Turn on your TV. Open up your newspaper. Turn on the radio. Go ahead, I dare you. It will be mere minutes before violence greets you. Sports fans like you and me are allowing the passion of a game to escalate to violence.

In the world of sports, it is now more dangerous outside the game than amidst the crushing body masses of an opposing players. No longer is it simply angry shouts from a drunken critic or the shattering of a beer bottle against stadium steps. Instead, fans are throwing fists, pointing guns, and gripping knives.

In 1993, Monica Seles, then the world’s number-one-ranked women’s tennis player, was stabbed several times during the quarterfinals of the Citizen Cup in Hamburg, Germany. Guenter Parche, the number-one fan of the number-two-ranked Steffi Graf, wanted to make sure Seles would no longer be a source of competition.

In July of 2001, three gunmen in front of a Chicago restaurant robbed Celtics player Antoine Walker and Sixers player Nazr Mohammed of cash and a $55,000 watch.

These incidents are pathetic tantrums thrown by angry adults.

Anyone who witnesses a violent act will not necessarily run out to their nearest gun shop or switchblade outlet to stock up on supplies. In most cases, a person must have a chemical imbalance to seriously consider inflicting pain on another human being because of a disagreement with some situation in which they are involved. Especially a sport. People must remember it is just a game.

I would say that people today are less hesitant to respond to a situation with violence because they are repeatedly subjected to it. This affects people of all ages.

Children and teenagers are subjected to hostility just as frequently as the rest, and I’m sure it has a greater impact. In many cases, it is their elders or their heroes that set these bad examples.

Violence within sports is just as prevalent. Whether on the field, on the ice or on the court, fights occur consistently. Spilled milk may not be something to cry over, but spilled blood is.

The frequency of such outbreaks and their acceptance teaches children otherwise.

Recently, a 15-year-old boy and his father who disagreed with some of Gamboa’s game calls attacked Kansas City Royals coach Tom Gamboa. The two ran out onto the field at Comiskey Park during a Royals-White Sox game recently and assaulted the coach in front of millions of viewers.

Thanks for the example, dad.

The world is violent and it is only escalating. For this, we should not be surprised that it has leaked off the stands and into the fields.

Until the world is more peaceful, however, this new wave of violence will sadly be another part of life.