With Tampa's demoralizing thrashing of the Oakland Raiders in Sunday's Stupor Bowl (it definitely wasn't super ... hell, it sucked), Oakland erupted in riots.
Rocks and bottles were thrown. Rubber bullets and tear gas were used on the rioters. Stretches of roads were even closed. Damn, this sounds vaguely similar to some other moronic acts in recent months.
Who expected the Raiders to win? I hoped for it. I won't lie, I hoped a bunch of professional football geriatrics would use some wisdom and beat Tampa in a squeaker of a game.
But I also knew that Tampa had a faster defense that hit hard and a bunch of misfits on offense that could somehow put the ball in the endzone. So the idea of an Oakland victory was one of feigned hope.
However, to the fans that make up Oakland's infamous \Black Hole,"" I guess Oakland's vicious beating warranted destruction and chaos throughout the area.
What's with that part of the country? The Los Angeles riots of the early 1990s were massive and pretty much left the poorer areas of L.A. in ruins.
When the Lakers won their third consecutive NBA championship last season, fans poured into the streets in celebration--by setting fires to things, rolling over cars and causing more chaos.
Now the most recent incident was Oakland's loss, which sparked riots. What next? Maybe it's a good thing the A's didn't get far in the MLB postseason. I'd hate to see those riots.
Cheri Oteri said it best on Saturday Night Live: ""Simma down now!"" Rioting about one team winning three straight championships, then rioting again months later because one got their ass kicked just shows the fan support, I guess. Either that or lack of brains.
Maybe I'm way off base. Oakland natives could have been rioting about the fact that Rich Gannon, the Father Time of the NFL, threw a Super Bowl-record five interceptions, three of which went for touchdowns (Tampa's defense scored about as many points as its offense. Sad, huh?).
Maybe they started throwing bottles and turning over cars because Celine Dion didn't do her typical chest-beating after singing ""God Bless America."" I'm surprised she didn't try breaking out into her rendition of ""O Canada.""
Or maybe it was a bunch of the Raiderettes flashing the guys out in the parking lot before running back inside. Who knows?
All I hope is that the Clippers don't win the NBA championship any time soon. It's bad enough they riot for every other reason. There's no reason to help them out with that.
