Riot Watch: Sleepless in Seattle

Editors note: The Riot Watch item is not intended to glorify rioting and violence.  Quite the opposite.  It is intended to make a mockery of it, and call people out on their stupidity for doing stupid stuff, thus serving as a cautionary tale exemplifying the negative consequences as such.

I'll have some commentary on that pummel job of a Super Bowl eventually, but Seattle fans surely made Richard Sherman proud when they put on this display after winning their first Super Bowl.  The 12th man became the 1,200th man...with lots of fire, vandalism, and lots of busted glass.  For some reason, a damage estimate of $25,000 seems a bit low.

WE JUST WON THE SUPER BOWL!  LET'S LIGHT A COUCH ON FIRE!

The 12th man clearly took a page out of the West Virginia playbook on that one.  Either that or they put something in the apples.  Police said that things were relatively peaceful until after midnight.  Sure, that makes sense.  That's about the time the booze really starts to kick in.  All it takes is one idiot to make that first move.  The one idiot gets arrested, but by then everybody else is chiming in.  Safety in numbers I guess? 

That reminds me of 2003.  Maryland Basketball just upset #1 Florida on the road (there was a time when they were good like that).  Immediately after the game, the freshmen dorms emptied and people milled around.  Police were everywhere.  Everybody was waiting for it, that first move, but there was a problem.  Somebody had to make the first move.  But that meant more than likely that first move was going to get you arrested.  And where's the fun in rioting if you're going to get arrested?  Nobody was courageous enough to make the first move, everybody decided this was boring, and went back to the dorms. 

Back in the great Northwest, the big loser on the night was not Denver (although they did look pretty bad) but the historic Pergola in Pioneer Square, a century old glass archway that was the target of rioters revelry.  Why is it always historic structures that seem to get the brunt of the damage?  Shameful. 

That was the smartest move they made all night. 

Stay classy, Seattle.