In light of the stupid Vancouver riots that took place earlier this week, we decided to investigate some of the most memorable riots in history, seeing how fans (and players) can react so violently and dangerously to both winning and losing. While none of these actions are forgivable, some were certainly foreseeable (see entry number one). So put on your riot gear and let’s have a look at some jubilant and angry fans breaking sh*t.

9. Detroit World Series 1984

Unsurprisingly, this won’t be the only Detroit entry on the list. Euphoria quickly shifted to anarchy as Tigers fans celebrated their victory by burning trash (and cars). Police on horseback were powerless to do anything to quell the fervor. Even the police in squad cars were helpless, as more than one was flipped. It’s one thing to flip a regular car on the street. However, to flip a police car, you’re letting everyone know that the inmates are running the asylum. This outburst also may carry with it the dubious distinction of being the first “victory riot” in the States. So…yay?

8. Malice in the Palace 2004

While we’re on the subject of Detroit, let’s go with this iconic outburst in 2004. A fight broke out between the Indiana Pacers and hometown Detroit Pistons with less than a minute left in a November regular season game. While noted crazy person Ron Artest was laying on the scorer’s table for reasons unknown, a fan chucked a Diet Coke at him, causing him to run into the stands and punch…the wrong guy. Five players were charged with assault and sentenced to community service. Five fans were banned for life from the Palace after facing criminal charges.

This wasn’t the bloodiest riot (not even close), but it was one of the only times the invisible wall between player and fan was broken down, changing the course of interaction from that point forward.

7. Bowe vs. Golota Riot 1996

Riddick Bowe’s entourage wanted to demonstrate to Andrew Golota that it is NOT ok to repeatedly punch your opponent in the testicles in a boxing match. After the match was called and Golota disqualified in the seventh round, Bowe’s entourage rushed into the ring, pummeling Golota with a two-way radio, and beat up Golota’s 72 year-old trainer. Classy.

They then turned their attention to the spectators and staff, injuring several before finally being forced out of the venue by police. Again, not the bloodiest riot, but among the most haunting with the image of a 72 year-old man on a stretcher, unable to be removed from the building while the participants inside the ring turn their attention to the crow.

6. Argentinean Soccer Riot 2007

Here’s one that DOES rank among the bloodiest of all time. During a 2007 match between Nueva Chicago and Tigre, the fans decided to demonstrate their support, as soccer fans often do, buy chucking rocks at each other and beating each other with pipes. (Where you find rocks in a stadium is beyond me. Perhaps it was “free rock night?”) Anyway, it was just your run-of-the-mill soccer rioting until a penalty in injury time led protesting fans to jump onto the field, effectively ending the game before the kick could be taken. 41 people were injured and one was killed in one of the bloodiest riots in sports history.

5. Los Angeles Lakers Riot 2010

The benchmark for all American sports riots seems to be the regular riots that occur in downtown LA when the Lakers take the trophy. The first one of note happened in 2000, but the events of 2010 showed that nothing has really changed and no lessons have been learned as fans went wild even with an ENORMOUS riot police presence anticipating the anarchy. Once police started to hold their ground, they were met with full flying soda cans, which they responded to with tear gas and rubber bullets. Fun times.

10 people were injured and 50 were arrested.

4. Montreal Stanley Cup Riot 1993

Canadian fans, often known for their manners, know how to effin’ riot. Sure, they’ll get fired up about the occasional Guns n’ Roses concert, but nothing brings out their dark side like the Stanley Cup, for obvious reasons. And 1993 showed that fans can be just as dangerous in victory as in defeat. After the Canadiens won the Cup, fans started looting and assaulting on St. Catherine Street, destroying not one, not two, but 47 police cars (!). 168 people were injured and damage was in the millions. Just imagine if they had won.

3. Disco Demo Night at Comiskey 1979

The road to hell is paved with good intentions.

In what was supposed to be a fun event, White Sox fans turned out in droves to donate their disco albums to be blown up on the field. By some accounts, there were 90,000 people in and around the stadium which held only 52,000. Authorities had expected around 12,000, so they were ill-equipped to handle what was about to go down.

After the first game of a double=header, the first demolition of the albums left a hole in the field and a fire burning. Unsurprisingly, this riled up the fans enough to take to the field. Police in riot gear eventually quelled the crowd, but not before the second game was forfeited and six were injured and 39 arrested.

