Another end to the National Basketball Association season.
Another championship won.
Another riot with death and destruction in the winning team's home town.
It's so common it shouldn't be news.
Or it should be, "The annual NBA championship riot was held tonight in New York City. In related news, the Knicks won."
I was in Chicago when the Bulls won a championship. Riots! Fun! Excitement!
That was 1997. Nothing has changed except the team that won and the places destroyed.
I have a, possible, solution.
"Your fans riot, you don't play next year. Since you're not playing, no worries about draft picks."
Wanna bet the owners of the teams manage to convince their city to do some effective crowd control after that? They're rich, after all.
But that's punishing the wrong people.
The real solution is to figure out a way to degrade the value of being a sportsball fan.
The people living vicariously through the performance of a group of millionaires playing a children's game on TV enough that they need to break and burn other people's property is the problem.
Of course, the real solution to these riots is the solution to ALL riots.
Belt fed and water cooled.
That and a whif of grape and they'd just stand in the square cheering next year.
"Belt fed and water cooled."
ReplyDeleteImagine that, the New York Times used to have it figured out.
Sports riots have long history https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nika_riots?wprov=sfla1 but perhaps Colombian style mounted riot police with armored horses would provide a less mortal solution than lead
ReplyDeleteLook up the "Jets vs. Sharks" rivalry between fans of Glasgow Rangers and Glasgow Celtic. It's like a wee bit o' Belfast, transferred to the banks of the Clyde!
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