When it comes to the most tortured sports fan bases in America, you will often hear mention of the usual suspects: Minnesota, Cleveland and Detroit sports fans all immediately come to mind.
And yet, while they are not discussed nearly as often as the aforementioned fandoms are, Arizona sports fans have a very justifiable case for being the most tortured fan base in all of sports.
Of the Grand Canyon State‘s three major sports teams (the NFL’s Cardinals, the NBA’s Suns and MLB’s Diamondbacks), only its baseball team has ever won a world championship — and that was a rapidly aging 22 years ago and counting.
Otherwise, the most notable Arizona professional sports accomplishments are: almost beating the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XLIII and losing in the NBA Finals three times.
That all being said, professional indoor football, while not considered a major North American pro sport, is a different story for Arizona sports fans.
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The Arizona Rattlers, who have won five league championships in the now-defunct Arena Football League and another title in the current Indoor Football League, are a veritable, New England Patriots-esque dynasty (in fact, the Rattlers have won the same number of league championships as the Patriots have during the latter team’s dynastic run.)
Well, whatever ray of sunshine that the Rattlers may have provided to Arizona sports fans took a decidedly dark turn after a critical Sunday game against the Massachusetts Pirates.
As AZCentral noted, the Rattlers actually secured home-field advantage in the first round of the IFL playoffs with a 52-43 win over the Pirates, but didn’t get there without suffering through the ugliest sports incident this side of the “Malice at the Palace.”
Should these players be punished in a court of law?
Yes: 67% (4 Votes)
No: 33% (2 Votes)
With the game rapidly approaching its conclusion (the incident in question happened towards the end of the game after a Rattlers player was ejected for targeting), some mystery event triggered Pirates players — enough so that those players, still in pads, jumped the barricade and started scuffling with fans.
The whole incident is as ugly (and terrifying) as it sounds.
You can watch for yourself below:
WILD scene at end of Rattlers game. 5 Massachusetts players ejected with 32 seconds left. Players going into the stands… If a fan said something — they need to be held accountable, but you can’t charge the crowd in full pads. A kid in the front row looks to be crying?! pic.twitter.com/yqtjRKIjjn
— Cameron Cox (@CamCox12) July 3, 2023
In the surreal video clip, you can see bickering fans and players before something sets off an actual physical scuffle.
Perhaps the most harrowing part of the whole video was in the bottom left, where it appears a crying child is being consoled and protected by his mother as players hopped the barricade.
Five players, including Pirates receiver Darren Carrington, lineman Navaughn Donaldson, defensive back Chris Ingram, defensive back Leon O’Neal Jr., and defensive back Charles Williams, were all ejected for the terrifying fracas.
And as awful as the entire debacle was, it did appear to be an isolated one. The Rattlers ultimately recovered the onside kick and were able to kill the clock without further incident.
The Pirates and the Rattlers, meanwhile, will both be in the playoffs, albeit in opposite conferences.
