OK, I admit when I read the Saskatchewan Roughriders had essentially gifted the 97th CFL Grey Cup to the Montreal Alouettes via a too-many-men on the field penalty at the game’s death knell, my first reaction was, “who can blame them? They already have too many men on the field.”  My sanguine (if bigoted) take on Sunday’s events wasn’t shared, unsurprisingly enough, by Roughrider fans, writes the Star Phoenix’s Jeanette Stewart :

While police and fire crews reported a quiet night in Saskatoon, the Internet proved to be a breeding ground for anguished feedback after the Roughrider™s heartbreaking, one-point loss.

At Riderfans.com, thousands of people viewed and posted comments that ranged from deploring to consoling, although Facebook.com was the scene of the most negative feedback.

Several groups had sprang up around the now maligned œ13th Man, including œI HATE THE 13th MAN ON THE FIELD, which has a tagline of œWE ALL HATE HIM, NOW LETS KILL HIM! and had thousands of members only a few hours after the game.

œI want to drop a HUGE load of s*** on his lawn, read one post, a comment reminiscent of the time a Rider fan dumped a pile of manure on kicker Paul McCallum™s driveway.

This aligns with the recently released research of Toronto sociologist Scott Schiemen, who calls anger a œsocial emotion.

œThe frequency of anger are definitely higher among younger cohorts and younger groups, he said.