When the 49ers move from Candlestick Park to the Field of Jeans, the franchise surely hopes fans no longer will try to hit each other with candlesticks. Or any other weapons.
According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Sunday’s 27-7 loss to the Colts included a 40-year-old man suffering a concussion, a broken nose, and a broken arm. The victim reportedly was beaten for allegedly urinating in a 29-year-old man’s car. (Initial reports pegged the victim at 15 years of age.)
In a separate incident, 36-year-old Daisy Barringer allegedly was kicked and punched by a female 49ers fan.
“There’s so much violence — it’s Niners fans on Niners fans, women assaulting women,” Barringer told the Chronicle. “I just feel like it’s taken a dark turn. If we win, people drink too much and are happy drunk. Because we lost, it turned into anger. I’ve just had so many problems there. . . .
“It just changed,” Barringer said. “I don’t usually make generalizations, but the caliber of fans has just gone downhill. People are looking for a fight, and I truly just don’t understand it. I just don’t understand any of this.”
The league surely understands that it’s the kind of dynamic that will get people to choose to stay home and watch games on TV. While plenty of tickets already have been sold for the team’s new stadium, ongoing issues like this will make it harder to keep the stadium full.