Saturday, January 19, 2008

A Dec. 22 op-ed and a Jan. 6 news story addressed the obnoxious actions of sports fans.

I took my kid to a Potomac Mavericks (a professional inline hockey team that plays in Chantilly) game recently, and we were lucky enough to win two door prizes in one night: season's passes to the Mavericks and Washington Capitals tickets. Everyone was friendly and well-behaved, and we left the place feeling like royalty.

After attending two Mavericks games and the NHL game (against the visiting Philadelphia Flyers), I've decided that I've had it with most major league sports teams and their venues. It is impossible to teach children proper behavior and good sportsmanship while exposing them to drunken, misbehaving fans with filthy mouths.

No beer is sold at Mavericks games, at Washington Glory games (professional women's fastpitch softball played at a George Mason stadium in Fairfax) or at Vienna Senators games (part of the Clark C. Griffith Collegiate Baseball League and based in Falls Church), and at every game we've attended of these teams, the fans are well behaved.

The correlation is remarkable. I have never heard derogatory cheering, or verbal assaults on officials or foul language at any of these teams' games; nor do I believe that would be tolerated.

I suspect there are other, smaller-venue professional teams out there that also offer family-oriented, inexpensive and positive environments in which to enjoy skilled competition.

I encourage folks to find and patronize them instead.

LASZLO PENTEK

Arlington