Laker’s victory causes riots in Los Angeles
I don’t normally write about sports, but this little item bears mentioning. Most of the known world is fully aware by now that Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers finally won another NBA championship. Evidently, much ado has been made about them not winning a championship since Shaquille O’Neal left their team, so you would expect Lakers’ fans to be joyful and excited that their team pulled off the victory. What wasn’t expected was the widespread looting and vandalism that broke out in Los Angeles in the wake of the Lakers’ victory over the Orlando Magic.
I remember reading about the riots in Denver, Colorado, following their win in the 1998 Super Bowl and it makes no more sense now than it did back then. I can understand the citizens of a particular city being proud of their local sports team and I have no problem with that. What I can’t understand is how fans of a team can be so overjoyed at a victory that they lose all sense of decency and what is right.
Holy Grail Shoe Store
There are reports of police cars being destroyed and fires being set. Along with that, The Associated Press is reporting that The Holy Grail shoe store was emptied and you will never guess what happened to a lot of the merchandise. You would think these criminals would want to steal the items to either resell or keep themselves, but that isn’t what happened.
Inside The Holy Grail shoe store, shelves were empty and glass display cases were shattered. Receipts, paperwork and shoe boxes were scattered around a back storeroom.
Store owner Richard Torres said he lost at least $100,000 worth of vintage sneakers and sports apparel, as well as computers.
More than anything, he was upset because much of the stolen merchandise was burned.
“It would be different if we got burglarized, but they were literally lighting stuff on fire,” said Torres, whose business usually does well after games when sports fans stop in.
“For this to happen, it leaves a sour taste,” he said.
Torres and store manager Liz Sanchez could not understand why police were unable to prevent the looting. Sanchez said witnesses told her that the store was targeted when one person started shouting “Who wants shoes?” The door was then pushed in.
You would think people would want to keep the items if they were going to go to the trouble of stealing them, but instead they simply burned it. I say again, this makes no sense and it makes me wonder if these people are real sports fans or just a bunch of hoodlums who took the opportunity and used the Lakers’ victory as an excuse to go on the rampage.
The Los Angeles Police Department is reviewing tapes of Sunday’s carnage, in an effort to identify some of the perpetrators of the damage. I hope they can do so and will prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law.
Reading about these riots and remembering what happened in Denver reminds me of why I do not get enthused over sports. I know not all sports fans are apt to go rioting when their team wins a championship, but it seems to a common occurrence for this to happen. It makes me wonder if we do not put entirely too much emphasis on sports. Maybe we should direct our energy into something else.
What do you think?
Good piece, but Denver did not win the Super Bowl in 1995. They won their first SB after the 1997 season, and then again the next season. Go Lakers!!
My bad. I got my dates mixed up. I have changed the article.
How could LA have possibly not expected this? It’s a given in just about every city that has a team win a national championship. As soon as I saw the score from the last game the other night, the first thing I said was “well, the fans will try to burn LA to the ground”. If I expected it, the LA police should have.
OneMom´s last blog ..Could this be it?
I have never been able to figure out why people who claim to be sports fans want to riot when their team wins. It just doesn’t make sense.