On Saturday two very different traditions of the Little 500 weekend, the storied cycling competition and the epic party scene, came crashing together at one of Bloomington's most popular bars, Nick's English Hut.
Two members of the Cutters team, including the coach, Jim Kirkham, and the senior captain and anchoring rider in the victory, Sasha Land,
face misdemeanor battery charges after an altercation with an employee turned into an ugly physical struggle. The confrontation concluded with Land striking the employee with a pitcher and lacerating his head.
Land fared much better on the track than he did in the bar
The stupidity of this decision would boggle anyone's mind. The two leaders arguably the most recognizable and most popular team in one of the greatest college events in the nation, just hours after becoming the first team EVER to take home back-to-back victories, just hours after a glorious win that earned them national recognition, turn around and make complete and utter fools of themselves, a la Pacman Jones or more recently, Carmelo Anthony.
Those who have complained about the burgeoning excessiveness of the Little 500 weekend just received the best kind of ammunition for their cause. The weekend also featured a lot of other drunken characters who didn't know when to stop as well (40 arrests and 202 summonses issued for the weekend was considered "a pretty good weekend").
However, it's not fair to pass judgment on the state of Little 500 and the student population as a whole just because of the antics of a couple higher-profile figures. Even though the actions of of a small percentage of the population are embarrassing, the inevitable consequences of standing outside the courthouse at 8:00am on Sunday for hours of road crew cleanup, as well as the hefty drinking ticket (or worse for Kirkham and Land) have done at least an adequate job of keeping them in check over the past years.
On the other side, the weekend gives students a huge dose of tradition and a chance to witness a spectacle unlike anything else. It brings together people of all different ages and backgrounds, students from many different colleges, older alumni, and
even the occasional presidential candidate, who was coincidentally in the same bar less than 48 hours before the incident.
In the end, the Little 500 weekend may push the line sometimes, but it still still a unique and unforgettable experience for everyone involved, and it continues to live up to its label as the "Greatest College Weekend" in more ways than one.
Related links:
Cutters rider, coach arrested for battery hours after Little 500 win
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