Actually, what happened to Bartman after he caught the foul ball is not only not funny, it is extremely representative of a culture of violence. I watched the game, and saw the incident. The ball didn't go straight at the fans, it looped up and was dropping down on them, so they were all looking up, and didn't see the left fielder also trying to get the ball. (The sad thing is that the fielder would have had it.) It wasn't only Bartman who was after the ball -- there were five or six others, but he got it, didn't even see the fielder.

People around him threw beer at him, screamed curses, and eventually the Cubs security team led him away, with his jacket over his head, and he was escorted from the stadium.

Next day a Chicago newspaper "outed" him, and police had to set up guards at his home, the media were all over the front lawn, media helicopters were buzzing overhead, and Bartman couldn't go to work.

He eventually wrote a public letter of apology, for something that any normal baseball fan does at a game -- catch a legal foul ball.

Disgusting.