Thursday night the Los Angeles Lakers won their 16th NBA championship in franchise history, and Laker fans went, in a word, nuts.

A jubilant celebration over the Los Angeles Lakers' dramatic win in the NBA championship turned rowdy in scattered sections of the city, with raucous revelers hurling rocks and bottles at officers, setting fires and jumping on vehicles.

Hundreds of police officers massed around Staples Center before Game 7 of the NBA Finals Thursday night, aiming to prevent a repeat of the violence that accompanied the Lakers' victory last year. But despite their massive presence, scattered pockets of violence erupted in neighborhoods near the arena. No major incidents were reported in the rest of the city, police said.

By Friday, police spokesman Cleon Joseph said 38 people had been arrested. Most of the arrests were for public intoxication, while others were for vandalism and inciting a riot.

It should be noted that the mainstream media for the most part has turned a blind eye to Thursday's mayhem, but I doubt they would have done so if the people in the streets were Tea Partiers, and not just Laker fans.