One of the things I will never understand is the religious fanaticism that some sports fans have. To tell these people that "their" team sucks or their favorite player sucks is the equivalent of blaspheming God or something. And I put "their" in quotes because they have no ownership in these teams. Beyond bets with friends they have no financial stake if the team wins or loses. Simply put, who cares if "your" team wins or loses.
I especially don't get the point of getting belligerent on someone simply because they like another team. We see this taken to the level of insanity with European soccer fans... and to the level of stupidity with Josh "Tank" Watts, who hence fourth shall be known as Septic Tank.
Read on...
Deadspin also covered the Incident.
"Courtney was the first one out of the vehicle, and while she was getting Garrett's wheelchair, one guy immediately started yelling at her," said Brett Coburn, who described the man's comments as "taunts."
Coburn said that when the group reached the front door, the fan, who other patrons called Tank, was waiting for them.
"He was standing at the door, and he started harassing us because of the Cowboys jerseys," Coburn said.
He said Tank told Garrett Carnes, "Don't use your wheelchair as a crutch."
According to multiple accounts of the incident, Carnes told the patron – and others who were ridiculing the group for being Cowboys' fans – that he was a veteran and had lost his legs in Afghanistan.
Members of the Carnes-Coburn party tried to "defend ourselves verbally," Brett Coburn said.
He said Tank walked toward Carnes in a threatening way, and some other patrons stepped in to break it up.
So now Marines are pissed at him, servicemen from other braches and even other national militaries are pissed at him, and even random civilians are pissed at him.
Never mind the fact that Garrett Carnes is a Marine and lost his legs in Afghanistan. You just have to have some serious problems to pick a fight with a guy WITH NO LEGS over something as asinine and petty as sports. There is just no reason to ever start something with someone just minding their own business over something like sports, let alone a guy with no legs. Septic Tank is probably one of the worst kinds of bullies, even in high school I never saw any of the usual bullies picking on the retarded and cripple kids.
On a side note, I have friends and family who were in combat, some didn't go into the military with any reasons loftier than having nothing else better to do with their life at the time. So I'm not going to get into the "fighting for freedom" thing. But they did their job under some tough circumstances, they signed up for a job that doesn't hide that fact that it's a tough job and followed though. He took on a tough job, knowing full well he might come home in pieces, if he comes home at all. And that's worthy of respect. Garrett Carnes certainly didn't deserve to come home just to have this waste of organic and genetic material harass him try to start a fight with him for nothing deeper than a brand name. I hope him the best and that he can get a set of prosthetic that'll let him walk again.
They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so instead of going though a full blown psycho analysis and dissecting this guy on a psychological level, I'll just post up these pictures and let them speak for themselves as to the sort of person Septic Tank is. I'm confident we've all seen and know this kind of person somewhere. They have different ethnicities, but they all seem to look the same. I don't even need to break things down since you probably are already familiar with one incarnation of Tank or another.
At the end of the day though I'll just never understand the extent of stupidity that some people take their fanaticism to. I know I know, not everyone is like this, and I'm not talking about those people. But for someone like Septic Tank here it reaches the level of religious fanaticism. I'm not going to say I wish violence upon these people, because I don't, they're just not worth that kind of effort. I'm only pointing out just how far people take their sports and this is just the pinnacle of stupidity. I mean really, what has anyone's "team" done for them that they would be willing to get into legal trouble for them? What has the Panthers done for Josh Watts that made him instigate this whole situation for the sole reason that Garrett Carnes's jersey had another team's name on it. I seriously doubt any of the Panthers players, support staff, or owners know Josh "Tank" Watts personally. My family might be huge Lakers fans, and I might have a huge amount of respect for Kareem Abdul Jabar, but the fact is, the Lakers haven't done a damn thing for me to care whether or not they win or lose, let alone start something with someone who likes whom ever their rival happens to be that season.
