Crazy Sports Fan Anti-Bucket List

A fan would have to be crazy to challenge a heavyweight boxing champion to a fight, right?

(Note: Here, any instance of the word "crazy" just means outrageous, ill-advised, over-the-top or all of the above.)

Sports fans have actually done a lot of out-there things in the name of their passion. And no, that is not a reference to tattoos, costumes or haircuts. Those are becoming rather normal. No, the following stunts require at least a little crazy on the part of the doer (or a lot, depending on the stunt).

This is an anti-bucket list in the sense that the following 20 items might be thrilling, but most are not generally advisable. In other words, please do not attempt any of the following acts.

There are a few tame ones to warm up, but by the time you reach No. 20, the anti-bucket list will devolve into a place no fan should ever, ever attempt to go under any circumstances. Some acts are even criminal.

To reiterate: Do not attempt.

Pen a Heated Open Letter

Rick Scuteri/Associated Press

Open letters, in and of themselves, are not necessarily crazy. However, some sports fans have taken their right to free speech a little too far when it comes to playoff rankings or, say, one Carolina Panthers quarterback.

According to Charles Evans of Fansided, an Ohio State football fan published an open letter to the College Football Playoff committee on his website, buckeyesnews.com. The letter read, in part, "I know about your 'SEC bias.' I mean, what would ESPN think if you left an SEC team out of the playoff? Finebaum might have a heart attack! Logically though, Alabama is in no way better than Ohio State."

One mother from Tennessee suggested Carolina Panthers QB Cam Newton was a poor role model in a letter to the Charlotte Observer. Referring simply to a touchdown dance, she said, "What you modeled for them today was egotism, arrogance and poor sportsmanship."

Wait in Absurdly Long Lines

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Remember those Star Wars fans who waited in line for 12 days to see The Force Awakens? OK, sports fans might not have to wait days to see their favorite players, but they are regularly willing to give up hours of their lives.

Pittsburgh Pirates fans lined up outside PNC Park in the wee hours of a September morning to get tickets for the National League Wild Card Game. Some Tennessee Titans fans waited over three hours just for a chance to get rookie quarterback Marcus Mariota's John Hancock in August.

That type of dedication would only be deemed crazy by some, however. Read on for more absurd fan antics. 

Go Shirtless at a Subzero Game

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This one is almost too common to be crazy. Then again, survey says: Unnecessarily risking hypothermia in the name of sports fandom is always foolish.

In January, the Seattle Seahawks visited the Minnesota Vikings in the divisional playoff round. At six degrees below zero, it was the third-coldest NFL game ever. Naturally, there was a fan with no shirt on.

Take Down a Goal Post

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Court- or field-storming is already questionable given the safety concerns involved. What is really out there, however, is storming a field and committing an act of vandalism at the same time.

Tearing down a goal post to celebrate an upset victory is something football fans have been doing for years. Suzanne Halliburton of the Cox News Service (h/t the Baltimore Sun) once wrote, "While fans see the tradition as a lighthearted way to celebrate a victory, athletic department officials and security guards see injuries, arrests and lawsuits when people start swarming the goal posts."

Listen to this one though. After the Kansas City Royals won the World Series, some spirited fans actually broke into Memorial Stadium at the University of Kansas and tore down that goal post. What? Fight that mob mentality, folks. 

Use Laser Pointer Distraction

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It's not all that uncommon for fans to attempt to distract opposing players by waving, yelling, holding up signs, et cetera. On the spectrum of athlete distraction devices, laser pointers seem to fall somewhere between verbal heckling and throwing physical objects.

In January, a (presumably Utah Jazz) fan at Vivint Smart Home Arena shined such a device into the eyes of Houston Rockets guard James Harden as he stood at the free-throw line.

Not only was the fan kicked out, but he was banned from all NBA arenas for a year, according to Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. Not smart. 

Participate in a Useless Protest

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Some fan protests make sense. Take a look at what Liverpool fans just accomplished with ticket prices.

That said, some are a little more out there than others. For instance, when Deflategate-related penalties were handed down to the New England Patriots in March, fans were not pleased.

According to Alex Putterman and Jake Fischer of Extra Mustard, a group of them actually handcuffed themselves together inside the lobby of the NFL's Manhattan headquarters. They were ultimately arrested for trespassing.

The Liverpool fans stood up for something that actually affected them, and they succeeded. The Deflategate crusaders, though? Don't get arrested for Tom Brady.

Quit Your Job

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After Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant announced his impending retirement, his games instantly became much more in demand.

Two fans from Italy attended a December game against the Philadelphia 76ers. They held up a sign indicating they had both quit their jobs to fly over from Europe and see their idol play.

No word on if they actually quit their jobs just to see Bryant, but if they did, that's just cray.

Impersonate a Player

Elite Daily writer Connor Toole is a tall dude—almost 7 feet tall, in fact. Because of his height, he decided to conduct a little experiment and impersonate a player at the NBA draft.

Per Kelyn Soong of the Washington Post, Toole said, "I walked in the lower level and saw them checking tickets, but [when they saw me] the security guard just shrugged it off. I guess if you see a giant dude in a suit you're not going to ask too many questions."

Things turned out well for Toole (in that, it was hilarious), but this is not a stunt every tall guy in town should try. It could certainly have gone badly.

Tweet About Illegal Plans

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

News bulletin: Twitter is not generally the picture of privacy.

In January 2015, a Pittsburgh Steelers fan tweeted, during a game, "Screw it, #Steelers are losing anyway. 400 RTs and I'll run onto Heinz Field," according to the Associated Press, via ABC 13.  

