Down-home fun in Lexington (image via @NickMantlo)

The University of Kentucky Wildcats won a dramatic game against the Kansas Jayhawks Monday, 67-59, and secured the N.C.A.A. men's basketball crown. That's all well and good for basketball fans but the reason we're talking about it at all is the awe-inspiring level of shenanigans that hit the streets of the usually sedate Lexington after the victory. There were streakers, burning couches and burning houses, according to reports from the scene. Rioters started bonfires in the street and generally behaved as if the city water supply had turned to pure moonshine by the time the game was over.

Monitoring events on the streets of Lexington went viral on Twitter. The hashtag #LexingtonPoliceScanner was a top trend on the social networking site for hours, tweets incorporating the tag often including links to online streams of Lexington Police scanner activity. Most reports heard over the scanner were colorful as opposed to disturbing:

• "Pulled over car with subjects shooting fireworks out the windows..."
• "Check the road for couch debris..."
• "Burning futon is not in the roadway it's in their driveway so they can deal with it."
• A pair of nude men "either found their pants or they went inside."

The futon report was so striking it even spawned a LexingtonCouch Twitter account.

Additionally, one sultry-voiced Lexington P.D. dispatcher developed an odd minor celebrity among Twitter eavesdroppers:

• "I'm considering a serious cash prize to whoever can get me the number of the one dispatcher. 911 does not count."
• "Think the dispatcher can parlay this fame into a Bravo reality show? Maybe TLC if she's engaged?"

Monday's revels came after similar near-riot conditions occurred on the U.K. campus over the weekend. Those festivities saw nearly 30 arrests, according to the Associated Press.

There had already been dozens of arrests shortly after the end of the championship game Monday, with many more surely to come.

Like when a Harlem rap crew brought forth absolute chaos upon SxSW's denizens last night at a VICE party. Naturally.

Last night's now aptly-named "VICE Kills Texas" party featured a performance by Harlem (seven-figure RCA signee) rapper A$AP Rocky and the A$AP crew. A rowdy crowd already relied up by hardcore band Trash Talk started throwing things during A$AP's performance. A$AP tried to calm them down, to little effect. Spinner reports:

Rocky valiantly tried to defuse the situation and seemed on the verge of pulling it off -- until someone threw another beer can at the rapper. At this point, Rocky warned against throwing anything onstage other than water or there would be consequences. When that was followed by more stuff being thrown, Rocky and his crew leapt into the crowd, fists flying. Most of the audience scrambled to get out of the way, but several men mixed it up with the rappers as a full-blown brawl ensued for several minutes. At least one audience person had a gash one his head from the fight. Eventually, security managed to clear the room and the police arrived to shut the party down.

A more subdued report from Done Waiting:

It was intense. But over quickly. A culperit may have got snuffed on stage. Not sure. [...] My point is it was already a fun night. And aside from a couple eye jammies no one got hurt.

Video of the encounter:

Note that A$AP Rocky's recent headlining show in New York City caused no such issues! There's just something about South by Southwest that makes one want to "wild out," as it were. Maybe the panopticon-like effect South By Southwest can have on a New Yorker with their wits about them. Just a guess.

fkamer@observer.com | @weareyourfek

Foamposite Galaxy (via Trendhunter.com)

At last report most consumers have been waiting peacefully for Nike's new limited-release Foamposite Galaxy basketball shoe, camping out on sidewalks in tents and sleeping bags. MyFoxPhilly reports someone wanted the $220 glow-in-the-dark shoes badly enough to offer to trade their 16-year-old Chevy Cavalier on Craigslist, which is kind of crazy, but not frightening.

However, according to multiple accounts on social media, the scrum for the Galaxy at Florida Mall in Orlando has been anything but peaceful:

Disturbance at The Florida Mall. Send us your photos, and we want to talk to you. Send with #osphoto

— Orlando Sentinel (@orlandosentinel) February 24, 2012

We've got reports of police in riot gear out at Florida Mall. Story to come......

