Rus: I’ve been a Raiders fan since 1972 (I was 7 at the time, so I could legitimately claim I didn’t know any better), and, yes, the “thug” element of that fan base is alive and well.

I would argue that the fans of various European soccer leagues are even worse, especially in terms of overt racism, jingoism and nationalism (watch how black soccer players are treated by fans as an example).

Hockey also has its thug elements, but they’re mainly found on the ice. What’s the old joke? “I went to a fight and a hockey game broke out”.

I didn’t mean to get off on a jag, but I wanted to address the point that the US needs more soccer and hockey. Why? We don’t have enough fighting and violence already?

Football (the American version) is a sport only played by the true warrior gods among us. Rugby is very cool, but it comes from England and that’s where Hugh Grant comes from, so there you go.

If I were to be completely serious, I would argue that Australian Rules Football is the most seriously psychotic ever invented. Well, next to the Roman Gladiatorial games, that is.