The New York Knicks defeated the San Antonio Spurs Saturday in San Antonio in Game 5 of the NBA Finals to win their first championship since 1973.
How did those in the Big Apple celebrate?
According to the New York Post, 63 people were arrested as fans took to the streets, destroying public property. The Post also reported four stabbings and a shooting. Online, videos of celebrants tearing up a school bus have gone viral, all part of NYC’s rockin’ good time.
Pretty disturbing behavior, and a far cry from the reaction to another historic championship win just 3,000 miles away in San Diego.
At the Survivor Series in November, hometown hero Dominik Mysterio defeated legendary star John Cena to win the WWE Intercontinental Championship. When the event was over, the 46,000 fans who packed Petco Park left the stadium buzzing, yet remained peaceful as they celebrated at local eateries.
Not one overturned car, stabbing, or shooting, though several people may have hopped the trolley without paying the fare.
A small price to pay for decorum, I suppose.
Of course, someone reading this will scream that basketball’s a real sport and that wrestling’s fake. Ironically, that same person probably believes that Danhausen, wrestling’s mystical troll, actually lifted a curse on the Knicks.
Still, basketball is a real sport.
Unless you talk to disgraced former NBA referee Tim Donaghy, who was once at the center of a betting and game-fixing scandal in the early 2000s. In a 2019 interview with Pardon My Take, Donaghy revealed how games were influenced by officials in response to coaching complaints, personal vendettas, or a ref’s ties to the mafia.
Say what you will about pro wrestling, but at least I know who the referee answers to: the script. And while pro wrestling is entertainment, the emotions it produces are as real as it gets.
Days before AAA’s Noche de Los Grandes, fans in Mexico marched in the streets, chanting, cheering, and singing songs in homage to El Grande Americano. After he beat the Original Grande Americano, fans inside Arena Monterrey rejoiced as if Mexico had won the World Cup.
And when it was over, there were no reported scenes of mob violence disguised as celebration. People simply cheered.
And then they went home.
But go ahead, revel in your sport’s reality — filled with criminal conduct ranging from drunken stadium brawls to the destruction of public property. You don’t see that nonsense at or after a pro wrestling event, though online forums are rather spicy.
To steal a line from AEW World Champion and evil heel MJF, on behalf of wrestling aficionados everywhere: “We’re better than you, and you know it.”
