when is a fan not a fan?

[Snoopy the Celtics Beagle <snoopy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I've been reading a lot about this guy Berg.  Let me sum it up--please 
correct me if I'm getting this wrong.

Berg has (or at least had, depending on which news report you read) season 
tickets to the Celtics going back for several years, at least to the says 
of Rick Pitino.  During this time, he has repeatedly heckled the home team, 
to the point where he got what appears to boil down to a "talking to" for 
his anti-Pitino comments.  Since then, he's been riding Walker on a regular 
basis.  Finally, last Friday, after spending several minutes hollering at 
Coach O'Brien to take Walker out of a game he wasn't playing well in, he 
felt moved to give Antoine some free speech.  Walker--and several of his 
invited guests, had enough, and things got physical.

Berg is tossed, then calls radio stations to give his version of events, 
then files a suit against Walker.  Then we learn he has a website where he 
sells--surprise!!--Celtics-related memorabilia, including an expensive 
Walker jersey, captioned with a description of Walker that seems totally at 
odds with his utterings from the stands.

Berg is not a fan.  He is a coward, and quite possibly a criminal.

First, aside from whether having tickets allows you to say stupid, 
offensive things at all; it should be a given that when you live in Boston, 
profess to be a fan, and buy seats behind the Celtics bench, you should NOT 
be heckling the home team!!

On a broader scale, heckling in general is a gray area.  From my 
experience, once I went to a Celtics/Magic game in Orlando--Bird was still 
playing then, and the Magic were, well an expansion team.  I cheered loudly 
for my team as they beat the Magic, and was happy.  But I didn't feel the 
need to yell--for example--"the Magic suck!", even though, rankly, they 
did.  They've made up for that long since.  I do feel it appropriate to 
yell, "I hate LA" at a Celtics/Lakers game, though it would be safer to 
yell that in Boston.

But there's a difference, even when yelling at the opposing team, between 
counting off to distract Jermaine O'Neals eternal free throw routine, and 
yelling "wife beater" at Jason Kidd.  What a story I read once called, "the 
personal and the political (or public)".  Wanna complain about Kidd's free 
throw kisses?  Go for it.  But the man's family should be off-limits--for 
the sake of his son (even if Mrs. Kidd does come off as an attention seeker 
at times).

And to deliberately provoke Walker--who has managed to by and large control 
his temper--at the time and place Berg did, only to hide behind "He went 
into the stands." is an act of cowardice.  If Berg had tried that with say, 
Bill Laimbeer, or Ron Artest, he'd be a pile of goo at Mass General.  No, 
Walker should have sat down and called security if there was a problem--and 
BTW, where WAS security at this point in the playoffs after having already 
had one canister of stuff rolled under the bench?  And certainly his 
"posse" (MY word, NOT Walker's) should have stayed where they were.

But if Berg is saying one thing--which he seems to say consistently, and 
believe--about Walker, then says something else in an attempt to sell 
Walker-related merchandise on his website; then that could be construed as 
fraudulent.  Yes, it's a stretch, but I'm not trying to make a case in a 
court of law, I'm trying to make an ethical point.

Additionally, if he really has been haranguing Walker "for years", then 
Walker has a case for provocation.  He might even be in a position to 
collect damages for the aggravation (yes, a legal longshot, but like I said...)

As far as free speech goes, I think this is an admittedly stretched case of 
hate speech.  Berg deliberately speaks badly of Walker to fans, teammates 
and coach to get him benched--or to be unable to do his job, and cause him 
acute personal discomfort.  That's NOT protected.  He's interfering with 
the game.  Were I the Celtics Owner, I'd first move him further back from 
the bench.  If that didn't work, I'd suspend his tickets for say, a game or 
two as a cooling off period.  But at this point, after years of guff?  take 
the tickets and give them to someone who at least acts like a C's fan.

That's not to say that "real fans don't ever criticize the Celtics".  They 
do, and are often insightful.  But there's a time and a place for 
everything.  Had I been sitting there, I might have made a vocal request to 
have Walker sit that night.  But when his game is on, I don't mind seeing 
the occasional Walker Wiggle if only because there's at least one person 
out there who's a worse dancer then me.
(Just ask the bunny-wunnies; they're the ones with sore paws.).  But 
overall, the people who buy season tickets should be supportive of the team 
when they do well.  From what everyone--including Berg himself--says, Berg 
only spoke positively when he had something to sell.

So, like I said, Berg is NOT a Celtics fan.  He's a coward for certain, and 
a selfish, self-absorbed buffoon to boot. He MAY be a criminal--that's for 
the authorities to decide in the proper setting.  But as far as I'm 
concerned, let him sit outside the Celtics home, because the welcome mat is 
longer there for the likes of him.

Snoopy the Celtics Beagle
Please visit the <http://www.celticsbeagle.net/>Celtics Beagle Website