Moments before Game 5 ended, the streets around Main Campus were desolate, except for the dozens of policemen patrolling nearby.
Sgt. Chuck James of the Temple Police and a team of officers listened to the game from a portable radio.
They were ready for the unpredictable.
“We are prepared in the event that they win. We really want everybody to remain safe,” James said.
However, with students’ adrenaline pumping Phillies Fever, they were more concerned with celebrating.
In almost the blink of an eye, students exploded with chaos out of their residence halls and onto the streets after the win. They came from all directions, cheering, screaming and some even crying.
“I’m so excited! We won. We won. We won. We won. We are the champions,” said freshman architecture major Leanne Maier.
Broad Street was congested with cars, bikes, wheelchairs and pedestrians headed south toward City Hall.
Freshman international business major Laura Rasmussen is not from Pennsylvania and is not a Phillies fan. However, “after experiencing what Philly love is, I am a fan for good,” she said.
“No class tomorrow or Friday. The weekend begins now,” yelled one student.
Excited passengers hung out of car windows, gripping onto the car roofs, shouting “number one.” They held Phillies flags and red streamers out of windows, slapping hands with passing pedestrians.
One energized student stopped in front of a moving car. As it stopped in front of him, he began yelling, “Number one. I can’t hear you. Number one. Number one.” It wasn’t until the driver yelled back, “Number one,” that the student moved out the car’s way.
“Just get out of here and go to City Hall,” a police officer joked to students passing by.
Broad Street near City Hall was littered with broken bottles and displaced city trash cans. The windshield
of a CBS3 Eyewitness News truck was completely shattered.
While walking down Broad toward Center City, the continuous tune of honking cars, screaming fans and
police whistles could be heard the entire way. One of the city’s municipal waste trucks roared its horn, with the driver cheering inside.
Matthew Petrillo can be reached at mattp@temple.edu.
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