2008 Pulitzer Winner for Feature Photography – State News
Ah yes, all of the Michigan faithful stood up and had a good chuckle over the great MSU riot (officially deemed so by the local authorities). The shots are sharp and quick around the nerdosphere: see Autumn Thunder, M zone, Maize & Blog, Michigan Against the World
.
Takes:
1) You’re slightly Jealous. Deep down all of us M blogging nerds are jealous that we didn’t get to experience ragers of this magnitude. BiggieMunn, oh wise one of Spartan Avenue, please educate the Wolverine fans on what it feels to be at ground zero of Cedar Village. Did you see Elvis?
No one wants to be a part of people getting hurt, destroying property or stomach-pumping levels of booze consumption, but come on, part of you wishes you were hoisting a Das Boot on a balcony Saturday night.
2) It happened here, but not really It was April 6, 1992, back when hoops mattered, almost 16 years ago to the day. The Fab Five had just dropped the championship game to Duke and a bunch of numskulls including moi migrated down South University. I found a random mention of it on this site:
April 1992: Four people are arrested as Ann Arbor police use tear gas to break up an unruly crowd of about 4,000 after Michigan loses NCAA basketball championship to Duke, 71-51.
Yes, tear gas was used but I think it was more like a canister opened when it slipped off of Vada Murray’s belt. Nothing burned, not even my eyes from the pepper spray. The four saps that were arrested were overheard sobbing, “just please don’t tell my parents, man.” Judging from the photos from Cedar Village The Great Riot of 1992 was about 1% as fun.
2 Comments
BiggieMunn
I believe it was the ol’ philospher Homer Simpson who once toasted, “To alcohol… The cause of, and solution to, all of life’s problems.”
So true.
Credit812
The “gathering” in 92 was but an echo of what happened in 89 when they won it all. I was living in East Quad at the time and was watching the championship game in one of the TV lounges with what seemed like half the dorm 9 (no cable in the rooms in those days, so you went to the lounge to watch any big game). As soon as the game ended, we all headed for the door and made a beeline for South U and Church. It was packed, from East U to Forest. The news stations had cameras on the roof of Goodtime Charley’s, filming the scene. Trying to walk through the crowd was like trying to get around the Big House at halftime, only no one was going anywhere, the were just singing and dancing. That lasted for about an hour. I left when i saw someone on the roof of First of America (at corner of East U) lobbing full cans of beer into the crowd. On my way back to East Quad I heard a loud crash behind me. It turned out to be a hallmate of mine who was thrown into the windshield of a car because he got into an argument with someone about a case of beer he had just purchased. Sometime around three, I was awakened by a police siren as the cops tried to herd people down East U away from the epicenter of the disturbence.
The next morning I went out early to survey the damage. All the traffic signs in a three block radius were down, as was the traffic light over south U and Church. The awning to China Gate was in pieces on the ground, and there were broken windows up and down South U.
As much fun as it was to be out there when the game was first over, I must admit I was a little ashamed that it ended the way it did.