Seconds after the Boston Red Sox broke their 86-year-old curse, an excited fan pulled the fire alarm in the Letts-Anderson complex and spilled nearly a thousand students onto the Letts-Anderson Quad and the SIS Annex. The victory marked the end of decades of tears, anguish and heartache over "The Curse of the Bambino" - the Sox's failure to win a World Series since trading Babe Ruth to the Yankees in 1920.
At AU, the reaction among many students was ecstatic. Led by chants of "Yankees suck" and "It's all over," an undulating crowd of around 50 students pumped their fists and formed a makeshift mosh pit, where they flagellated each other with arms, coats and bodies in an emotional frenzy of baseball redemption.
The seemingly untouchable center of the storm was the strongest point of the crowd, even as other students expressed annoyance at standing out in the cold, cursed the Sox for breaking the curse or joined in celebration in a much less excitable fashion. Will Mount, a senior in the School of Public Affairs, said of the victory: "I think it's great. I'm a Reds fan myself, but I wanted to see them do it."
One Yankees fan was dismissive of the Sox victory.
"I don't care about this," said Daniel Hakimian, a freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences. "The Yankees won 26 [World Series]. It does not compare to our 26,"
The now-retired curse began on Jan. 3, 1920, when Sox owner Harry Frazee sold Ruth to the Yankees. Prior to the sale, the Sox won five of the first 15 World Series, the last one in 1918.
During the game, Sox fans were as superstitious as ever.
"None of us are gonna say anything because we're not stupid enough to jinx it," said Natalie DeRiso, a senior in CAS who has been a Sox fan since the age of 6.
A desk receptionist in Anderson Hall, who declined to be named, said that before the game, resident assistants met to prepare for possible victory riots. During the celebration, RAs yelled at students to stay off the sidewalk and clear a path for vehicles, but otherwise did nothing to quell the students.
Mike McNair, chief of Public Safety, said there was a plan to deal with riots or other disturbances. Before the game ended, Public Safety removed anti-car barriers and pulled their vehicles into the spaces where the barriers would be. Some officers patrolled the South Side of campus in Public Safety vehicles, while others walked on foot or carried fire extinguishers.
A helicopter circled over AU, which a Metropolitan Police Department officer said belonged to the MPD.
McNair also said that there were witnesses to who pulled the fire alarm.
Many students held cameras and video cameras, chronicling the victory. Some students joined chants, while others stood around smiling or smoking cigars, and several girls flashed themselves. On top of the SIS Annex, student Matt Dettelbach climbed on the roof to videotape the celebrations for an ATV program.
Although students were let back into their dorms, hundreds of students went into the main Quad, where they continued their chants, blowing bullhorns and even tipping over a panda statue. At one point, a few students ran down the tunnel with a burning broom, later leaving it on the Quad, where Public Safety officers extinguished the fire.
Josh Gardner, a senior in SPA, said, "It's probably the greatest feeling in the world. No comparison."
Candy Hopkins, a sophomore in CAS, agreed. "I just can't even believe it. It doesn't seem real," she said.
Public Safety Officer Leonard Jukkala said that he was happy that the Red Sox won, but deplored the possible destruction of property.
"It's good that they won. I'm happy. So as long as they keep it safe, I'm also happy," he said.
Eagle Staff Writer Ryan Grannan-Doll contributed to this article.
