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
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.