2. Sydney Cricket Riot 1879

It should be no surprise that Aussies make this list by raising hell, but the fact that they did it way back in 1879 might be. After “not loving” a call made in favor of the visiting English team against the home New South Wales team, the fans rushed the pitch to share with the official (also a Brit) their disapproval. And then some. 2,000 fans took to assaulting the official mercilessly, some say at the behest of angry bettors, and some say due to pent-up frustrations from the effects of colonization. Newspapers declared the events a source of national humiliation and the English team cancelled the rest of their games in Australia, understandably.

1. Ten-cent Beer Night in Cleveland 1974

Let’s end this list with a big “duh.” Thinking that discounted beer would get fans out to the Cleveland Municipal Stadium, Indians officials offered a ten-cent beer promotion where fans got 8 oz. cups of beer for a dime. Well, wouldn’t you know it? Some of them got really, really drunk. Fans took to the field with knives, chains, and their firsts, pursuing Texas manager Billy Martin after it appeared he had gone after an aggressive fan. As the fans closed in on the opposing Texas Rangers, the Cleveland manager, Ken Aspromonte, ordered his players to grab bats and protect the visiting team. A nice show of solidarity in a very ugly situation.

With all the zombie films and TV shows now, it’s hard not to imagine this playing out like a “Day of the Dead” film in which the Rangers are holed up in their locker room while drunk, brainless fans try to move in.

At least they didn’t do it in conjunction with souvenir bat night.

Sources: ESPN, Wikipedia, Bleacher Report

The Lakers entered the series as the favourite, as they boasted a star-studded line-up full of future hall of famers.  In addition to Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal the Lakers also added both Karl Malone and Gary Payton in the off-season, via free agency.

Los Angeles’ high-powered offense was believed to be too much for the defensive-minded Pistons to handle by many experts, however, the Pistons once again proved the old cliché  “defense wins championships” to be true as they handled the Lakers in convincing fashion.  Los Angeles failed to reach the century mark in all five games and three of their four losses were by double-digits.  Chauncey Billups was named the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player.

Here are the Pistons celebrating their championship.

Notable Birthdays

Wade Boggs, MLB – Born June 15th 1958 (age 53) in Omaha, Nebraska

Andy Pettitte, MLB – Born June 15th 1972 (age 39) in Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Tim Lincecum, MLB – Born June 15th 1984 (age 27) in Bellevue, Washington

With less than six minutes remaining and the Cavs up by 11, Pistons forward Charlie Villanueva set a pick on the Ryan Hollins, which included a punch to the groin and a eye gouge.  As you would expect, that was easily enough to earn Villanueva a technical, but upon hearing that he had been ejected from the game, Charlie decided to make a charge for the Cavs bench.

Villanueva was eventually restrained and escorted off the court through the visitors tunnel at the Palace at Auburn Hills, but he wasn’t done there, as reports indicate that following the game he sprinted out of the Pistons locker room and attempted to get at Hollins in the Cavs locker room before being restrained by police.

Here is a look at what took place on the court.

The high-flying forward for the Hawks had they type of all-around performance that many have come to expect from him, as he recorded 27 points, 14 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals.  Smith did most of his damage in the second half, going 6-for-9 from the field in the frame as the Hawks outscored the Pistons 41-27 following the break, en route to the 94-79 victory.

When most people talk about the battle for supremacy in the NBA’s Eastern Conference, the main players always seem to be the Boston Celtics, Miami Heat, Chicago Bulls and Orlando Magic.  Left out of the mix is the Atlanta Hawks, however, one quick look at the standings shows that they deserve to be in that conversation.  Last night’s win has them in a tie for fourth with the Magic, three games back of the Bulls, five behind the Heat and 5.5 back of the Celtics for first.  While a spot within the top four of the Conference standings might shock most, it is where the Hawks currently stand, thanks to Smith’s performance, which is worthy of our “Stat Line of the Night” for Monday, February 14, 2011.

The former Spartan returned to the state of Michigan and left a huge statement behind, recording 34 points and 17 rebounds as the Grizzlies beat the Pistons by a score of 107-99.  After trailing at the half, the Grizzlies power forward took over in the second half, scoring 24 points and picking up 10 rebounds in the final 24 minutes.

