When the line between player and spectator is violently crossed, bad things happen. Published in the Irish Times on Wednesday, July 29th, 2015.

“Roy, will you be the best there ever was in the game?” “That’s right.” She pulled the trigger (thrum of bull fiddle). – The Natural, Bernard Malamud, 1952

Thankfully, violent encounters between sports people and fans are relatively rare. Fan is a derivation of “fanatic”, a word that might well be a more accurate descriptor applied to those spectators who insert themselves into the storyline of a sporting event or into the lives of those with whom they have developed some sort of hateful obsession. There is a code to fandom. Watch, jeer, cheer. But don’t actually interfere with the spectacle. In the 2015 Tour de France, this code was broken.

Booing? Generally fine, unless attending an event that traditionally demands silence. Golf, tennis and snooker would certainly not approve. Frowns too in some rugby grounds if one were to boo while a place kick was being attempted. Targeting individual players on a consistent basis? Also tiresome.

But in general for a spectator viewing a team sport, it’s fair game to fill your lungs and let all the frustration out. Like booing, singing and chanting will generally be most effective as a team effort. The solo verbal sniper can go both ways: the type that offers pointed and witty barbs in a melodic voice carrying over the stands can be a joy; the cheapshot artist hurling vulgar abuse is unneeded and unwanted.

An outsider affecting the event itself disrupts those natural boundaries of sporting theatre. Jeffrey Maier was 12 in October 1996 when he held out his glove to try to catch a Derek Jeter fly ball, interfering with the efforts of the visiting Baltimore Orioles’ fielder to do the same.

Baltimore protests went unheard and Maier would become a child hero etched in Yankee playoff lore. Steve Bartman wasn’t so lucky, the Cubs fan scapegoated when he, like Maier, tried to catch a fly ball. With Cubs fielder Moises Alou visibly irate at being blocked from making the catch, Bartman was an instant pariah in his own city.

Read more: http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/andy-mcgeady-when-an-encounter-becomes-a-collision-1.2300135