14 DAY TRIAL // The students from the State University of New York in Cortland started a crazy riot after their football team won the annual “Cortaca Jug” contest against rivals from Ithaca College.
Even before the game ended, students and supporters started gathering on the streets celebrating the almost certain victory. Thousands of people flooded the streets near Clayton Avenue drinking and flipping cars around leading to what is now known as the biggest riot of 2013.
The “Cortaca Jug” is an old tradition supporting a football rivalry between SUNY Cortland and Ithaca College. The awaited celebration led to crowds getting out of control, trashing everything around them, participants getting hurt and more than 30 people getting arrested by the police.
Apparently, students lost their minds when they saw their favorite team leading with as much as four points and went to the streets to excessively celebrate the good news. Police estimated around 4,000 to 6,000 people were in the streets at the time and had to call in for backup from other law enforcement agencies in order to control the crowds, according to News Channel 9.
The President of SUNY Cortland, Erik J. Bitterbaum, publicly apologized to the community for the damages caused by the crowds. “Unfortunately, as we all saw Saturday, the athletic contest has become secondary to the celebration for some students, guests and visitors to the community. As an institution dedicated to academic and athletic excellence we are determined to turn this destructive culture around,” Bitterbaum said according to Syracuse.
While officials are apologizing for the insane riot that took place over the weekend, students are posting photos and commenting on the crazy experience they took part in, calling it “The SUNY Party of the Year.” Photos posted on Twitter or Instagram picture students using pasta strainers as head protection from flying beers, cars flipped outside down in the streets and even a car driven through a house.
In the aftermath of the disaster, there was a banner on one of the trashed houses reading “Cortaca. Black Out or Back Out.”