European sports hysteria deadly

LONDON – Soccer is aggressive, competitive and passionate.

It’s also deadly.

Kevin McDaid, 49, a father of four and husband to wife Evelyn (who was injured), was killed Monday, when a mob of Glasgow Rangers fans went in search of a victim after the team’s win Sunday. Another man was also injured in the melee.

This isn’t the first time a fan has died after a soccer match. And it’s not the most brutal, savage or extreme case of sports brutality.

Just hours before the Champions League final Wednesday between Barcelona and Manchester United, a fan of the English club was stabbed in Rome, where the match was being held. Police and government officials have taken “precautions” to minimize these kind of attacks. They’ve limited the sale of alcohol, warned fans to not incite the opponent’s supporters and tried to increase a military-like presence.

But what can they really do?

How can they search every fan for knives or other weapons? How can they limit the amount of alcohol sold to an individual? How can a group of police officers change the culture of a sport that incites this kind of violence?

When I read the article on one of London’s paper’s Web sites, it was filed under the “crime” section. That makes it sound like a random act of violence, not the aftermath of a culture brewing with underlying hostilities.

I can’t explain why people kill because of something so seemingly trivial. And that’s the problem. It’s difficult for Americans to understand a continent where violence in sports is a common activity.

While there have been riots in the United States after championship games, they have never come close or matched the level of European violence.

Even when die-hard Hoosiers fans talk about their love for IU basketball, it can never compare to the ridiculous obsession some fans have.

I’ve met a lot of crazy Indiana fans, but so far no one has taken a machete to West Lafayette to avenge the Old Oaken Bucket game.

I’ll be watching the Champions League game in a pub in central London. While I hope to see a good game, I also hope to see more sportsmanship than recent events have shown.

I hope when I read the game story Thursday, there aren’t mentions of stabbings, beatings or killings. I hope there aren’t photos of battered fans. And I hope people remember that sports are supposed to unite, not divide, us – that the players on the pitch are there not because they hate the opponents, but because they love the game.

And maybe the fans will remember that, too.