Volume 124 Issue 125
kansan.com
Monday, April 2, 2012
STAMPEDING STUDENTS
PANIC TAKES OVER LINE FOR FINAL FOUR TICKETS
MIKE VERNON
mvernon@kansan.com
NEW ORLEANS — As thousands of students lined up waiting for tickets in a parking garage adjacent to the Mercedez-Benz Superdome, a "Let's go Jayhawks" chant boomed throughout the garage. Right on cue, Louisville, Kentucky and Ohio State fans drowned out the chant with boos. But that was the calm part of Saturday.
The chaos began early in the morning when students from all four universities lined up, hoping to get a floor seat to the two Final Four games. A metal barrier separated each school, and everything was calm, until security guards told the students they weren't supposed to be in the garage at all.
Students said they stamped outside of the garage, hoping to keep their spot at the front of the line. Before things could settle down, the students were instructed to return to their original
That's when panic broke out.
place inside the parking garage, creating the morning's second mob.
Two Louisville students, senior Pat Hoagland and sophomore Grant McKenzie, said everything was orderly when they first arrived at the
soon as we all got back outside, it was literally 2,800 students, running in one direction and then the other direction. It was like running of the bulls with drunk college students."
PAT HOAGLAND AND GRANT MCKENZIE
Louisville senior and sophomore
Another
garage. But the relaxed nature of the line, quickly changed.
Another Louisville fan, who wished to remain anonymous, captured a video of a confrontation he had with a security guard for Festival and Event Staffing and Security Services Inc., or EFSS, that
"We got here at 12:30 a.m. last night, and there was no one here," Hoagland and McKenzie said. "As
turned ugly. The student recorded the video once the students were let back in the garage.
TRAVIS YOUNG/KANSAN
— Edited by Nadia Imafidon
Students wait in line to purchase tickets before the NCAA Final Four Tournament in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans. The event became chaotic after students were misenformed that they were waiting in the wrong location.
DAMAGES
Caught in the middle of the chaos on Massachusetts Street, a parked SUV trampled by students in the middle of the road in front of the Granada. Parked cars became victims of vandalism after the Final Four win over Ohio State Saturday night.
JESSICA JANASZ/KANSAN
Parked vehicles on Mass. Street left trampled on by celebrations
Fans fared better than their vehicles amid the raging crowd on Massachusetts Street Saturday.
REBEKKA SCHLICHTING
rschlichting@kansan.com
James Dean, from Topeka, ran to his car after the game. He saw a man standing on the roof of his car and shoved him off. It was too late; the roof had been damaged. Fortunately, Dean was prepared
for the collateral damage of a fan frenzy.
IESSICA IANASZ/KANSAN
Dean's car might have been attractive to any KU fan because of its paint job. Every other panel was spray painted red and blue, and "KU" was painted on the hood of the car.
"I just bought the car to do this to it," said Dean. "I'm that much of a Jayhawk fan. I paid three hundred bucks for the car, twenty
Nick Newberry drove downtown and parked in front of Jefferson's, 743 Massachusetts Street, two minutes before the game ended.
"I neglected to realize that this chaos would happen, and I bought this car three weeks ago."
for the spray paint, and a hundred
for alcohol; Hell of a good time"
MASS. STREET
The view from the roof of the Eldridge Hotel shows thousands of Jayhawk fans flooding Mass St. after the Final Four win over Ohio State Saturday night. The Jayhawks will play Kentucky tonight in the NCAA Championship.
Thousands flock to downtown after Kansas knocks off OSU
ILUKE RANKER
lranker@kansan.com
SEE CARS PAGE 8A
Strangers hugged. Police officers high-fived pedestrians. Crowds swarmed downtown Lawrence amid echoing Rock Chalk chants and fireworks. Celebration erupted across Lawrence Saturday night after the men's basketball team narrowly beat Ohio State to advance to
CLASSIFIES 2B
CROSSWORD 4A
CRYPTOQUIPS 4B
OPINION SA 5A
the National Championship.
Like thousands of other fans, Erica Cosgrove, a junior, rushed onto Massachusetts Street in celebration.
"it's the best thing I've been a part of here," Cosgrove said.
Massachusetts Street remained flooded from the end of the game until the bars closed and consumed most of the downtown area from 11th Street northward.
SPORTS 1B
SUDOKU 4A
Megan Hawman, a senior from Overland Park, was part of the crowd in front of The Granada, 1020 Massachusetts St.
"This is unbelievable," Hawman said. "It's awesome to see people in such good spirits."
The post-game celebration was
all contents, unless stated otherwise, © 2012 The University Daily Kansan
SEE FANS PAGE 8A
There's a pretty big basketball game tonight. It's kind of a big deal. Tune in to CBS at 8:23 p.m.
Today's Weather
Sunny, South wind 15 to 20mph, gusts to 30. 30% chance t storms in the
Perfect for a championship game.
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