Posted on 09/25/2014 9:16:02 AM PDT by Kaslin
I’ve never been one for spirit—team or school. I went to Wayne State University in Detroit, and I had to Google what the team nickname was. It used to be the “Tartars,” not just a sauce but an ancient tribe. But it apparently was changed in 1999 to “Warriors.”
I was there from 1996 till 2000, but I had no idea what it was before and wasn’t aware that it changed. But to many their “team” is way of life, their love and loyalty, their “gang.” I just don’t get it.
In high school, when I saw friends or coworkers who went to other schools, I looked for the opportunity to do something I enjoyed doing – telling them their school sucked. I honestly couldn’t care less about their schools, but I wanted to gauge their reaction. There were two: not caring too, or the passionate “Oh, yeah? Your school sucks too!”
The first response I could understand because I shared it, but the second amused me. More than that, it perplexed me.
Because, although school spirit, school pride always eluded me, it mattered to them. The concept carries over to adulthood and seems to be a problem for some of them.
Kids in varsity jackets getting into fights is nothing new – it’s been happening since the varsity jacket was invented. But now adults are acting like kids in varsity jackets.
Surely there’s always been team spirit – you grow up in a city, and you like sports, you’re more than likely a fan of teams from that city. And taunting players and fans of the visiting team is nothing new either. But we are seeing more and more of that sprit and taunting ballooning into something else, something crazy. Something ugly.
Last Sunday in Arizona, the San Francisco 49ers came to town to play the Cardinals. At halftime a huge brawl involving upwards of 50 people broke out in the stands. The fight involved men and women, people thrown down the stairs, arrests and ejections all around. It started with fans taunting, then throwing beers and punches at each other—simply because some were fans of the other team.
None of the participants were players, coaches, owners or in any way affiliated with either team beyond being fans. Yet they were so emotionally invested, and/or drunk, that the mere existence of someone supporting the team playing theirs caused physical violence.
Alcohol, no doubt, played a role. Football fans love their tailgates, and many start grilling and drinking hours before games. But this violent fan problem isn’t unique to the NFL.
Last year at Camden Yards in Baltimore, a Yankee fan took a date to see his team play the Orioles. The fan, Matt Fortese, wore a Yankee hat. He ended his night with a fractured skull. Two idiots taunted and attacked Fortese for being a Yankee fan.
In 2011, San Francisco Giants fan Bryan Stow went to watch his team play the Los Angeles Dodgers at home. After the game he was beaten nearly to death, suffering a traumatic brain injury that has left him permanently disabled and unable to care for himself.
There was a time when wearing the wrong color in the wrong part of town could get you beaten or killed because certain colors were associated with gangs. Now wearing the wrong team’s jersey can get you beaten. It’s not being done in the name of turf; it’s being done in the name of team pride.
I’m from Detroit. We were pioneers in the field of rioting over sporting events. In 1984, Tigers fans decided to celebrate the team’s World Series victory by flipping over cars and setting them on fire. Since then, Ann Arbor and East Lansing have seen their share of sports riots, too. Detroit didn’t have any after the Red Wings won multiple Stanley Cups, at least as far as anyone knew. By the mid-90s, there was no way left to tell if there was a riot in Detroit because the entire city looked like one just swept through.
But sports riots, both after winning and losing, have become commonplace. Maybe I’m missing something, but I’ve never been so happy or upset after any sporting event that I wanted to burn something or break someone else’s property.
Likewise, I’ve never thought someone who roots for a team that’s playing one I like had to suffer for that sin. So what’s going on?
Is it that people are getting more violent? Dumber? Drunker? Is marketing instilling a sense of participation in fans even though their cheering, rooting, or mere existence has zero bearing on the game? All of the above? I don’t know. But I hope someone figures it out before the Crips come to town next week to take on the Bloods. I hear it’s going to sell out and I’m laying a lot of money on the Bloods.
This supposedly college educated writer has evidently never heard of the Nike riots. (And I don’t mean shoes)
Is it that people are getting more violent? Dumber? Drunker? Is marketing instilling a sense of participation in fans even though their cheering, rooting, or mere existence has zero bearing on the game?
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Yes, yes, yes, yes and yes. In a culture where thugs and punks like Winston, Rice and hundreds of others throughout the years are upheld as heroes; we naturally will see their fan base resembling the average street scene in Ferguson, MO.
There is always an exception. I know. I'm from San Antonio and I love my Spurs. In all the many years the Spurs have won 5 NBA championships, we never rioted, looted, set stuff on fire and behaved like ghetto trash.
But then San Antonio has class and dignity. (Not counting the Castro brothers.)
Actually I think violence in the stands and surrounding area is getting less frequent. Reporting of it has increased because in this modern age all news is national. But I remember going to games in the 70s and you were guaranteed to see at least one fight. And not just somewhere in the stadium, somewhere near you would be a fight, plus plenty of others in other sections. Now most games go by without incident.
Derek is what we call (i) a Nerd and sometimes (ii) a Geek.
I’m betting he never used the restrooms at his school for fear of getting the spit beat outta him.
Who has the money to throw stadium bought beers? I am outraged at this alcohol abuse by the 1 percenters. ;)
” Detroit didn’t have any after the Red Wings won multiple Stanley Cups, at least as far as anyone knew.”
I doubt that hockey fans being almost exclusively white could have anything to do with that, could it?
You mean Nika?
No kidding that is a major loss.
Outside of a couple of teams baseball has remained relatively free of fan violence.
If you ever go to a Miami football game and your from out of town get yourself a Miami hat first, and keep your mouth shut.
Know a contractor who went to the bathroom and was almost killed in there just for discussing the game with the guy in the next stall. Security had to rescue him, but he got lumps.
LOL if you actually saw white people in downtown Detroit during the evening, it meant only one thing. There was a Red Wings game at The Joe.
You obviously mean the Nika riots, not Nike riots.
I think that there is a lot of confusion in the country right now. Confusion can cause anger. There are a lot of people who knew that electing an unqualified person to the Presidency just to feel good about it was a foolish decision. They are angry because they rightly could foresee the problems that we have and they could not prevent those problems.
A lot of the people who voted for the unqualified candidate are now angry because their wishes didn’t come true. They “wished” that he would succeed. He never could have. Now, we are all stuck with a guy who doesn’t know what to do and is too arrogant and afraid to get help or get out.
And we have two more years of him. There are going to be more problems. People are frustrated and angry. Just don’t take it out on those close to you or those who didn’t have anything to do with electing an unqualified person to be President.
Pretty much.
The Detroit Tigers have won 3 division titles in a row (soon to be number 4) and a world series appearance over the past 6 seasons with no violence.
I don’t follow football, basketball or hockey but I do know that Detroit is a great sports town.
What’s funny is that you would think the Pistons would play downtown and the Wings in the suburbs, rather than the other way around.
The Eagles (and other teams that followed suit) have gotten rid of their court room. Really things seem more peaceful, unless you go looking for the stories, but that’s really just conformational bias.
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