It's Just a Game

After a rivaled opening day baseball game between the LA Dodgers and SF Giants a Giants fan, Bryan Stow, was beaten nearly to death in the parking lot.  He remains hospitalized in critical condition while the Los Angeles Police Department searches to track down the attackers.  Bryan Stow remains in a medically induced coma with half of his skull removed to allow for his brain to swell.  He was attacked in the parking lot by being thrown to the ground and repeatedly kicked in the head by his attackers.  He is the father of a 12 year old son and an 8 year old daughter.

The police have released descriptions of the attackers which describes them as two males,18-25 years of age, with shaved heads and mustaches.  There has been several calls reporting leads to the attackers but no arrests have been made.  The city and county of Los Angeles along with the Dodger organization and AMR ambulance company (where Stow works as a paramedic) have donated a $100,000 reward to the arrest of the attackers.  The stadium has upgraded the lighting in the parking lot and has reinforced security for future games by hiring more police officers and security, and also undercover officers to ensure a safe environment for their fans. 

Last monday the SF Giants hosted the Dodgers in another rivaled game.  Fans were urged to refrain from violence and come together to watch a respected rivalry game where the rivalry should be only on the field.  Before the game on Monday Giants and Dodgers players met in the middle of the field to honor Stow and deliver the message that the rivalry must stay on the field, without violence and hatred.

With Stow in a coma and no one else really around to acknowledge what exactly went on it is unclear what really went happened in the parking lot.  It is deceived that this was a conflict between fans of different baseball clubs which could be correct.  Myself, I have a feeling that the attackers were just looking for anyone to engage with.  As awful as it is some people are just out there to look for violence and Stow just happened to be in their sights.  Violent people like Stow's attackers usually have had an unhealthy childhood or have substance abuse issues.  No matter what the cause of them being violent these acts should never be tolerated and when they are found they should be prosecuted to the highest extent.