In Which I Control a Mob

This entry was originally written and published for a previous blogging endeavor, where my college roommate, the great Mike, and I chronicled our cheeky and fun shenanigans.

That blog is no longer updated, but this story was just what I was looking for to start off this one.

I have preserved the original entry without editing, and included Mike's witty comment.


4.05.2005
What should my mob do next?

Monday night was the NCAA Basketball championship game. Illinois played UNC. We didn't win.

Mike and C--- and I were at Murphy's watching the game with some friends. After the final buzzer went off, fans wandered out onto Green Street in a daze. Some people just stood there with a glazed look in their eyes, as if they couldn't believe what had just happened. A few people were sitting on the curb with their head down.

A small crowd of people ran into the middle of the intersection of Green & Sixth and started cheering "We're still number one!" Mike and C--- and I look at eachother and mumble something to the tune of "hey, let's riot anyway."

Within 30 seconds, Green Street is a solid sea of Orange, from Wright to beyond Fifth. You can't see the end of the crowd, and people are still making their way into the thick of it all.

Chants start up: the ubiquitous "ILL!" "INI!" of course, along with "We're still number one!", and the crowd pleasing "Fuck UNC!" among others.

People start crowd surfing, the cops are watching from ontop of Gameday, news cameramen are taping, and the mob keeps on growing.

As one of the crowd chants dies down, the three of us (Mike, C---, and I) start shouting "TO THE QUAD! TO THE QUAD!" and point East with the cadence of the chant. Some guys standing in front of us scowl and say "No man, this is where it's at" but they can't stop the will of the people. The directive spreads like water from a firehose and almost instantaneously the entire length of Green Street is cheering and walking towards the Alma Mater.

It was the crowning achievement of my life.

Comments:
Mike said...

Subsequent attempted chants of:
Burn it (Foellinger) down!

and

Lets Break In!

weren't so well received.

And So It Begins

"I'm going to start a blog," I announced to the table. The table consisted of my friends G--- and T---. "It's going to be called 'True Stories From My Life Question Mark' and it will consist of stories from my life that may or may not be true."

I was at a bar. I had had a few drinks. Neither of them thought I was that serious. I didn't think I was that serious.

"You can have voting after each entry, so readers can decide whether or not the stories are true or not," suggested G---.

"I'm going to go home and create this blog tonight. I think this is an awesome idea."