Winners, losers and really stupid people

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This past weekend there was a football championship playoff in a nearby large city. Most locals are fans of this team who overcame some big setbacks to get there. They were considered underdogs for the last several games, winning them all. With good humor they donned underdog outfits and embraced it.

As a fan I know firsthand how exciting it is to see a team who you thought had no chance of getting to the playoffs, go all the way to participating in the Superbowl. However, I did not do anything crazy. Nope. Nada. Didn’t break anything or hurt anyone.

Perhaps it’s mixing in alcohol that makes all logic go away. I read several articles on what the police and other security teams were doing to make the celebration safe for everyone.

First on the list was to grease the utility poles. They didn’t want anyone climbing them and getting hurt. Seriously? The maintenance crew was called the Crisco unit.

They did what is now standard procedure of using large garbage trucks to block cars from driving into the crowds that would congregate downtown to celebrate.

All local bars were advised to use plastic cups. No glass at all. Is this kindergarten? Perhaps sippy cups were in order.

There were other equally inane measures they had to take so that adults would not get hurt. Again seriously? Adults?

The only incident that got any publicity was a drunk guy who hit a police horse. *bangs head on desk* What was he thinking? If I had been that horse I would have at least peed on him and at most reared at him. (I know, horses are nicer than me.)

After an hour or so of jubilation in the streets the police did a sweep to get everyone to go home. There were no serious incidents although a few fans of the other team were bullied. (Come on, your team won! Be gracious! Did you flunk kindergarten?)

Sports, men (mostly), testosterone…what is it that make people act stupid? Someone will have to explain to me how winning equals out of control drunkenness, pole climbing, crudeness and all out bad behavior that most moms wouldn’t tolerate.

Kudos to all the police and other crews who kept the fans safe. They are the unsung heroes. Congrats to a football team who beat all the odds to get to where they are today. Boos to the idiots who were out of control and reflected poorly on a great city.

83 thoughts on “Winners, losers and really stupid people”

  2. Well, as a Los Angeles native I’ve seen it all. Every time a major team is poised to either win OR lose, the city mobilizes. There have been some devastatingly violent actions, although I don’t think I’ve ever before heard of someone hitting a police horse! PLEEEZE! When I’m not appalled at a crowd’s behavior I’m surprised! LOL!

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  3. Not being a sports fan of any magnitude (maybe a soccer game once in a while or a skating championship) I really don’t understand this behavior. It has to be people who have no real lives of their own. I mean, they had nothing to do with the win or loss of their team, did they? Or am I missing something? Sorry the poor horse had to be the brunt of some idiot’s anger.

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  4. There were several horrible fan interactions at this game – it was a lot more than the idiot hitting the horse. Personal property thrown into urinals, toddlers being screamed at by adults because the child was wearing the ‘wrong’ logo.

    Certain cities have well-earned reputations for having fans who take their sports love to a level where fans of the opposing team have learned to stay away. There would be no game without 2 teams, and your great winner today may just as well be the Browns next year. The players all seem to get along, why must the fans behave like imbeciles? SMH.

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  6. This is all news to me–greasing utility poles? paper cups in the bars? What?
    I was a cheerleader in high school, which is only explained by the times I grew up in, when girls didn’t participate in sports much, so cheer leading was the next best thing. And I liked to dance. Since high school, I’ve only been to one or two sports events. If I’m going to contend with crowds, I’d rather see a play or a ballet.

    It’s fun to feel you’re part of a crowd but so easy for some crowds to become mobs and for the participants to stop thinking for themselves. I suppose this has been true throughout history.

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  7. We’ve had 2 killed (shot) in the last 3 years at “Football Parties”. Someone above said it, the social norms have changed. When you treat an adult, or all adults, like children, that is how they will act.
    My motto when dealing with people, has always been, “If you expect nothing, you get nothing”.
    We are protecting people from themselves, to death.

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  8. Fan behavior is but one of the reasons why my interest in sports has waned in the last many years. I think it’s more than alcohol and male testosterone, though. It runs deeper into a facet of changing societal norms on politeness and respect. – Marty

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  10. People die celebrating sports events around the world too often. Sports generate group social behavior (like the doing the wave in stadiums, singing team songs and cheers) which is lots of fun, but easily degenerates into mob think which drastically lowers the IQ of everyone involved. Add alcohol and the IQ is nearly a negative number. I think your city was wise to plan for it. 🙂

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  13. Too much craziness with sports. I don’t like to see horses used for crowd control. Too many horses spooked and injured with nobody able to make a humane decision about euthanasia. Feel the same way about horses on the track… nope. Officers, horses, and people all put in harms way for the sake of a football game. Just doesn’t make sense to me.

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    • I feel that way about dogs too although they do some great work. We have a local festival and they use horses for crowd control. Every year someone gets jailed for hitting a horse. So far no horse has been hurt because the person is too drunk but I too worry about a spooked horse rearing. I won’t even go to a rodeo.

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  22. As I have said before, I am not a fan of that team who won the right to a spot at the Super Bowl. But, will certainly cheer them on to victory for my many friends who are. I am also not a big fan of that city they play for. However, sports fans behaviors (no matter what city, or sport or team) perplex me! Where is there joy in violent behavior? How does destroying property make it a more joyous occasion for the winning team? How does hurting your fellow man or a horse make it good for your team. How is a black eye a badge of victory????? The pole greasing….how pathetic that those measures had to be taken.

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  23. I agree with all the above common sense. In my day, and I’m not 400 years old although I look it today, if your guys won, people jumped up and down and yelled YAY and maybe waved their arms and got drunk and felt all justified that their manlyman bunch had beat the other manlyman bunch. There may have been some small brief tussles between the less-mature losing fans and the less-mature inning fans, but eh. I think it’s fascinating what the town has learned seems necessary, with the crisco and this and that. I am sure it makes sense, and as a parttime stage manager, I applaud it, while still thinking that it is too bad that some folks are beyond knuckleheads–

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