Thursday night’s thrilling Arizona basketball win over San Diego State prompted hundreds of UA students and fans to pour out onto University Blvd. after the game to collectively celebrate.
It was a relatively tame gathering, despite how local Twitter, TV people — the same TV people whose cameras and bright lights drew the crowd hungrily towards them — and Tucson and university police were on hand and in riot gear. But that was more of a precaution than anything else.
But, apparently, one person decided he couldn’t just cheer and scream to show his support for the Cats.
While most people were “celebrating responsibly,” as TPD put it in a news release, 25-year-old Andrew Gallardo was arrested for disorderly conduct after allegedly throwing a beer bottle “in the direction of responding officers.”
According to UA’s online student directory, Gallardo is an undergraduate in the Eller College of Management. Because of this, the release says his arrest has also been forwarded to the Dean of Students.
TPD went through training exercises earlier this month to prepare for an anticipated deep run by the UA basketball team in the NCAA tournament. The response to last night’s celebration was just the tip of the iceberg, as no one wants a repeat of the 2001 craziness that saw Fourth Avenue turn into a war zone, rubber bullets and all.
This article appears in Mar 27 – Apr 2, 2014.
How come no one wants to remember that 4th Ave exploded in rioting in 1997 too! You think they only riot after the team loses? C’mon, guys! Credit where it’s due.
That’s because nothing really happened in ’97. The explosion was in ’01–when they lost. Due credit.
“local Twitter and local TV people”… and also THIS WEBSITE, IN A DIFFERENT STORY ABOUT THE SAME THING:
“Arizona Wildcats’ win over San Diego State University Thursday night almost inspired a drunken celebration in the form of a good old-fashion riot.”
Ugh.
To those who say we no longer need editors I present the following critically ill sentence:
“It was a relatively tame gathering, despite how local Twitter and local TV people — the same TV people whose cameras and bright lights drew the crowd hungrily toward them — and though Tucson and university police were on hand and in riot gear, that was more a precaution than anything else.”