And as it turns out, the more retweets an idea gets, the more public it becomes. Therefore, it should have come as no surprise to the fan, one Jacob Berlin, when stadium security tracked him down.

Run onto a Field of Large Athletes

It's one thing to tweet about invading a football field, and it's another thing to do it. In 2005, a Cleveland Browns fan ran onto the field during a game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. For his troubles, the fan was treated to a real-life NFL tackle courtesy of Steelers linebacker James Harrison.

In 2014, an Ohio State Buckeyes coach did the same thing to a fan with equally poor decision-making skills. The coach was Antony Schlegel, former NFL linebacker.

Confront a Coach

Slightly more crazy than running onto a field haphazardly is running onto one looking for trouble. In March 2014, a fan at a University of California-Santa Barbara basketball game stormed onto the court and confronted the coach from the opposing team, Hawaii.  

Hawaii players immediately pushed him away, and he was eventually booted from the arena.

Per John Healy of the New York Daily News, Santa Barbara athletic department spokesman Bill Mahoney said, "The student will obviously face legal action. He will also be subject to action from a judicial review board through UCSB student affairs. ... I can't speculate on the penalties."

Actually Streak

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Running onto a field of play is dangerous—that has been established. So, why would anyone want to add to the irrationality of it all by performing the feat in the buff?

Naked streakers are unfortunately all too common in sports. Warning: NSFW links coming up.

There was a nude guy who dove into the stumps at a cricket match in July, a fan who lost a bet and had to streak across Busch Stadium in 2012, a man who got laid out for pulling a Frank the Tank at a CFL game in 2013—the list goes on, and it's not pretty.

Stalk an Athlete

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Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry is a great player, and an autograph from him would be stellar, but let's not stalk the man, OK?

In August, Curry tweeted, "PSA. Noticeably following my family's car on the road for nearly 30 miles & tailing me the whole way is not the best way to get an autograph."

Good for Curry for saying something, but his tweet expressed a sentiment that should have been common sense, right? 

Pour Beer on an Athlete

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Who pours beer on an athlete (or anyone, for that matter)? Just because a New York Mets fan isn't particularly fond of the Philadelphia Phillies, that doesn't give him the right to spray booze on another human being.

Yet, this has actually happened. During an April matchup between the two teams, a home fan at Citi Field attempted to throw beer at then-Phillies outfielder Grady Sizemore.

Not only is the act of pouring beer on someone malicious and rude, it's also likely to get a fan kicked out of the stadium.

Or Just Throw Anything at Anyone

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Sports fans are passionate, and that's usually a good thing. When it results in throwing objects around maliciously, however, that's not good.

Back in 2006, a Barry Bonds anti-fan was arrested for throwing a tube of toothpaste at the now-retired San Francisco Giants slugger.

Unfortunately, fans did not learn from his mistake. In October, Toronto Blue Jays supporters threw trash onto the field to protest what they felt was a bad call during the American League Division Series.

In January, Cincinnati Bengals fans cheered and one tossed a beer can at Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger as he was being carted off the field with an injury.

Sneak into a Game

John Minchillo/Associated Press

What's worse than impersonating a player? Impersonating a police officer—that's an actual crime.

Listen, big-time sports tickets can be hard to come by, or at least difficult to afford. The temptation to sneak into a venue is understandable, but actually attempting the feat seems ill-advised.

Such was the case for Houston Rockets fan James Pierce. He attempted to gain access to a playoff game in April by dressing up as a police officer. According to KHOU.com, "Pierce allegedly flashed a badge to the guard, who became suspicious of Pierce and detained him while he checked Pierce's credentials."

Pierce was arrested and later released on bond.  

Play with Fire

Burning jerseys, lighting tables on fire at tailgates, igniting couches after big wins and losses—none of these are advisable, yet all are things fans actually do.

Don't play with fire, folks. Just look at what happened to this Buffalo Bills fan.

Sabotage a Facility

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Sure, fans want to give their team a leg up, but most go about it simply by adhering to their own self-constructed rules and superstitions.

Wearing the same jersey every week is one thing, but sabotaging a playing facility (or even joking about it) is quite another.

Remember when the air conditioning malfunctioned at San Antonio's AT&T Center during Game 1 of the 2014 NBA Finals? Empire Sports later reported on the possibility that a fan had actually tampered with the arena's cooling system, though this report was not confirmed.

A month later, in July 2014, an Alabama fan who had worked on renovations at Texas A&M's Kyle Field joked about "errors" he had made.

The fan, Bobby Livingston, was fired for hanging an Alabama flag at the facility, but he also joked on social media, "if you ever attend a Texas A&M football game, don't sit at the Northeast End Zone. It was raining today and I made 2 very 'questionable' welds!!" [sic] per Shawn Ramsey of Fox Sports. 

Everything was fine with the facility, but Livingston's actions caused one whale of an unnecessary headache. 

Challenge the Heavyweight Champ to a Fight

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Internet trolling is dangerous business, folks. It's especially dangerous when challenging a world-class boxer to a real-life fight. 

In 2014, WBC world heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder took on his own troll, Charlie Zelenoff. Per TMZ Sports, Zelenoff had been "trolling Wilder for years with harassing phone calls and deeply personal jabs on social media." Rude. 

Eventually, Zelenoff challenged Wilder an actual fight, and the champ took him up on it. The results were, uh, predictable.

Kick an Athlete (Really)

In May, Venezuelan footballer Aquiles Ocanto was kicked in the back by a fan as he gave a postgame interview. Ocanto's team, Carabobo FC, reported he was not injured, per the Guardian.

Regardless of how one feels about the outcome of a game, that was assault. In all seriousness, not OK.