Mexico beating the U.S. men’s soccer team was a really big deal for the people of Santa Ana, and of course a lot of our residents came out into the streets to celebrate.
The O.C. Register reported that “Nearly 50 police officers spent hours on Saturday night dispersing a massive crowd on one of the city’s busiest streets following Mexico’s come-from-behind 4-2 win over the United States in the final of the Concacaf Gold Cup in Pasadena.”
Apparently, “more than 4,000 people flooded Bristol Street between Edinger Avenue and McFadden Avenue, cheering and celebrating Mexico’s win and waving Mexican flags,” according to SAPD Cmdr. Steve Colon.
But you know what? There were no reports of arrests or violence.
Contrast that with what happened when the San Francisco Giants won the World Series last year – the mayhem surrounding the San Francisco Giants’ World Series victory burned up on Twitter, Facebook, Twitpic and Flickr. It even had a mayor on Foursquare, and it had two Twitter hashtags. #SFRiots and #SFRiot, according to the Los Angeles Times.
And when the L.A. Lakers beat Boston last year, another riot erupted, according to the Christian Science Monitor.
Of course many of the Register’s readers erupted with racist comments. And as one would expect, Thomas Gordon showed up to. Who is Gordon? He ran for Santa Ana Mayor a few years back, and failed to qualify for the ballot last year as a City Council candidate in Ward 6. Now he is part of former Santa Ana Council Member Tom Lutz’ anti-soccer coalition of NIMBYs and Usual Suspects.
Here is what the O.C. Register reported with regard to Gordon: “Later, between 10 p.m. and 10:30 p.m., police wearing helmets and carrying batons used bullhorns to disperse the crowd at McFadden and Bristol, said Thomas Gordon, a Santa Ana resident who took the photo below. Some in the crowd were setting off fireworks, and more than two dozen patrol cars were at the scene, Gordon said.”
The best part of Gordon’s lame “reporting” was the on the scene picture he took, of two cops talking and NOTHING GOING ON. Click here to see the Register’s article, Gordon’s picture and a slew of racist comments by the Register’s readers.
(Note to Gordon: I have the day off today so please don’t bother filing another complaint with my employer).
But they Register’s readers weren’t the only racists to attack Mexican soccer fans. Dozens of white sports columnists ripped the fans who attended the match between the U.S. and Mexico, because the fans cheered for Mexico.
How crazy is that? Of course the Mexican soccer fans cheered for their Motherland. Yankees fans always cheer for the Bronx Bombers when the Yankees visit the Angels. So what? Folks will cheer the team they love – and the U.S. soccer team just plain sucks.
Bill Plaschke, at the L.A. Times, was one of the few columnists who got it right, “How many places are so diverse that it could fill football stadiums with folks whose roots are somewhere else? How many places offer such a freedom of speech that someone can display an American flag on their porch one day and cheer against the flag the next?” Bravo Bill!
Mexicans should be proud of the Mexican soccer team. And Americans who don’t like that should push for the firing of the American team’s coach – and wholesale changes to the team. Recruiting more Mexican American players would be a good start.
