Sporting Event Rage

I just recently saw something in the news that reminded me of something I had seen years ago. Many years back, when Indiana University’s basketball team made it to the Final Four, the entire town of Bloomington, Indiana went out into the streets rioting. This happened each time the team won a game during the end of the season. Then when the team lost, during the final game, the rioting was even worse. It didn’t matter whether the team had won or lost, the people of Bloomington used it as an excuse to take the town by storm to loot, vandalize, smash, and burn things.

I saw it with my own eyes. I saw couches, on house porches, being set ablaze. I saw cars being overturned and set on fire as well. I saw people hanging from the traffic lights. Stop signs were ripped loose, from the sidewalk cement. A mob had uprooted a tree and began carrying it down the road. Bricks were being thrown through business windows and looting shortly followed. Women were running around naked. Fist fights were breaking out. The police showed up in riot gear and tear gas was shot into the crowd. This took place three game nights in a row. The first three nights of victories, as the season was almost over, and then the fourth night that ended with a loss. The fourth night was the worst, for it was not only the final game of the season but it was a loss.

I’ve never been much of a sports fan and it has gotten me so much ridicule from others. It is amazing how full of rage, people can become when they hear you don’t like their sport of preference or support their favorite team. People, that are normally so calm and well mannered, turn into monsters over sporting events. I can’t even count how many times I’ve seen people change into uncontrollable bundles of rage and violence over sporting events. Even towards their own children, if their child is playing.

To make matters worse, I see many Christians act this way as well. I know many Christians that cancel church for the Super Bowl. I have had Bible studies cancelled and prayer meetings cancelled because they conflicted with a sporting event. This makes me so angry. So a stupid game is more important than God? Yet, when I bring this up, I am met with such venomous responses in their defense. I’ve even been invited to church events where they were watching a sports game. People, there too, were in a rage and just completely out of control. They mocked me for not being equally wild and insane. They thought I was strange for not throwing the bowl of popcorn or jumping up and down on the couch and screaming at the television.

What is it that causes people to react like this over a game? I see people reacting like this with sports and even video games. If someone acted like this while playing a board game, they’d be thought of as an insane fool. Strangely, at church, I actually HAVE seen the church leaders act this way over board games, sadly. Competition is one thing. Having fun is one thing. Playing games is one thing. But to get violent and in a rage or to do ANYTHING to win, no matter what the cost, is out of line. I remember playing a game called “spoons” when I was in church. I remember the pastor kicking me in the face, as hard as he could, over and over to get me to let go of a spoon that I had rightfully grabbed. He just simply didn’t want to lose that round and didn’t think there was anything wrong with physically hurting someone else or to steal from them. I later told him about how badly he had hurt me and how I didn’t think that behavior was appropriate for a pastor. He scoffed at me and thought I was out of line to correct him for that.

When I say anything about the behavior of these people, they attack me as if I’m out of line to suggest that they are the ones who are truly out of line. What is wrong with the world? Doesn’t anyone see the way they act? Didn’t anyone care about all the damage they did or about the people whose cars they set on fire? They wouldn’t have liked it if they had been the victims instead.

During those riots in Bloomington, I was with a group of Christians that immediately got in their cars to go down and participate in the riots. I kept advising them not to go and I was called names and told that I’m legalistic, dogmatic, and a killjoy. One of them drug his little sister with him so I felt obligated to go with them for the sake of protecting the young lady, while the rest of them put her and themselves in danger participating in the riots. They didn’t think there was anything wrong with their actions. One of them purposely harassed one of the police officers in riot gear, for a laugh and a photograph. Another was climbing up on the light posts and traffic light cables.

It is because of people like this that I am ashamed to call myself a Christian. People hear the word “Christian” and they think of a hypocrite and many other more colorful words and thoughts come to mind. Christians are supposed to be a light in the world. Christians are supposed to represent God. Christians are supposed to do what is right. God would have been extremely disappointed in these behaviors had He been standing right there with us, physically. Though I’m certain He was and is angry about all of this and will address it on Judgment Day. The question is, would they still have done it if God had been standing there telling them no? Would they have mocked and ridiculed Him as they did me? I almost don’t want to know the answer, out of fear that some of them might have.

I bring up Christians because we are supposed to set an example of what is civilized and good, not go along with what the rest of the world is doing. It upsets me that I know so many Christians that do what everyone else does and go along with and participate in the riots and vandalism. They think it is okay because “everyone’s doing it”, they say.

The event that brought this topic up is another sporting event that recently took place in Canada. In Vancouver, during the 2011 Stanley Cup Final, people took to the streets to vandalize, loot, rob, fight, set fires, and destroy anything and everything in sight. Once again, people going insane over a sporting event. I saw the news broadcasts and YouTube footage and it looked identical to what I saw in Bloomington, Indiana, but on a much larger scale. In one news broadcast, it showed one man who was standing up for what was right. The man stood in the way of looters and told them to stop and that what they were doing was wrong. He tried to keep people away from breaking into the building and the crowd attacked him and beat him up. Not surprising that the crowd would do that. I commend him for being at least one person to stand up for what is right. It saddens and angers me that he paid a heavy price for standing up for righteousness.

The following videos portray exactly what I am talking about. None of these videos are mine. I simply found them on YouTube.

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