Brawls and strikes

How out-of-control has fan behavior gotten? Consider a few recent episodes:

Jan. 7, 2007 During a playoff game between the New England Patriots and the New York Jets, an apparently drunk fan topples onto a 10-year-old Cohasset boy, breaking two vertebrae in the child's back.

Jan. 7, 2005 As the Northeast Regional/Malden co-op hockey team comes off the ice, they are allegedly taunted by fans of Shawsheen Valley Regional Technical High School of Billerica, triggering a brawl that results in a 17-year-old needing stitches after he is hit in the head with a hockey stick. In response, officials ban spectators from a championship game between the two teams.

Nov. 19, 2004 A virtual riot ensues during a game between the Detroit Pistons and the Indiana Pacers, with fans throwing beer, popcorn, ice, and a chair at Pacers players, and the players throwing punches.

April 19, 2003 An Oakland Athletics fan hurls a cellphone at former Red Sox outfielder Carl Everett, then playing for the Texas Rangers.

July 5, 2000 A fight between two fathers after a youth hockey practice results in the beating death of 40-year-old Michael Costin. Thomas Junta is later found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in Costin's death.

-- DON AUCOIN