I say all this because many of the first media reports ended with a variation of the statement “soccer in Egypt has a high potential of violence.” Only it doesn’t. There has been the occasional violent incident, but even championship games normally end without a hiccup, or else with the most hot-headed supporters exchanging insults or, at worst, throwing things at each other. I’m not trying to defend any of that behavior, of course. But my point is — they don’t kill 74 people. Again, something just doesn’t add up.

Especially when you learn that the Ultras, those organized and ultra-motivated fans, had proved since January 25 that they were the stuff revolutions were made of. The mostly Cairo-based Ahly Ultras teamed up with their counterparts from their main crosstown rivals — Zamalek’s Ultras White Knights — and, well, gave Mubarak’s goons hell. Their presence — with the moral support they provided through their loud, sometimes funny and occasionally obscene anti-government chants, but also their courage when it came to fending off violent policemen — could make or break a protest.

It is those same police goons who were supposed to guarantee order in the stadium tonight. (It should be noted that there has been absolutely no reform of the police since the revolution.)

Like I said. Something really doesn’t add up.