My Thoughts On The Giant Fan That Was Put Into A Coma By Dodger “Fans”

Now that baseball season’s officially underway, I would like to make something perfectly clear:

I am a fan of the Los Angeles Dodgers, and have been for the bulk of my life.

It was passed down from my grandparents, who as African Americans were fervent followers of the Dodgers due to the great Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier; my grandma was particularly enamored with Roy Campanella.

The greatest sports broadcaster of all time, Vin Scully, is a significant reason why I remain loyal to Dodger Blue, despite their recent issues and shortcomings, including not making a World Series appearance since 1988.

Having said all of that, I am wearing a San Francisco Giants cap today because what happened in the parking lot at Dodger Stadium after the team’s 2-1 victory over the Giants on Opening Day left me feeling nothing but shame and embarrassment of being a Dodger fan, for the first time in a long while.

When I heard about Bryan Stow, a paramedic and a Giant fan from Santa Cruz, CA, getting assaulted by two thugs posing as Dodger fans, it left a sick feeling inside, and it also led to feelings of anger.

Having been to over forty Dodger games in my lifetime, I had noticed that increasing numbers of “fans” have taken to behaving like idiots and degenerates, not unlike Oakland Raider fans; getting rip-roaring drunk, arguing and acting extremely belligerent with opposing fans, and God forbid if such supporters are cheering for their team – that’s really risking it there.

Indeed, I recently read in the Los Angeles Times about how Stow had texted during the Dodger game that he attended that he was a bit afraid of the element that was there.

That concurs to the point that in recent years I had found myself thinking as I walked out of the Dodger Stadium gates after a game, “Things are getting crazy.”

I’ll definitely no longer attend contests in which the opponents are the Giants, the San Diego Padres or the Los Angeles Angels, because not only are those teams Dodger rivals, they have strong fan bases with natural access to Dodger games; I fear that brawls among the fans may ensue when those teams visit Chavez Ravine.

Back to what happened after that first game: After he expressed his fears with his text, Stow was hurt by those thugs – I mean fans – so badly that he suffered a brain injury. He is currently in a medical coma at a local Los Angeles hospital, where it is not guaranteed that he will survive.

All for happening to be a fan of the opposing team and wearing that team’s apparel at a sporting event.

The clincher to all of this was the fact that Stow was minding his own business and not bothering or provoking anyone when the attack happened.

Some people may say that while this incident was tragic and most regrettable, there are bad fans on every team and the entire Dodger fan base shouldn’t be judged by the actions of two thuggish idiots.

While I agree 100% with that sentiment, I also assert that incidents like this make fan bases look bad, which is something that the Dodgers do NOT need.

It’s my fervent hope that those two knuckle-headed punks who assaulted Stow, and may have potentially killed him, are caught and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law; send them a message by not only banning them from Dodger Stadium , and every other Major League Baseball park, for life, but also by giving them significant prison sentences.

Perhaps that would deter so-called “fans” from doing any harm to anyone at the ballpark, and also help them to realize an old adage:

“It’s just a game!”

In the meantime, I don’t know if this would help, but I would like to take the liberty to offer my sincere apologies to the Giants and their fan base for the horrific act that happened – please don’t judge the Dodgers and their fans for the unforgivable sins of two low-life hooligans who call themselves Dodger fans.

And please know that no one wants to get along, or have Bryan Stow recover, more than I.