Now that's a rivalry

Note: This is only somewhat off-topic. Bear with me.

If you watch SportsCenter, you saw the tape: A Champions League match between cross-town rivals AC and Inter Milan which featured dozens of lit flareserupted in a near riot being tossed onto the pitch, one of which struck a player in the shoulder.

Dozens of lit flares?

I can see one or two getting in taped to some guy's leg, but dozens require a group action. I've been to European soccer matches, and American fans have no idea the level of security that is involved. Most noticeably, each section of stands is fenced off from every other section. You can't just wander about. If your seats are in section 14, you go in and out the gate market for 14. That's it. Opposing fans have separate seating, isolated from the home fans, and their entrance will be a block away from any of the home fans entrances, just to avoid conflict. Cops in riot gear are everywhere. It's serious stuff.

Can you imagine the reaction if lit flares came out of the stands during the iowa-ISU game? It would be a full-blown riot. Anyone with more than 2 beers in their system would be going after anyone in the opposite colors. It would be madness, and great television. iowa-ISU would immediately vault up the rivalry charts and be compared to Ohio State-Michigan, OU-Texas and Florida-Tennessee. Talking heads would wring their hands, then off camera say "Wow! What passion". We would be Big Time Must See TV. The game would be an ABC national game for 5 years, guarrenteed.

Not that I'm condoning it. It's a truly stupid act, and somebody could have been seriously hurt. The iowa-ISU game would probably be wiped off the schedule indefinately, and whoever's fans lit it up would be branded as hooligans indefinately. Having ten thousand drunk fans partying the parking lot- like the game in Ames in 2003- looks tame in comparison.

We've got nothing on soccer. Nothing. It's best that way, too.

Peterclone