The win put the Grizzlies just two games back of Portland for eighth in the West, and four games behind the Denver Nuggets, who currently sit in seventh.  If the Nuggets follow through with their plans to trade away Carmelo Anthony to the New Jersey Nets, they could begin to slide, leaving Randolph and his Memphis teammates with the opportunity to step into a playoff slot.  The post-season may lie ahead for the former Most Improved Player (2004), but for now he will have to settle with “The Stat Line of the Night” for Wednesday, January 12, 2011.

Luis Scola was able to put the Rockets on his back, with some help from Kyle Lowry and Kevin Martin, and carry them to the victory.  He scored 35 points on an array of post moves, jumpers, and easy buckets.  He was 16-of-25 from the field, 3-of-4 from the free throw line, and he snagged 12 rebounds, 4 of which were at the offensive end.  He had some key buckets in the fourth quarter as well that helped put the Pistons away after they were threatening to make a run.  He also had a block and an assist in the effort.  His +/-, which I will be the first to admit is a dubious statistic at best, was a whopping +30.  I’d like to have him on the court for my team.

The Rockets may not be the team that can upend the Lakers in the Western Conference, but if they continue to have strong performances like last night’s, they may be able to quietly creep back into the playoff picture.  For now, Luis Scola captures the “Stat Line of the Night”.

Dirk scored 42 points in the game, and he did it efficiently and when it was needed most.  He was 12 for 23 from the field in total.  He also hit 13 of 16 free throws and made all three of the three-pointers he attempted.  The ability to score 42 points on only 23 shots is amazing, but scoring wasn’t his only contribution.  He also snagged 12 rebounds, 5 of which were offensive.  He also had 2 blocks and an assist, while only turning the ball over once.  Caron Butler had 11 and Jason Terry pitched in 16 in the win as well.

The Mavs are considered one of the league’s elite teams, though they haven’t looked amazing of late.  They are still winning games that they should be, however, but they will have to step it up to be a legitimate contender in the stacked Western Conference.  For now, Dirk Nowitzki wins the “Stat Line of the Night” and looks to be one of the best players in the league.

With under one minute to go in the game, a fight between players broke out on the court.  When a fan threw a beverage on the Pacers’ Ron Artest, things went from bad to worse.  Artest entered the crowd to confront the fan and that’s when the fans and players began to fight.  In the end, nine players got suspended a total of 146 games, with over $10 million in salaries being lost as a result of the suspensions.  Five of the nine players were also charged with assault and sentenced to a year probation along with community service.

Ron Artest was punished the most severely as he was suspended for the remainder of the season, which turned out to be a total of 86 games (73 regular season, 13 playoffs).  The suspension without pay led to Artest forfeiting close to five million dollars.

Here is footage of the fight.

Notable Birthdays

Ryan Howard: MLB – Born November 19th 1979 (age 31) in St. Louis, Missouri

Larry Johnson: NFL – Born November 19th 1979 (age 31) in Pomfret, Maryland

Patrick Kane: NHL – Born November 19th 1988 (age 22) in Buffalo, New York

It’s fun to hate sports teams. We LOVE to hate sports teams. If there weren’t hateable teams out there, every game would be the equivalent of the Seattle Mariners versus the Sacramento Kings. No one would care. Sports consist of compelling stories, and every compelling story needs an antagonist. And no one is more antagonistic in sports than the residents on this list. So take a giant shot of whiskey, chuck the empty bottle against the wall, and snarl your lip as we visit the 9 most hateable teams in pro sports.

9. Boston Red Sox
Yankee fans were way ahead of the curve on this one. While the NYY-BOS rivalry has always been in full affect, the Yankees dominance during the Jeter era found the whole country rooting for the lovable underdogs to the north. It turns out that America ONLY loved the Sox in the underdog role. Massholes are a scrappy, lovable bunch when they’re down in the dumps. When they’re winning, they’re like Yankees fans with less bearable accents. Further, the underdog status vanished pretty quickly when Red Sox Nation developed a payroll that surpassed the GDP of several Latin American countries, second only to you-know-who in the majors.

8. Dallas Cowboys
Jerry Jones. The figurehead of the Dallas Cowboys encapsulates everything that America hates about their own damn team. He’s got hubris, bravado, arrogance, and a pretty strong track record during the 90’s. The Cowboys were a phenomenal team in the 70’s and again in the mid-90’s, so everyone stepped up their game. In the NFC East, every division game is a rivalry game, so right there, the Cowboys lost votes in DC, Philly, and NYC. Then there were the regular conference rivals in the playoffs in San Fran and Green Bay. Now that Houston’s got a team, they’re a rival too. And that’s before we even discuss the impact of Michael Irvin, Nate Newton, and the other members of Bizarro Ocean’s 11. There was a time when the Cowboys were repped by Tom Landry and Roger Staubach and were loved. That ain’t gonna happen again as long as Mr. Jones is still kickin’.

