Car-Flipping Fans Gave the Rest of Us a Bad Name
While most of the post-World Series victory rejoicing Wednesday evening was peaceful, redemptive, etc., there were, of course, several boneheads giving the rest of us a bad name. We’ve won an incredible three titles in the past decade, and yet, the world was just waiting for us to get a little too excited. As a Deadspin headline puts it, “Boston Fails To Celebrate Like It’s Been There Before.”
The existence of revelers at Fenway and on Boylston near the Marathon finish line who would mark a victory by rioting was predictable enough that The Onion quickly had a piece up that nailed the philosophical confusion. “Red Sox Fan Dedicates Garbage Can He’s Lighting On Fire To Marathon Victims,” the headline reads. Switch out “lighting garbage can on fire” with “needlessly flipping cars” and that’s pretty much a work of non-fiction. “About two dozen revelers tried to flip a car parked in front of the Talbots store as police arrived and cleared the crowd,” the Boston Globe reports. What better way to celebrate Boston’s collective healing than to return to the Marathon finish line and destroy property!? A video claiming to show men in the Fenway area flipping over a car while the driver is still inside has also made the rounds this morning. (There is some cussing so get headphones or hit mute if that will offend.)
Boston.com online producer Andrew Ba Tran tweeted out some of the Globe’s more dramatic photography, showing people climbing traffic lights, and standing atop flipped cars without concern that their photogenic faces might make them supremely identifiable in the cold, sober light of day.
A man climbs atop an overturned car (Jessica Rinaldi for The Boston Globe) More reaction pics: http://t.co/ZiAflDVHUw pic.twitter.com/jtq6isN1z3
— Boston.com (@BostonDotCom) October 31, 2013
But while of course some will point to these images to characterize the entire city’s reaction to the victory, it’s worth recalling that Boston Police arrested just nine people all night. BPD themselves seemed intent on reminding us of this on Twitter:
Total of 9 people arrested for unruly behavior #GoHome #CelebrateResponsibly
— Boston Police Dept. (@bostonpolice) October 31, 2013
#BPD thanks the tens of thousands of great @RedSox fans who showed #BostonPride & #CelebratedResponsibly #WorldSeriesChampions!! #Parade
— Boston Police Dept. (@bostonpolice) October 31, 2013
Good work most of you!
