Riots: Do Sports Fans Go Too Far

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Would you riot if your sports team lost a game? Many people would say no, but many people have. Angry Fans pillaged Downtown Vancouver in rage of the Canucks loss to the Boston Bruins in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals. The rioters burned vehicles, vandalized many businesses, and caused a giant commotion. Sports fans devotion for their teams can make them do outrageous things.

That wasn’t the first time fans had rioted, riots have dated back hundreds of years. In Sixth Century constantinople, chariot race fans were angry when a few of the racers were put in prison. They were so angry that they burned the city and tried to overthrow the emperor,over 30,000 people died. Another riot was in the 14th century England when villagers were getting so violent that the king banned the sport. They then started using an inflated pig’s bladder instead of a ball. Psychologists have tried to figure out why sports fans get so crazy, and some believe that it's because of ancestors. When humans lived in tribes, different tribes would fight each other for food, land, and power. The warriors were honored and rooted for in their tribe. Most of the time those battles meant the salvation or obliteration of their tribe. …show more content…

According to the Scholastic article Do Sports Fans Go Too Far; 9.2 million people follow Dalai Lama on twitter, while Lebron James has almost 14 million followers. But wait, it gets worse. 67.2 million people watched the first 2012 Presidential debate, and over 111 million people watched the 2014 Super Bowl. According to a recent study by the National Sporting Goods Association, Americans 16 years of age and older spent more than $8 Billion on sports logo apparel. Apart from the oodles of money spent on sports, fans also spend way too much time on sport. Every year, hundreds of people wait for hours outside the stadium for the

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