Those of us at the Badger game Saturday saw the guy who got arrested for throwing the purple wig out of Camp Randall Stadium.
We saw it. Then we all turned to our buddy and said, ""Wow, that sucks. It could have been us.""
Well instead, it was junior Joe McMullin who was chosen by abolsutely nobody to take on the task of an entire student section and toss the hideous purple wig over the edge.
If you weren't there, the purple wig was at one time on the head of a Northwestern fan who was called out by 20,000 people for apparently being an ""asshole."" It then only took one guy, although plenty of others probably were thinking of doing the same thing, to pull the purple afro wig off his head and start throwing it toward the top row of the stadium. As the entire student section chanted ""over,"" the wig eventually landed in the hands of McMullin in the last row.
""There was a lot of peer pressure and it landed right in my hands,"" McMullin told me on Monday. ""I said to myself, ‘You know what, screw it.' I'm not calling myself a martyr, but you know, you might as well do it and get over it with.""
If ""martyr"" isn't the right word, then ""small hero"" might be the right two words.
""When I got arrested, I felt like Maximus in ‘Gladiator',"" McMullin added. ""It was freaking crazy. Everyone was cheering for me and people were talking about it afterwards.""
When it comes down to it, you can choose to get really drunk and act like a big enough idiot to get arrested, but McMullin was in a situation where he really didn't have much of a choice.
Disappoint arguably the rowdiest student section in the nation, or get a ticket?
Tough decision.
It may seem easier to pass the wig along to a friend, but in the heat of the moment I probably would have tossed it over the edge as well.
According to McMullin, his fine was $500, but it was actually for possession of a fake ID rather than for throwing an object.
""I think they are really strict,"" McMullin said. ""Getting a $500 ticket for a fake ID seems a little excessive. I've never heard of anything that high.""
I would have to agree with McMullin. The police patrol at games this year has gotten out of hand. I have never been one to drink before games, but I'm somewhat afraid to make a scene over a bad call in fear I might get taken away in handcuffs.
I might be overreacting a little bit, but some of the fun has been taken out of a student section known for having a good time. The rare tossing of an object out of the stadium is hardly harmful and in this case, it was just a bunch of students defending their home territory. It's not like the fans are throwing bottles around and out of the confines of Camp Randall.
Although I must send my apologies to the fan who was rushed to the hospital after a cheap wig fell on his head and knocked him out cold.
If the emphasis is on the fans being drunk and acting like fools, then why do the police wait until the game starts to arrest people? I see students walking down the street with alcohol and cops just walking by the now famous Octabong on Bowen Court (which by the way is sweet) and just laughing.
It just seems a little hypocritical to arrest people at games for being belligerent when there is hardly an attempt to regulate behavior on the streets beforehand.
And in McMullin's case, he didn't even have alcohol in his system.
The UW junior has since created a Facebook group called: ""To Hell with that Purple Wig and My Ridiculous Fine."" The group had reached 101 members as of Monday night, and its main purpose is to raise money to pay the fine.
So, the question now becomes, knowing McMullin was arrested, will you complete the next ""over"" chant by tossing the next passing object out of the stadium?
McMullin had his own answer: ""I probably would.""
Would you toss the object and did McMullin deserve to be arrested? Email Hoge at hoge@dailycardinal.com with your thoughts.
