Things Got A Bit Nuts In Chapel Hill Monday Night

Dashiell Bennett|published: Wed 8th April, 18:00 2009

The tears have stopped long enough for me to finally check out this video of the celebration in North Carolina on Monday. Either the Tar Heels won or Japan finally surrendered, I can't tell which.

I'm not good at estimating crowds, but there must be at least 200 people down there on the intersection of Franklin and Columbia. (Give or take 30,000.) Street signs were destroyed, things were set ablaze, and high-voltage infrastructure was heroically scaled. What is it about mobs that makes them lose all sense of judgment and good taste? ("See that light pole there? I should be on top of it!")

And can someone please explain fire jumping to me? Where is the rush there?

Anyway, I'm glad that we've just accepted that this is par for the course in any town, following any major sports victory. It can't be explained or justified in any way, but as long as these celebrations stay one level short of ritualistic murder, it's all good.

And despite the "relative calm" up north, Spartan revelers still managed more arrests and more fires this weekend. Face! (No tear gas, though, sadly.) Say what you want about the East Lansing police force—they are persistent.

Fans celebrate in Chapel Hill; 10 taken to hospital [Charlotte Observer] Franklin Street: The Celebration [Daily Tar Heel] Cheers, no tears [State News] 10 Heels Taken to Hospital; 21 Spartans Arrested [The Jock Itch]