine what would happen if someone dared suggest a swear-jar in Philly.
Short of the naughty jar, Young-Herron hopes people will look around and see that kids are listening. At least find an obscenity-free substitute; she’s OK with “flipping.”
Her swear-jar idea may not fly, but she’s serious about the issue. She’s become a fan of 14-year-old McKay Hatch, a California boy who last year started a No Cussing Club at his junior high in South Pasadena. Through a Web site, www.nocussing.com, he’s spreading the word: Keep it clean.
Crass language is everywhere, even on T-shirts. Young-Herron is truly rankled about a captive audience of kids subjected to the shouts of a raunchy crowd.
“For some, a football game is like sitting around the house drinking beer with buddies. But they’re not home,” she said. “So much of society doesn’t seem to notice or care that children are everywhere.”
Columnist Julie Muhlstein: 425-339-3460 or muhlstein@heraldnet.com.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
