Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Sawks vs. Yanks Turns Deadly

It's amazing this doesn't happen more often. Take a look...

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/baseball/mlb/05/05/yankees.redsox.death.ap/index.html

6 comments:

Peter said...

It's pretty disgraceful when fans turn violent. I remember in March there was a Yankee fan who was attacked in Cambridge, Mass just because he had an NY hat on. And how many people end up getting arrested at a Yanks vs. Sox game for fighting?

Dennis said...

In any emotionally charged situation, especially one involving the amount of alcohol consumed at a Red Sox-Yankees game, there are going to be people who go too far.

I would actually say it is a tribute to fans of the two teams, as well as the security people at the ballparks, that in a rivalry that has lasted over 100 years, there are no notable violent fan incidents. Even when there are fights, they are over and the participants ejected before blood is even drawn.

Dan said...

I wonder what the difference is between the Yanks vs. Sox rivalry, arguably the most intense in US sports, and soccer matches in Europe and other places. Blood is spilled and there are riots all the time. Even the players and their families have to fear for their safety. Why are US sports relatively incident free while hooliganism is rampant in foreign soccer games?

Dennis said...

I don't think hooliganism is rampant. There are very few incidents of violence in most places, and the few that do occur are miles away from the stadiums. For example, two supporters of Italian clubs have been killed in the past year, both at gas stations on a highway miles away from the city where the game was being held.

But I think the basic reason is that football clubs represent more than a favorite team. Many teams represent a specific religious or ethnic group, and that is what leads to violence. For example, Slobodan Milosevic formed his army from the "ultra" supporters of Red Star Belgrade, at the time Yugoslavia's biggest club and a symbol of Serbian nationalism.

Dan said...

Perhaps hooliganism isn't rampant. I spoke too soon, and don't follow soccer closely enough to make such as statement. It seems like riots are more common at soccer matches in other countries than they are at typical US sporting events. When the malice at the palace happened in Detroit a few years back, I couldn't remember ever seeing anything like that in 20 years of watching sports. It seems like there are many more examples of riots at soccer matches. But perhaps the reputation is worse than the reality.

Dennis said...

It's just a different crowd. Most American sports try to be family entertainment, and attract middle aged, upper middle class white men and their kids. Most soccer matches in some parts of Europe and South America attract young, working class and below, single men, often unemployed or underemployed.