Will Banning Liquor Sales Prevent Riots?

Nationally, there are 10-15 riots each year following major sporting events. At Michigan State this weekend, 60 were arrested following the team’s loss to North Carolina (My favorite “unsportsman like moment” occurred a few years ago at a Duke-Maryland game).

The Daily Illini is reporting that the mayors of the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana, Illinois are restricting sales of beer and liquor in a measure designed to prevent riots in the twin cities following tonight's national championship game. This will have little, if any, impact on what happens on the Illini campus tonight. The students will celebrate and a few individuals will probably cross the line between fun and violence. The only real impact will be on the economies of neighboring communities such as Rantoul, Mahomet and Savoy which will see more than their fair share of tax receipts from the sale of alcoholic beverages today.

After 100 years of angst, the University of Illinois deserves its chance to celebrate tonight. Let the students have their alcohol and celebrate in style.

Note: The author of this post is a proud graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.