I hear you, but I think elevating things in sports to the level of loathing is part of the problem.

Let's loathe violent thugs, not (presumably) millions of people who root for their team just like you root for yours.

I agree with you George.
People pay way too much attention to professional sports, IMO. However this is one of the ways "the new world order" can divert the attention of the general populace from other things.
"Bread and circuses" as Caesar used to say.

I generally agree with George, but have noticed that LA team followers tend to have a higher percentage of whackos than other fan bases. At the Blazer game Friday night, while most of the large number of LA fans were there for their team and the love of the game, in my area there was at least one yellow and purple fan who was all about heckling and taunting home town fans, well beyond any level of good natured ribbing. It seemed to be the reason he was there, and was a game long distraction for those around him. And I must say, the horrible Giant fan incident at Dodger stadium really adds a new twist to the "Beat LA" mantra. Maybe it should be "Beat LA-and leave early before their fans beat you". I Just pray the Giant fan recovers, and that they catch the cowards who literally kicked him while he was down.

GAS, surely you are not limiting loathing to violent thugs? Many thugs display no violence at all. Consider the damage done by JPM's Jamie Dimon in September 2008 alone: Sigma, Lehman, and WaMu.

What was Sigma? "'During the summer of 2007, Sigma [managed by the British firm Gordian Knot Limited] was the largest of approximately 30 SIVs [structured investment vehicles] in the world. As of July 2007, Sigma had outstanding debt of approximately $52 billion.'"

Today brings information about documents entered by a group of JPM's clients in an action against JPM, joining plaintiffs in the collapses of Lehman and WaMu in attempting to unravel the sources of the continuing financial crisis:

"The group's lawsuit against JPMorgan alleges that even though Sigma was so deeply in debt that it could not afford to issue any more commercial paper, JPMorgan fed it money so that it would stay afloat and keep generating fees for JPMorgan through repo transactions. The repo transactions would earn JPMorgan $2 on every $1 it invested if Sigma defaulted."
http://read.bi/h4zCeL

The NYT's Louis Story reported yesterday:
"Now, new documents unsealed late last month as part of a lawsuit by bank clients against JPMorgan show for the first time just how high the warnings about Sigma went — all the way to the office of the bank’s chief executive, Jamie Dimon."

And,
"The suit... asserts that JPMorgan workers developed a 'grand scheme' to profit from Sigma in the event of a collapse, even though employees at another part of the bank left client money invested in the vehicle.

Further,
"While the clients lost nearly all their money, JPMorgan collected nearly $1.9 billion from Sigma’s demise, according to the suit."

Nearly $1.9 billion, btw, is very near the very risible sum of $1.888 billion that team player Sheila Bair, soon to be erstwhile FDIC chairbeing -- for whom WaMu's demise was not even "a blip" -- accepted, after a couple of weeks of negotiations, as JPM's bid for WaMu's assets, valued at $307 billion in June 2008.

Can this country ever recover from its financial stupor as long as the thugs who put it there go unpunished?

More nonviolent financial thuggery:

"The big banks are pressing Congress for a favor that will cost the average American household $230 a year. The bankers argue that the favor is needed to support small community banks. But since the lion's share of the favor will be collected by just four banks, it might be cheaper to subsidize community banks with a check direct from the Treasury.
http://www.cnn.com/2011/OPINION/04/11/frum.bank.debit.fees/index.html?eref=mrss_igoogle_cnn

"Sen. Jon Tester, D-Montana, is leading the pro-banker push. Among his allies, curiously, is Barney Frank -- the co-author of the law that authorizes fee caps in the first place."

"Big banks," btw, include JPM, which clears $5.4B for administering SNAP, the now-paperless food stamp program and Bank of America (BAC) which handles paperless unemployment distributions via debit cards.