hit him hit him hit him

I saw the Penguins and Flyers play Saturday afternoon. It was a good game, the Penguins winning 5-4. At its start, the crowd would abruptly chant HOCKEY SUCKS. I thought that was odd, but it turns out they were actually chanting CROSBY SUCKS whenever one Stanley Crosby touched the puck. Crosby eventually scored the winning goal. A lot of Pittsburgh fans wore Penguin regalia. Two obvious friends in front of me wore respectively a Pittsburgh Lemieux 66 and a Philadelphia Lindros 88 jersey. Pittsburgh and Philadelphia are more than cross-state sports rivals. But brawls on the ice were amplified by a brawl in the stands. I asked an usher between periods if brawls were common. He said, “Oh no: the Penguin fans come into the Philadelphia building wearing Penguin colors and they know Philadelphia is the murder capital of America, so they are just asking for it.” Are there brawls in the stands at other games? “Oh no, not really: the Ranger and Devil fans sometimes come in here asking for it, but they’re the only ones.” There was also a HIT HIM HIT HIM chant I’d never heard anywhere else. And there was an obscene chant which I won’t repeat. It did seem inappropriate for a Saturday afternoon game filled with children. What is there to say? Tut tut? Baseball starts in April.