ear Prudence,
My husband comes from a city with a notorious fan base for its sports teams (all of them). I love watching sports too, but his behavior when his team is on TV is freaking me out. He gets completely wrapped up in it.
I don’t mean going, “Aw, come on!” if a referee makes a bad call. I mean, making death threats and personal derogatory comments about the ref, other team’s players, and even fans. No one is safe—not women, children, or the elderly. He’ll talk about how he’d “take a sledgehammer” to the other coach’s head if he could. He once threw the remote through his $3,000 TV when his team was eliminated from the playoffs. He’ll stew and lash out at anyone in the vicinity (me) if he disagrees with a call. Ten minutes after the game is over, he’s totally back to his calm, amiable self, but it’s like a monster takes over him during the broadcast.
I feel like I’m on eggshells during the game and just pray his team wins so he’ll be in a good mood. When I’ve remarked that these comments make me feel uncomfortable and really take away from the joy of the game, he’ll tell me he’s just passionate and “any other fan from [city] would be the same.” I sort of think no? It makes me wonder if he’ll be able to rein it in if we ever have kids. (As a child, adults shouting angrily at sporting events was really terrifying to me.) And of course, ever watching the game in public or having friends over to watch is an impossibility.