7. Miami Heat
Welcome to the list, Miami. A lot can happen in a summer. Every sport has an evil empire (though hockey’s is harder to peg down) and Miami just left Boston and LA in the dust. If you listen carefully, you can hear LeBron James’ PR team screaming as the jump off the roof of the tallest building on Collins Ave. They WERE a cute enough team, with the gentlemanly Dwayne Wade leading the way. They won a championship that appeared to be handed to them by the refs, and America STILL didn’t hate them. But then they land this decades Judas and spend the rest of bank account on Chris Bosh, who has all the charm and personality of a sack of doorknobs. Even the league’s biggest optimists are vocally hoping for a train wreck in South Beach, and why wouldn’t they? Things are boring when they go the way they should.

6. New England Patriots
Oh, Boston. You used to be cool. Then you started winning. The Pats were met with the developments on this list. They got Tom Brady, the most handsome man in the history of handsome men. Not good. Sports fans hate good looks. That’s why Joe Namath was so popular. They got Bill Belichick, who smiled once in 1983 when he ran over a chipmunk. Those two acquisitions led to the third development: lots and lots of success. Accusations of cheating rocketed them up this list, and Brady started banging Giselle, which pissed off everyone cause she was supposed to be saving herself for us. When Wes Welker, a 4’8” white wide receiver can’t sway popular sentiment, you know that they’ve passed the point of no return.

5. Detroit Pistons
The Bad Boys of the late 80’s became the bad boys of the mid-2000’s during a fateful night in Auburn Hills when basketball became interactive with the fans. Detroit fans and players have always had a thuggish reputation, but the players of recent years had done a good job of keeping their noses clean until the brawl undid most of that. Couple the unpleasantness with some serious postseason success, and it’s easy for everyone to assume that the recent teams haven’t been one iota different than they were in the Laimbeer era. Which isn’t really true, but this piece is all about perception, and that perception still exists, only now no one cares cause they aren’t very good anymore.

4. Philadelphia Flyers

At least one Philly team had to make the list, and the Flyers do the best job of portraying all the traits fans hate about Philly sports. Yeah, Eagles fans throw batteries, and Phillies fans are ginormous fat kids that intentionally puke on little girls, but the Flyers are the worst players in the city. There’s a reason they were named the Broad Street Bullies during their run in the 70’s and 80’s. These guys were thugs that seemed to be as happy hurting players as they did winning games. If there was a cinematic equivalent, these guys would be the Hawks in “The Mighty Ducks.” Having the hated Chris Pronger on your team probably won’t do much to help get you out of the doghouse these days, even though their worst years are probably behind them. Also, they traded for Eric Lindros. I don’t really have a point with that comment, it’s just fun to remind Flyers fans that their team traded for Eric Lindros.

3. Los Angeles Lakers
Showtime! Everything people hate about LA, they hate about the Lakers. The players and fans are arrogant and dispassionate (save for Kobe), their head coach during the 80’s was too slick. And they have had tremendous success over the past 30 years. More than any other team. If you’re looking for a constant throughout all these entries, it’s success. Nobody hates bad teams. People love them. They love to play against them, and they love to root for them. Lakers fans are seemingly all celebrities that show up in the 2nd quarter and leave in the 3rd. They valet at the stadium. They eat sushi all the time. Few teams better represent their city more than the Lakers do. And few cities are more reviled for being Godless abysses than Los Angeles, home of Lohan. Do the math.

2. Oakland Raiders
If I have to explain why the Raiders are hated one more time in this column I’m going to lose my mind. I should just get business cards printed up, and on the back, they should say, “Here is why nobody outside of prison or Oakland likes the Raiders. Al Davis is the ugliest, most vile owner in sports. Their fans will stab you and your six year-old daughter with a rusty screwdriver if either of you look at them funny. Their head coach beats women, and, what’s worse is that he LOOKS like he would beat women. The guy is the poster child for rage issues. Sebastian Janikowski. JaMarcus Russell. Todd Marinovich. Al Davis again. The guy that carjacked me was wearing a Radiers jacket.” That’s what the card would say. And you know what? The card would be right about EVERYTHING.

