[Jason]

Link: http://cbs.sportsline.com/columns/story/9709293

Hack Mike Freeman writes a touchy-feely column about how you need to feel a little sorry for T.O. and how horrible those mean Philadelphia fans are to opposing players.

After all, poor little innocent T.O. did nothing to deserve the scorn and occassional insults that will be flying in his direction this week. As I read this column I thought of that kid in elementary school who wrote down the names of the kids who talked while the teacher was out of the room.

He closed with this:

Originally Posted by Freewhine

But the following was not humorous. A reader wrote to the website Deadspin.com about a scene he witnessed involving the ESPN crew covering that Monday night game, which included Chris Berman, Steve Young and Michael Irvin. Fans mocked Berman, questioned Young's sexual orientation but saved their worst venom for former Cowboy Irvin.


"...the chants sent to the Playmaker while on live TV sent Philly fans to a new low, which (is) hard to do," the Eagles fan wrote. "Between the constant 'Dallas Sucks,' 'You Suck,' 'You're an ass----' and the very nice 'Where's your crack pipe?' It was wild. Berman turned to the crowd every couple of seconds to try and shut us up, which enraged the guys. Finally, Michael flipped us off, mouthed 'f--- you!' and held up three fingers and counted his "rings," all while Berman and Young were live."

And the problem is what exactly? They set up in a place where they're open to obnoxious fans and they received exactly what you could expect them to get. But it's the fault of the Philly fans and certainly not the folks at ESPN who set up where they set up.

Certainly can't fault the professional broadcaster who used profanity to tell them off, right? It's all on the fans!

We're talking about a bunch of guys...maybe even drunken idiots if you wish...yelling at someone. They weren't hitting them, throwing things, etc. They were just yelling at them. Sports fans yelling. What a novel concept.

If they throw crap at the players or anything that could harm the players or the media then fine...throw their butts in jail. If they're using tons of profanity and refuse to stop when told to stop then boot 'em. (They were warned.) But come on...it's football and not the ballet.