Kirkwood prepares for frenzy

It's radiating from the asphalt and beaming invisibly from the street lights on Kirkwood Avenue. \nIt's anticipation, and it almost seems to be beckoning the IU masses.\nThousands gathered last Saturday night on Kirkwood to celebrate the basketball team's victory, and business owners are preparing for a potentially larger crowd this weekend.\nPitaya will close two hours early at 7 p.m. to prevent what happened to store workers last Saturday, employee and senior Kellie Allen said.\n"The two girls had to run to their cars to get out of the Kirkwood area so they wouldn't be trapped here," Allen said. "They just ran straight to their cars right after the game."\nThe Den has closed early on game nights since the Duke game last Thursday and will close before the game against Oklahoma even begins.\n"They don't want anything to happen to the store," Den employee and IU junior Adam Dearing said. "They don't want anyone to have to work during the game. It's unfair."\nThe crowd damaged a tree planted on the corner of Dunn and Kirkwood and set trees in the downtown area on fire, according to The Associated Press. White Mountain Ice Creamery manager Doug Petersen said a downspout was damaged outside his business. \nJimmy John's manager Greg Waksmulski said he's puzzled about how someone stole a sign screwed into the wall of the sandwich shop. \n"It was a madhouse," said Brooke Yarber, manager of Beyond the Wall. "People were yelling and screaming. It'll definitely be more crazy if we win."\nOther shop owners agree that fans will pour onto Kirkwood immediately after the game. \n"If we lose I expect riots; if we win I expect riots," Waksmulski said.\nPeterson, who saw crowds gather to celebrate basketball wins in 1982 and 1987, said a victory Saturday will make the area erupt.\n"They'll go absolutely berserk if we win it," he said. "They (the team) have gone much farther than their performance during the season would indicate they should."\nBut even with so many people in the street, business owners said they thought the fans were fairly responsible.\n"We were very pleased with the crowd's behavior," said Jennifer Gray, a manager at Urban Outfitters. \nJay Wilkin, manager at Steve and Barry's, said despite the damaged tree and reports of one man setting his Purdue shirt on fire, the crowd was not as violent as it could have been.\n"They were very well-behaved. I was really impressed. People were happy and were jumping up and down," he said. "People were not rowdy. They knocked over that one poor tree. Other than that I thought it was harmless"