Sports in the U.S. used to be something that brought us together, fostering a sense of camaraderie at sporting events. Yet, with recent incidents such as the death of a man at a Patriots game and a more recent brawl at a 49ers game, one must wonder what exactly is happening here in America that is causing such intense anger.
From TMZ:
The 49ers didn't have many issues on the field on Thursday night, but their fans in the stands sure as hell did ... getting so mad at each other, they brawled right in their seats!!
The fracas happened at some point during San Francisco's blowout win over the Giants at Levi's Stadium ... when about half a dozen Niner supporters decided to beat the hell out of each other.
It's unclear what started it all -- but both women and men were involved.
You can see in video from the scene, as two ladies decked out in SF gear took swipes at each other ... a man wearing a Richard Sherman jersey grabbed one of the combatants by her hair and threw her several feet down some stairs.
The wife of the man who died following the New England Patriots game on Sunday said her husband was verbally taunted by other fans in the crowd before his death, WCVB 5 reported.
Foxborough police initially responded to the stadium at 10:57 p.m. local time when Mooney needed medical attention, according to the statement. He was then taken to Sturdy Memorial Hospital and was "subsequently" pronounced dead, the statement said.
Mooney's wife, Lisa Mooney, told WCVB that her husband went to the game with three friends, one of whom told her that other fans in the 300s section of the stadium were taunting their group during the game.
"I just don't understand why people have to go to that extreme," Lisa Mooney said, according to WCVB. "Why can't it just be fun? That's all it's supposed to be, a fun family event."
She added, "It takes a lot to get him mad."
Dale Mooney, a 53-year-old Pats fan from New Hampshire and a 30-year season ticket holder at Gillette Stadium, died after "an incident" at the game against the Miami Dolphins on Sunday night, the Norfolk County District Attorney's Office told Insider in a statement.
You couple the rising violence in our sports stadiums with the substantial increase in crime, and you really have to stop and wonder what is exactly simmering beneath the surface here in America.
Is it political differences, deteriorations of morals, a mental health crisis, or a combination of all of those with some additional issues sprinkled in?
Whatever the exact issue may be, Americans need to wake up and stop allowing divisive tactics to drive us apart like this.
