Super Bowl 2012 UMass Riots: Disgruntled Fans Take to the Street After Pats Lose

Super Bowl XLVI was a wild game that didn't skimp on the emotions. It became far too much for the juvenile to handle when riots broke out at UMass Amherst after the game. 

Brian Canova of MassLive.com reported that crowds sprang up immediately following the New England Patriots' loss to the New York Giants in Super Bowl XLVI. 

Canova reports police officials, including University of Massachusetts police, Amherst police and state police, were all on hand well before the game that saw the Patriots fall, 21-17. 

That didn't stop a raucous crowd from showing its disgust by getting violent and throwing glass bottles and setting off fireworks. 

Officers issued a dispersal order at 10:08 p.m. local time, which was about 15 minutes after the crowd gathered. In all, 14 people were arrested after flashbangs and smoke grenades were used to disperse the crowd. 

There is now video from the riot that does have language that is not safe for work. Here are, presumably, two UMass students reacting to the rioting: 

You can see a crowd that reaches a fever pitch before police on horseback come into the picture. Smoke grenades go off alongside officers being led by canines. A scary situation gets corralled by fear from a heavy police presence. 

The MassLive.com report cites university spokesman Edward Blaguszewski, who stated: 

"

It was a large crowd and there was a need to issue a dispersal order to move them along. Police are saying there are no injuries and no damage. Certainly some fights broke out and there was rowdiness

"

Blaguszewski relayed that police believed the crowd hovered around 1,500 people, while other witnesses counted as many as 3,000. 

Chants varied from the obvious "[expletive] the Giants" to the riot staple "U-S-A, U-S-A." Unwarranted steam was let off, and drunken violence was allayed. 

There is no reason to resort to public damage over a game played by millionaires that are, for all intents and purposes, strangers. 

The good news, however, is that nobody was seriously injured. 

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