Confessions of a hooligan

With seconds to go in a fairly meaningless game, the chant rose above the din.

“They can’t arrest us all! They can’t arrest us all!”

It was true and we damned well knew it. There were about 40 law enforcement officers and tens of thousands of fans. Only the very unlucky or the very stupid would get pinched.

The goals posts were coming down. The fans would march the post sections through town. Young capitalists with hacksaws would saw up the metal tubes. Everyone would be happy.

They were the good times, my friends. The times of hardcore tailgate parties. The times of Grieb puking up a whole bottle of schnapps (and legend has it, an unchewed bratwurst). The times of tearing down the goalposts.

It all seemed fairly reasonable at the time. But looking at the past weekend of bacchanalia in the neigborhoods around Ohio State’s ‘Shoe and Clemson’s Death Valley, I’m questioning who was more reasonable at the time…Missouri fans or Missouri police? Or both?

Ohio State Fans were okay until they started burning couches in the street. Clemson fans were fine until they started stepping on a deputy’s head.

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