1. New York Yankees
Like there was any question. Years of dominance, an outspoken, obnoxious fan base, and a roster of alumni that includes Reggie Jackson, Billy Martin, George Steinbrenner, a defected Roger Clemens, and A-Rod all equates to a team that baseball fans outside of the Tri-State area can hardly stomach. Bill Simmons once received a poetic email from a Red Sox fan that stated simply, “Rooting for the Yankees is like rooting for the house in blackjack.” They’ve got every advantage and they’re always supposed to win, so why the hell would you root for them. I can’t put it much better than that reader. Their success has always been misery to every other team in the league, AL or NL.

Loyalty is great. Loyalty insures that your ballclub will get your revenue up and your players paid. It might also make your owner rich. But loyalty itself doesn’t do much in the way of terrifying other teams who step inside your house. A perfect example was the effort of the Miami Heat to create a “whiteout” during home playoff games. Virtually every fan adhered to the all-white dress code, but as a visiting player put it, “That’s not scary, that’s not intimidating. It was like playing in heaven.” Well, if that’s like playing in heaven, the 9 fan bases and stadium experiences below would be like playing in hell.

9. Oakland Raiders

In the ways that many of the crowds on this list are clever, coordinated, and ingenious, Radiers fans are…not. They sidestep the subtleties of heckling by dressing like characters from a The Hills Have Eyes/Road Warrior crossover movie. And then they convince both players and opposing fans that they are going to stab them with a screwdriver, which is a very real threat, because at any given time, 93% of Oakland-Alameda County Stadium attendees have a rap sheet that includes at least one conviction for stabbing someone with a screwdriver. I just made that fact up, but for a second you believed it. I would rather be a corrections officer patrolling a prison rodeo than step into this place wearing a Chiefs jersey. And the owner is Al Davis, so you know he doesn’t give a shit who lives or dies at his place of business.

8. Philadelphia Eagles
Regular fan: Let’s throw snowballs at the other team’s sideline!

Philadelphia fan: Let’s take the D batteries and cover them in snow so people think we’re only throwing snowballs at the opposing team’s sideline.

Drunker Philly fan: Let’s toss this Molotov cocktail at Tony Romo’s head and applaud as he burns to death in front of his family and friends!

Sober Philly fan: Guys, knock it off. I’m just going to shoot this flare gun at the other team until they forfeit.

Only one of these scenarios hasn’t happened in the past twenty years. That means that the other three did.

7. Cornell Hockey
This place is HELL for any visiting team, and something far worse should you be a rival. In upstate New York, there isn’t much to do in the winter months besides talk yourself off of bridges and not shave your legs. So when it comes to hockey, this campus of almost 22,000 student camp out for season tickets in a style no different than the other college entrants on this list, the Cameron Crazies.

But devotion to your team can only get you so far. The Lynah Faithful as they’re called fill up Lynah Rink every game with 4,300 loud fans that have nowhere else to be, making the barn-like interior feel like it holds about 300 people, all of whom are screaming directly in your ear. And the screaming isn’t just noise. On any given game day, you can see fans handing out sheets of paper with specific instruction to start chanting the opposing goalie’s girlfriend’s telephone number (true), his mom’s full name (in an effort to prove that all 4,300 in attendance have banged her the night before), and the chants counting up the number of goals scored on the opposing goalie, then the repeated reminder that “It’s all your fault! It’s all your fault! It’s all your fault!” This is repeated approximately 72,400 times after every goal scored by Cornell. Granted the goalie gets it worst of all, but for the opposing team’s last line of defense, it’s really, really bad.

6. New York Yankees
I’m not happy about it either, sports fans. Yankees fans are by and large, smart baseball fans. They know scenarios, they know when to cheer, when to shut up, and opposing teams in Yankee Stadium probably feel like a Jehovah’s Witness would feel ringing the doorbell of the Vatican. Homefield advantage in baseball may not mean as much as it does in other sports, but Yankee Stadium in a playoff game can go head-to-head with most football stadiums, and that’s saying something. In sport punctuated by dead balls and nothingness, the Yanks fans keep the intensity up and seem to be rivals with most every team that sets foot in their house.

Since the Red Sox fans are going to get pissy about this entry anyway, let me just say this: You guys have a really old ballpark and a hand-changed scoreboard that I think is just adorable, but the franchise history and intensity in the Bronx can’t be matched.

Click Here For 9 Most Intimidating Fan Bases 5-1