# basketball and tear-gas



## Guest (Jan 14, 2005)

So I'm at the high school this past Tuesday watching still another basketball game my kid is in. This particular game was between two schools that have something of a rivalry going. There had been problems last season, so there was a very visible police contingent. 
The gym was absolutely packed. Oh, and we were at the enemy school by the way. Anyway, the crowds were trading chants across the place, but thing were generally peaceful during the first half. By the time the third quarter was under way, the game kept getting held up by things being thrown onto the floor: cups, partially eaten hot dogs, popcorn, oh, and at least one bra (nice touch). In the fourth quarter the players started to get a little fiesty. It was a close, physical game. No actual punches thrown, but getting closer all the time. 
So, the enemy team wins, and fans from both sides pour out onto the floor. My kids team was hustled into the locker room by several policemen. He didn't want to have anything to do with his lettermen's jacket, so I was wearing it. Probably not the best idea considering where I was at, but hey, I'm pretty much nuts anyway and I figured getting jumped by a bunch of kids would probably cheer me up. No such luck though. 
So by the time the teams were emerging from their respective locker rooms and the crowd had moved outside. Then, as if on cue.........everybody started hitting everybody else. Didn't seem to matter who, just everybody started whapping on each other. Reminded me a bit of the good old days when I was in high school. Mostly a bunch of frustrated, testosterone heavy guys just letting off a little steam. I still think things would have settled down on their own if there wouldn't have been so many cops around. Oh, and maybe the best part was a woman, a mother of one of those involved in one of the fights - who had an absolutely enormous caboose by the way, reaching into the clump of wrestlers and grabbing her boy. "Cleon, get your skinny black ass outa there you fucking ignorant *****! I'm gonna take you home and whoop yo butt into tomorra." And she just hauled that poor kid out - by his hair, and dragged him off. 
Turns out Cleon was lucky. In the story in the newspaper......"police estimated over 200 people were involved in the "melee"." Love that word. I counted 29 police cars, with more coming. We made it to the Cruiser just as one of the cops was lobbing tear gas into the frackus (another word I love, and hardly get to use). That stuff really is bad by the way. Totally messes up your throat and eyes, so I'm glad we were in the car and moving by then. 
Final tally: 6 arrests, undetermined number "detained", numerous "weapons" confiscated (no detail given), but thankfully only one injury that required an ambulance. My boy said many, many students are now suspended, including two of his teammates who couldn't play in tonight's game (more time for my kid though).

The next game between these two teams is in February - at our school. 
I will keep you posted.


----------



## JasonFar (Aug 13, 2004)

Didn't read your post, too late, but I will, and would just like to say the Subject is absolutely hilarious. Way to make me laugh, SC.


----------



## Kelson12 (Aug 10, 2004)

SC,

That sounds crazy. Glad you made it out of there without getting "gassed". The title of this post is hilarious! Haha...Basketball and teargas. Funny.

Kelson


----------



## Dreamer (Aug 9, 2004)

The story is indeed hilarious, but all I can think of NOW is the song...

"Oh, oh mercy, mercy me,
Things ain't what they used to be....."


----------



## gimpy34 (Aug 10, 2004)

Now that you bring up Marvin Gaye, Dreamer, all I can think of is this video that VH1 Classic plays from time to time of "What's Going On?" which shows people getting gassed at a bunch of protests from the late 60s and early 70s.

Sports are getting out of control, though. But just compare sports in the U.S. to soccer (or football) riots they have in Europe and South America quite frequently. Sports have always been intense. There have been events involving tear gas in the past- although, I'm not too sure about high school sports. Even at my very civil private high school, Friday night fights with opposing schools after football games was not uncommon.


----------



## Guest (Jan 14, 2005)

Like I said - it reminded me of when I was in high school, and that's going back a few years. There's really nothing new under the sun. Only thing different about this today is that there are more guns involved. Back when I was a kid the about the worst you had to worry about was getting a knife in the kidney or something.


----------



## Dreamer (Aug 9, 2004)

sc said:


> Back when I was a kid the about the worst you had to worry about was getting a knife in the kidney or something.


Oh my. Well I was mollycoddled at my private school. I admit it. I remember in around 6th grade a kid was expelled for selling VITAMINS, LOL.

Also, the Senior Class of '74 I think was in deep trouble as they had this "awesome" plan, LOL ... we had another word I've forgotten... that involved slowly, over a period of a month, stealing much silverware from the cafeteria. Then during assembly (near the end of the school year) one girl came out at the end of the meeting and said "A hard rain's gotta fall." -- I have the lyrics wrong there ... and silverware rained from the top of the stage, LOL. Pretty cool, but the instigators of this caper were suspended for a week for "endangering the lives" of others... well flying knives, etc., LOLOL.

And of course OUR class -- I was no party to this -- locked a faculty meeting into one of the Science building rooms with a chain and locks.
Suspension.

Someone greased the railings on the stairwells -- expelled!

And our class went to the symphony and some really MEAN kid, I SWEAR this, shot paperclips on rubber bands, like slingshots, AT THE PERFORMERS in the DSOrchestra. Hit a dude in the eye! Charges.

Expulsion.

There were occasional fights at games, particularly hockey matches. BUT NOTHING that you've described!

Oh, I was a babe in the woods, and a goody two-shoes theatre geek to boot, LOL :shock:


----------



## Dreamer (Aug 9, 2004)

Oh my friend Jenny got 3 days suspension for smoking in the girls' room, LOL.

It was relatively easy to get your rump booted out of there. So they had us scared witless. 8)


----------



## Guest (Jan 15, 2005)

I know a kid who got expelled for writing the word bomb on a piece of paper and putting it on the principle's office door. My senior prank was some gay porn on the early morning announcements broadcast over television. brilliant. I got thank you cards from all the guys at theatre arts...because they're gay.


----------



## Guest (Jan 15, 2005)

there is someone who approves of this and that is


----------



## Dreamer (Aug 9, 2004)

The Pacers and the Pistons. Not good. That was scary and unnaceptable. The fan who apparently instigated that was an idiot. I saw that repeated endlessly on the local news, as it was, well local news. Go Pistons!

That type of behavior is unacceptable -- fans or players.

But as sc would say, in a sense this is nothing new. In Rome, bread and circus'. The ill mannered peanut gallery and violence in the ring.

What really bothers me are indeed parents at these school games who are absolutely fanatic about which team wins -- even if it's a 5th grade T-Ball game! That stuff never happened in my day. Yup, I'm getting old. But it would never occur to me to do something like that. Or the majority of my friends.

Ah well.


----------



## Guest (Jan 16, 2005)

First of all, if there wasn't any violence in sports, I would not watch it. Are there no hockey fans in here? Is everyone so irrecovably pussified out from basketball and baseball to notice the bloodshed in the nhl? A fan in nearby Philadelphia was heckling Tie Domi (asshole) of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Domi, in the penalty box at the time, turns around and squirts the fan with his water bottle in the face. The fan, drunk and Philadelphian, tries to climb over the glass and ends up shattering it while ending up in mangles next to a pile of broken glass and an angry Tie Domi. Tie Domi proceeds to beat the crap out of the fan and entertain countless hockey fans across the globe.

I have been in a riot, and they are fun...lets not get all pissy about rioting as riots are the pinnacle of drunken stupidity and therefore a necessary part of living.


----------

