Thousands gather for celebration

Mardi Gras.\nThat was the consistent description of the gathering of thousands onto Kirkwood Avenue Saturday night after the basketball team's win against Oklahoma. \nThe swarm of people, some soaked in beer, huddled together, yelling and jumping. From above, the movement patterns of the crowd looked like a satellite image of a swirling hurricane. \nThe epicenter, at Kirkwood and Dunn, was marked by crowdsurfers and street signs bobbing in the air.\nWomen on friend's shoulders flashed their chests at the crowd. Men stripped down to boxer shorts and climbed like monkeys up light poles, almost as if performing in front of strobe lights because of the continuous flashbulbs of cameras.\n"It's nuts," junior David Alcorn said. "It's insanity. It's Mardi Gras on Kirkwood."\nAfter the game ended at roughly 8:30 p.m., a 30-minute continuous influx of people arrived on Kirkwood Avenue, said Bloomington Police Department Sgt. Tony Pope. He said the crowd was fairly well-behaved.\n"When you get that many people all together and come out as well as we did, (it) is good," Pope said.\nSeveral spectators climbed onto poles and dangled from electrical wires that suspended street lights over the intersection of Kirkwood and Dunn. Those wires will be removed for tonight's game, Pope said. Otherwise, he said BPD will follow the same procedure tonight as Saturday. \nAt 9 p.m., the stop sign on the southeast corner of the intersection was ripped from the ground and passed above the crowd. Later, another stop sign, one-way sign and handicap sign were also torn from their locations.\nAs of Sunday, Bloomington Police reported 10 arrests for public intoxication in the Kirkwood area and on Walnut Street. One man was arrested after being caught by police with a globe-shaped street light cover in People's Park at about 9:45 p.m, Pope said. \nHe said officers stationed on the roof of Greetings videotaped the activities of the crowd in case any serious activity occurred, and would later need the tape to review both crowd and police actions. He said people swinging from the wires and climbing poles will not be identified and tracked down.\nAt 10:11 p.m. police entered the intersection of Kirkwood and Dunn and began moving people from the center of the mass outward. At 10:45 p.m., streetsweepers began cleaning the area. Pope said the crowd had almost dispersed by 11 p.m.\nEight officers put out a fire after someone had set clothing alight. Several cars were also damaged. \nCapt. Mike Diekhoff said there were some head injuries, none of which he said he thought were serious. \nSophomore Anne Zakaras got a bag of ice from Jimmy John's to soothe a two-inch welt on the forehead. \n"I was at Kilroy's Sports and I got hit by a glass," she said. "I'll sacrifice it for the win."\nParking will be prohibited on Kirkwood Avenue between Walnut Street and Indiana Avenue and on Walnut Street between Fourth and Eighth Streets between 6 p.m. Monday and 6 a.m. Tuesday. \nKirkwood Avenue will be closed to traffic between Indiana Avenue and Walnut Street beginning at game time. \nVehicles violating these rules will be subject to towing.