# Celebratory vandalism **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 18, 2010, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebratory-vandalism/543662 "2010-06-18T11:41:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MikeF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MikeF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeF)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2010, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebratory-vandalism/543662/1 "2010-06-18T11:41:07Z")
Could someone please explain to me why, when your team wins the big one, you go out and burn cars, loot stores and beat people up? How does one justify destroying things as a form of celebration? I just don’t get it. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2010, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebratory-vandalism/543662/2 "2010-06-18T12:22:08Z")
I suspect some people just like to wreck stuff anyways, and sports victories give them a setting where they’re a) drunk and b) part of a large crowd and thus less likely to get singled out for individual punishment for vandalism. So I don’t think the actual sports victory has much to do with it, beyond providing a conducive setting. When I was in college, big parties would often end with similar spates of vandalism. In that case there certainly wasn’t any victory being celebrated, but there were large crowds of drunks. ---
**Author:** ![SeaCanary](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@SeaCanary](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaCanary)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2010, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebratory-vandalism/543662/3 "2010-06-18T12:32:10Z")
> [@MikeF](#): > > Could someone please explain to me why, when your team wins the big one, you go out and burn cars, loot stores and beat people up? How does one justify destroying things as a form of celebration? I just don’t get it. I can think of a _reason_ why it happens, but a _justification_ eludes me. Let me set the scene a little more explicitly with words from a song: There are fans that think that God Himself is drooling in the bleachers, In a cold November downpour with a belly full of brew, Whose entire grasp of heaven has a lot to do with football, It’s from them I would expect to hear the “F” word, Not from you. Said fan feels vicariously empowered by team win and, with impaired judgment, carries empowerment to the streets in an adrenalin soaked orgy. The fan has to do something with the adrenalin and group sex with other fans isn’t on the menu for whatever reasons. The rest is a species of human nature…I think? Am I making \*\*any \*\*sense at all? If not then I’ll shut up, sit down and have a Coke. ---
**Author:** ![Khaki\_Campbell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9de053/32.png) [@Khaki\_Campbell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khaki_Campbell)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2010, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebratory-vandalism/543662/4 "2010-06-18T13:16:20Z")
> [@MikeF](#): > > Could someone please explain to me why, when your team wins the big one, you go out and burn cars, loot stores and beat people up? How does one justify destroying things as a form of celebration? I just don’t get it. Because sport “fans” are stupid morons ? And even more, because they can get away with that (but only when they belong to an Oppressed Minority™) ? ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2010, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebratory-vandalism/543662/5 "2010-06-18T13:34:23Z")
All good reasons, but I suspect it’s related to a deeper, more frightening truth: the number of human beings that relish chaos, destruction, and violence just for the sheer enjoyment of it, and who are barely held in check by society’s normal constraints, is far greater than we can bear to imagine. ---
**Author:** ![SeaCanary](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@SeaCanary](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaCanary)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2010, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebratory-vandalism/543662/6 "2010-06-18T13:58:37Z")
There certainly is a very strong attraction to being evil. Darth Vader is huge, powerful on multiple levels, accountable to next to no one and gets a black cape. The dark knight as envisaged by Frank Miller is supposed to be a good guy and yet it’s his twisted psyche that makes him REALLY interesting and, dare I say it, attractive. It appeals to the adolescent male in all of us. ---
**Author:** ![Blaster\_Master](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/cab0a1/32.png) [@Blaster\_Master](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blaster_Master)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2010, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebratory-vandalism/543662/7 "2010-06-18T14:33:53Z")
To add to some of what’s been said, I think it’s a combination of adrenaline, group mentality, and drunkeness. People are psyched up and have to get that energy out somehow. The group mentality focuses it in a way that group can release it, and the fact that it’s sports related, which is aggressive by it’s very nature, probably helps lead that focus toward destructive ends. And, obviously, drunkness makes vandalism seem like not quite as bad of an idea. I think that if any of those factors were removed, the vandalism would be drastically reduced if not eliminated. I do think there’s some people who use that environment as an excuse to violate the typical rules of society so they be loot or be destructive, and I imagine that exacerbates the situation, but I think vandalism would occur despite those individuals, so it’s a lesser factor. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2010, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebratory-vandalism/543662/8 "2010-06-18T14:40:00Z")
[QUOTE=Khaki Campbell;12590769\*\*] Because sport “fans” are stupid morons ?\*\* And even more, because they can get away with that (but only when they belong to an Oppressed Minority™) ? [/QUOTE] I find just about all sports tedious, unless you stretch the definition of “sport” to include chess, and even I don’t think that’s fair. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2010, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebratory-vandalism/543662/9 "2010-06-18T15:29:44Z")
> [@Khaki\_Campbell](#): > > Oppressed Minority Indians fans? ---
**Author:** ![Valgard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/7feea3/32.png) [@Valgard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valgard)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2010, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebratory-vandalism/543662/10 "2010-06-18T15:47:43Z")
Simple math, really: Idiots + alcohol + crowds = stupidity on a mass scale Nothing about this requires a sporting event, I’ve seen it in all kinds of situations (parties, NY Eve celebrations, etc). ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2010, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebratory-vandalism/543662/11 "2010-06-18T16:11:46Z")
I was in Stockholm the day they gave out the Nobles. I was lucky to escape the streets with my life. Those physicists in particular will fuck you up. ---
**Author:** ![marshmallow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2010, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebratory-vandalism/543662/12 "2010-06-18T17:23:59Z")
Men’s testosterone surges [after their tribe wins](http://newswise.com/articles/testosterone-levels-rise-in-fans-of-winning-teams) and [drops](http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=machismo-mayhem) when they lose. It’s true in war, politics, the corporate world, and definitely in sports. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2010, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebratory-vandalism/543662/13 "2010-06-18T18:18:24Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > I was in Stockholm the day they gave out the Nobles. I was lucky to escape the streets with my life. Those physicists in particular will fuck you up. And then they can hop in the time machine and cover their tracks. ---
**Author:** ![Khaki\_Campbell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9de053/32.png) [@Khaki\_Campbell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khaki_Campbell)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2010, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebratory-vandalism/543662/14 "2010-06-18T20:24:14Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > Indians fans? Uuh :dubious: ? ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2010, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebratory-vandalism/543662/15 "2010-06-18T21:09:36Z")
Smashing stuff is fun. ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2010, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebratory-vandalism/543662/16 "2010-06-18T21:19:46Z")
> [@Khaki\_Campbell](#): > > Uuh :dubious: ? [This](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joke)should help. So should [this](http://cleveland.indians.mlb.com/index.jsp?c_id=cle). ---
**Author:** ![SeaCanary](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@SeaCanary](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaCanary)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2010, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebratory-vandalism/543662/17 "2010-06-18T22:01:20Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Smashing stuff is fun. Especially when it’s not your personal stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Yeticus\_Rex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a698b9/32.png) [@Yeticus\_Rex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yeticus_Rex)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2010, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebratory-vandalism/543662/18 "2010-06-18T23:43:19Z")
[The Offspring encapsulated the whole celebratory vandalism thing in a 3 minute song.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBROENW3uRk) ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2010, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebratory-vandalism/543662/19 "2010-06-19T04:12:11Z")
It could be the instinct to “commemorate” the event - to leave a lasting mark that you were present when something of significance happened. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2010, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebratory-vandalism/543662/20 "2010-06-19T10:50:52Z")
Don’t know the reason. Don’t care. If a crowd descended on my car I would apply foot to pedal and let the bodies fly. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebratory-vandalism/543662.md?page=2)