Sport-related riots are nothing new and they aren’t uniquely American or confined to one sport.
As far back as the 1700s, the British would riot over cricket games. Montreal rioted after it won a Stanley Cup in the early ’90s. In 1992 fans caused more than S10 million worth of damage after the Chicago Bulls won the NBA title. And the word riot routinely appears next to the word soccer.
So if sports riots are destined to happen, the question has to be: why?
Why would someone want to commit all this vandalism and violence because of the outcome of a game? And why, in the name of Woody Hayes, would anyone want to riot after their team won a big game?
Unfortunately, this question is impossible to answer.
A room full of 10 Ph.D.s would come up with 10 different answers.
But I can tell you pointing only to alcohol is a cop-out. If you are one of the morons trashing the off-campus area, you’re going to have to come up with a much better excuse.
Many students and fans were just as inebriated as anyone destroying our school’s reputation, and the only senseless acts they committed were hugging and high-fiving every stranger they saw.
Sports celebrations can be joyous, as they are supposed to be.
I was in Boston when the New England Patriots won the Super Bowl. While the circumstances were very similar, the result was different.
After the Super Bowl, the intoxicated fans flooded onto the city streets. There was no tipping over cars, kicking in windows, and starting blazes.
While everyone was as drunk as Teddy Kennedy on New Year’s Eve, they didn’t riot. The fans simply danced, hugged and screamed. It was in good taste and the city’s reputation wasn’t tarnished.
So I don’t want to hear anybody playing the keg card. While many drunken sport celebrations end up in a ball of flames, many don’t.
All week we were told to act responsibly. But when it came down to it, we failed.
The reason I say we failed is because that’s how the rest of the nation sees it.
Most of the student body wasn’t a part of these actions but unfortunately all of us carry the weight.
The rest of the nation doesn’t see a few names rioting, they see our Ohio State University rioting and now we all have to live with the consequences.
The Buckeyes accomplished something incredible and unexpected and we repay them with a riot. Instead of the entire country marveling at their trip to the Fiesta Bowl, it was focusing on OSU’s riot fiesta.
It is in my opinion that the only way to deal with these idiots is to treat them like idiots.
As far as I know, idiots shouldn’t attend a school as great as Ohio State. Because they proved their mental ability so well on Sunday morning, they should pack up and try not to let the door hit them on the way out.
And all the people who simply cheered on the destruction of our school’s reputation should also be dealt with harshly.
No one who encouraged what went on should have the privilege of ever cheering on the Buckeyes. While no crime was committed, they are very much responsible and should not be able to go to OSU games.
No, Columbus is not the epicenter of morons in the world.
They exist all over the place and what occurred this weekend is not anything new to the world.
It has happened before and it will happen again. Hopefully we have learned our lesson and the only riots we will be seeing from now on will be on CNN and not from our pepper-spray-soaked eyes.
Somehow I doubt that.
Mike White is a senior in journalism. The only senseless acts of destruction he commits are in the video game “Grand Theft Auto.” He can be reached at [email protected].
