L.A. Riots Sparked After Lakers Win: How Pathetic Can Sports Fans Get?

Patrick Ferlise

Once again after the Los Angeles Lakers won the NBA finals, riots fill the streets outside the Staples Center. The mob started as a few intoxicated and rowdy Lakers fans began throwing beer bottles and other "projectiles" at uniformed police officers that swarmed the arena.

The few isolated incidents soon grew to a large mob of sports fans which soon made their way down the streets of Los Angeles turning over police cars and breaking into local businesses. Some innocent bystanders became injured in the incident as the hoard came rushing down the streets.

The police soon responded with riot gear and shots of tear gas which were thrown into the mass of hysterical fans. In all, the damage was that was caused that night was in the millions, and left sports fans around the country with a bad taste of how immature the win was handled by the city.

This is not the Lakers first ever NBA final victory, but their eleventh in the team's history. I would have expected this type of behavior to happen if the Memphis Grizzlies won or the New Jersey Nets. I was presuming that Lakers fans would have some maturity come out of their win instead of tearing the streets apart and leaving the rest of the city to pick up the pieces.

This makes me disgusted as a sports fan to see sports fans do this to their home team's cities, especially with a Lakers team that has dominated the league more than any other currently. 

I don't blame a lack of security for this issue at all, because even with more police officers you can't stop a couple of crazy fans from vandalism. In this case, it transformed into an all-out mob of embarrassment.

I think sports fans around the country and possibly around the world would agree that this behavior should not be seen from a well-respected team. Instead, what I saw was a bunch of low-class ingrates acting like it was the first time they'd won anything.

   

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