And now that I've found a second in-sports TSHTF story, I'll just make it it's own post. (And a third of stupidity not far behind!)

I was thinking of just adding the first story I found of the two I'm posting here (but the second on this list) to the other post from today, but I figured the bullshit is so strong at this point, these two incidents stand on their own.

I know the dark side of fandom people - 1998, Debbie Gibson, Broadway.

If there isn't something done to get some control on sports fandom, you're gonna see something sooner than later (pending empty-arena events due to coronavirus) which may make THAT, even, a parlor game, because it's clear that the tempest is being stirred.

• Dateline:  New York. (ESPN)

A 23 year-old with far too much money on his hands is going to Federal prison for death threats.

He's a sports gambler.

Benjamin Tucker Patz -- "Parlay Patz" --  was charged with transmitting threats to numerous athletes using burner social media accounts to threaten athletes who had cost him money or may have been about to...

(From the David Purdum ESPN Chalk report:)

• An Instagram account with an e-mail tied to Patz was tied to messages against players in Pepperdine (threatening one would be slit with a dull knife and killed in his home while he was sleeping), players on two MLB teams, a girlfriend of a player on a third...
• This missive to someone on the Arizona Wildcats:  ""Your worthlessness costed me over 100,000$ tonight! Sad!" a Dec. 22, 2019, message from @parlaypatz to a college basketball player for the University of Arizona said. Arizona lost to St. John's 70-67 the previous night."

Where's this fucker getting that kind of money?  (I'm not even saying the 100-grand was what he actually lost, but that might've been the last piece of a parlay which would've netted that kind of a sum!  And, even at several teams, that's high four-figures at LOWEST!!!)

• This, which brings up the question of whether these threats have also become a form of match-fixing in the high-level betting community here in the United States:  "Citing betting records from bookmaker William Hill, investigators allege that Patz placed a parlay wager on July 25, 2019, on the Cleveland Indians, four other MLB teams and a professional tennis player. Roughly 45 minutes before the Indians played Kansas City, a Royals player received two direct messages on Instagram, stating, "I will cut open the throat of your baby" and "You will die.""
• And:  "On Feb. 3, 2019, according to the complaint, Patz posted a screenshot of a $10,000 bet on the Los Angeles Rams against the Patriots in Super Bowl LIII. On the same day, the complaint states that multiple players for the Patriots received direct messages on Instagram threatening to "rape" and "murder" family members." 

There's no secret that betting syndicates in the more barbaric soccer nations of the world have been threatening players to attempt to shape results all over the world.  Is the legalization of sports betting in more and more states in the United States going to lead to more and more of these threats against players to attempt to match-fix?

This guy has actually been one of the more heralded players, winning big money in parlay situations -- one listed was a 13-teamer that netted Mr. Patz $333,000.  (Couldn't have been from the William Hill -- max odds on that are a 10-teamer at 720-1.)

No word on how many athletes he threatened or how many games he fixed as a result to get that payday.

• And then another soccer fan storms into the stands in England!

Reported earlier today on Twitter:

Eric Dier lept into the stands to confront supporters following Tottenham's penalty-shootout loss at Norwich.

Jose Mourinho said the fans were insulting him and his younger brother got involved.

(via @jselby123) pic.twitter.com/a1uzS71VCQ

— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) March 4, 2020

Reports have varied per the motivation, but he better prepare to sit the rest of the season for that crap.

There is rumor that a fan used racial slurs against Dier's brother, Gedson Fernandes.  But there better be something to back that up.

Norwich defeated Dier's Tottenham Hotspur on penalties in the fifth round of the FA Cup Wednesday, and the potential discipline for Dier just adds to Tottenham's problems.

They stand currently seventh in the Premier League, two points out of a European tournament qualification with ten matches to go -- none of which Dier may play in.

Stay tuned.

• And another soccer story, this one of probable stupidity:

Ronaldinho was arrested today in Paraguay with an altered passport.

WHY THE FUCK WOULD SOMEONE OF THAT STATURE NEED AN ALTERED PASSPORT??