Rutgers Party

In the last week, TV coverage of the Rutgers-Louisville has been unprecedented in the eyes of Rutgers fans. However, the cameras were limited to the confines of Rutgers Stadium and were shut off shortly after Schiano got hit with the Gatorade jug, Ray Rice thanked his team for all his success and a couple thousand Rutgers fans stormed the field. What the cameras missed was the greater New Brunswick area becoming a complete madhouse. It marked the first Rutgers game that I've ever been to that every single fan stayed for the entire game and long after for those who stormed the field. That means that the record crowd of 44,111 excited fans left at roughly the same time. Seas of people chose to walk across the river and to Livingston Campus as waiting in line for shuttle buses that had no free roads to drive on seemed like a total buzzkill. Easton Avenue and College Avenue became impassable. People poured out from the dorms, houses and bars to celebrate on the streets. Police closed off long stretches of the streets and police helicopters flew overhead. Fans streaked down Route 18. I even heard reports of couches being lit on fire (come on now! We aren't from West Virginia!). I've been to some big games at big football schools, but this was at Rutgers and those kind of things didn't ever happen there. The interest in college football in New Jersey and New York is unlike it has ever been and likely more than it ever will be. Lets hope the fickle fans from the east coast won't abandon them once the feel-good cinderella season is over or they revert back to mediocrity.