Winning the Super Bowl is as large an athletic accomplishment as any in the United States. It is no secret the U.S. embraces athletics more than it does education. So, why is it that every time a team wins the Super Bowl people burn down their city like the Greeks did to Troy in the “Iliad?” There is not an intellectual response to this hypothetical, but simply put, we are slowly becoming dumber as a society.
Combined with an ever-enthusiastic broadcast news media, we are constantly provided images of burning cars and smashed out windows. This is what happens when we live in a society driven by internet celebrities and documentation. We do stupid things because it will make us famous.
During the afternoons of each Super Bowl Sunday, people get so loaded up on liquor that they lose their common sense and, if their team wins, they get wild, hoping it will put them on the news.
The communities surrounding these sports teams are begging for these type of events and actions to stop. However, a police force trying to stop thousands of drunk rioting fans is close to impossible, especially without use of excessive force.
As the emphasis on athletics in this country grows, so does the concept of braggadocios antics in sports. We see it all the time with touchdown dances in football, exotic bat flips in baseball and the infamous Allen Iverson step-over of Tyronn Lue in the NBA Finals.
There is a general lack of sportsmanship in modern sports. And it is hard to believe we would destroy cities just because the outcome of a game. Especially, one where the team of the city rioting won. Riots are situations that are very hard to stop.
We risk the safety of everyone when they happen. It is hard to tell a police officer, who likely makes just as much as a teacher, to put their safety at risk for the stupidity of a certain portion of the population.
Stop rioting after championship victories. There is no point in destroying your city for a championship you took little part in.
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