— Orlando Sentinel (@orlandosentinel) February 24, 2012

Florida mall is crazy right now. Cops on horses, swat team, tear gas #scaredformylife — Keonee Adams(@astoldbykeonee) February 24, 2012

Crowds rushing Florida Mall in Orlando (Twitpic/Flawdazfinest86)

The Orlando Sentinel also reported confirmation of the ongoing disturbance from the Orange County Sheriff's Office but further details were not available.

Linsanity may converge with Foamposite Galaxy insanity. RollingOut.com reports Knicks breakout superstar Jeremy Lin could be sporting a pair while playing in the NBA All-Star Rookie Challenge this weekend. Perhaps the All-Star weekend is a small factor influencing the craziness at the Florida Mall--the event also takes place in Orlando and is hosted by the Orlando Magic.

Anonymous chided the government for "not complying" with their demands and said that while they did not "organize these riots in any way," they did "spread the word" of the Greek government's failure to comply with the people's wishes.

The language of the message then veered into ominous territory:

Anonymous is continuing their attacks against the Greek government, and will not stop until the people get what they want. If this does not happen Greece's government will fall. This is also a warning to all the other European Union counterparts. Italy, Spain, Portugal, Britain, Poland, and all the others will suffer the same fate as Greece's.

As is often the case with announcements from Anonymous there seemed to be room for interpretation: was the warning regarding online actions--aggressive hacktivism against government websites, for example--or did it imply Anons would indeed begin to proactively organize violent, destructive protests similar to the Sunday riots in Greece in other European states?

Whatever the case, Anonymous's message to the Greek government was characteristic and clear: "you should've expected us."

Anonymous: Address to Greeks During Feb. 12 Riots - YouTube.

Screengrab

As many as 2000 students at the University of Massachusetts Amherst rioted in the streets tonight following the New England Patriots' 21-17 loss to the New York Giants. There were riot squads at the ready. Police used flashbangs and smoke bombs break up the action and supplemented with horseback officers who waded into the crowd gathered in student residential area. Police were on hand because reports indicate rioting in conjunction with major events is simply something students at UMass Amherst sometimes do:

Approximately 1,000 students rioted last May to mark the death of Osama Bin Laden, lighting small fires and scaling Berkshire Dining Commons’ low-hanging awning, chanting, flashing and setting off fireworks before a row of riot gear-clad officers marched at the crowd and sent rioters fleeing through campus.

None were arrested following the 2011 celebration and campus officials issued a release praising the handling of the situation.

The relative ease with which police broke up the gathering tonight made University spokesman Edward Blaguzewski hesitant to use the word riot, telling local media authorities were dealing "with a large crowd and there was a need to issue a dispersal orderto move them along."

Masslive.com reports police made 8 arrests after students poured into the streets following the Patriot's Super Bowl loss to the Giants 4 years ago.

Videos allegedly made during the riot were uploaded to Youtube Sunday night, including the one seen below, which was accompanied by a description indicating campus police on horseback "shot at the crowd--not with real bullets, but with what I'm sure hurts like a mother effer."

Umass Amherst Superbowl 2012 Riot - YouTube.

[masslive.com]

Is it okay to apply some juvenile pranks to some juvenile pranksters? Because somebody just started doing that. PhotoshopLooter

It certainly has nothing to do with a fashion line's new spring collection. That didn't stop the Kenneth Cole Twitter account from sending out a joke in that vein to its 8,000 followers. Naturally, all these angry Egyptians just want some new loafers and wingtips!

We were planning on borrowing the screen shot from the Ad Age story, but we don't have to! Shockingly, the company hasn't taken this thing down yet.

Who's responsible for this faux pas? Well, if those initials at the end are to be taken literally, it came straight from the BlackBerry of Kenneth Cole himself. A subsequent tweet indicated that the company wasn't "intending to make light of a serious situation," but there's no apology yet. Will there be one? Probably not, and that doesn't really matter. Fixing a little joke about Egypt isn't going to fix the scenario over there.

People should probably just forget about this and move on to what's really important -- Fashion Week is just days away! Now that's something to riot over.

Click for What Twitter Taught Us: Anderson Cooper Gets Clocked in the Face, Egypt-Style

nfreeman [at] observer.com | @nfreeman1234