RTKentucky Wildcats’ fans went wild after a 64-71 loss to the Wisconsin Badgers, which dented Kentucky’s hitherto perfect season of 38 straight wins. Wildcats’ aficionados ran riot on the streets, setting things on fire and shrieking abuse at police.
Grief over the loss was unbearable for the Kentucky team and its fans, as they were only two wins away from winning the national championship. This would have been only the second undefeated season in Division I college basketball history. However, the team was upset in the open NCAA Final Four due to Wisconsin’s fortitude and some good luck.
Some Kentucky raging pic.twitter.com/GdRQNAOEqV
— The Daily Dot (@dailydot) April 5, 2015
“It just doesn’t feel real at all. There’s a lot of emotions going through our heads,” AP cited Kentucky’s freshman forward Trey Lyles.
More fires on Kentucky's State Street pic.twitter.com/dj8CgZbc9T
— The Daily Dot (@dailydot) April 5, 2015
After the match at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, more than a thousand Kentucky fans poured onto the streets of Lexington, Kentucky, to vent their frustration.
Police let Kentucky fans revel. Or something. Not riot. That only happens in Ferguson https://t.co/JQZIYRBFim – pic.twitter.com/SXT4Eof97X
— Kevin Gosztola (@kgosztola) April 5, 2015
They set things on fire, shrieked in anger, and the frenzy degenerated into fights, with bottles flying through the air.
https://twitter.com/Breaking911/status/584578811192184832
Over 29 were arrested during the #Kentucky riots, mostly for shouting insults at police, starting fires and scuffling with law enforcement officers, the Courier Journal reports.
Lexington officials slammed the crowd as “rowdy, and at times hostile.” At least three people were taken to hospital with injuries.
Empty beer bottles are next to fall victim #statestreet pic.twitter.com/ZgcED1PHYT
— Cheyene Miller (@CheyeneMiller19) April 5, 2015
At first, Police chose to turn a blind eye to the disappointed fans’ obstreperousness, but some students wouldn’t calm down and kept on asking for trouble.
Just sad on State street in Lexington. #Kentucky fans are burning cars and buildings. 6 arrest so far. pic.twitter.com/8oji5AJlOR
— Skywarn Randy D. (@Dayton325) April 5, 2015
Three police helicopters buzzed overhead and law enforcers in riot gear closed off side roads along State Street, where the main unrest unfolded.
Another arrest has been made here on State Street after this man started fighting with police. pic.twitter.com/dCtXRtN7EP
— Paris Lewbel (@PLewbel) April 5, 2015
There was no “luck” involved in the outcome. Concerning the officiating, you be the judge, as far as the outrageous favoritism of the “talking heads” towards Kentucky, enjoy the taste of that crow, boys! I’ll just say this to you boys, “Don’t let your schooling interfere with your education.” On Wisconsin! (Fine examples of a civilized society we got goin’ there in Kentucky, huh?)
However, I’m certain there were more than a few bonfires in Madison last night as well.
They’ll riot over a bloody basketball game, but lay down quietly when robbed, brutalized and cheated by the government. We’ve lost all sense of proportion in this country.
Thank you, Frank. Where were these idiots when Obama opened the border? When the Patriot act was passed? When will all this anger and energy be directed at something important?
I now owe an apology to the blacks for my derision of their rioting in Ferguson. At least they had a legitimate gripe.
As much as I like to watch NFL and college football (esp. Texas A&M Aggies), when I see stuff like that (and I remember back 35 years when NC State beat UCLA in the finals which led to riots and the retirement of John Wooden), I do wonder if Americans really do give more a damned about sports allegiances than they do about restoring liberty and their God-given rights. Ridiculous!
But it ain’t just us…soccer fans in Britain and Europe are even worse! In 1966 Italians threw rocks and garbage at the Italian FIFA soccer team at the ’66 World Cup when they returned home…after losing to North Korea!
I agree DL, if we only had that same passion and enthusiasm for our freedoms, which unfortunately, have been whittled down to few and far between, this thing would be over in a day!.
Sports are a distraction I no longer indulge in.