Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe Mascot gets cold shoulder for snowballs CINCINNATI, Dec. 5 (UPI) -- A snowball fight at the University of Cincinnati's football game got out of hand and led to the mascot's arrest, police said. Advertisement Snowballs began to be thrown between the crowd at Nippert Stadium and the UC Bearcat mascot around 1 p.m. Saturday, during UC's 28-10 loss to Pittsburgh. Mascot M. Robert Garfield III, 22, was cited for disorderly conduct, UC Police Capt. Jeff Corcoran told the Cincinnati Enquirer. "He was throwing them at the crowd and so of course, people threw back and missed him and hit other people," said Corcoran. "The officer asked him to stop and he took exception to that." At one point, Garfield shoved the officer and both ended up on the ground, he said. The athletics department would not say what disciplinary action he will face. Garfield is a senior at the College of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning and was a 2009-10 senior class officer. Advertisement Peace on Earth, beer on tap for Santas SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 5 (UPI) -- Hundreds of Santas fanned out across San Francisco and drank to good cheer in an annual tradition this weekend, bar employees said. The revels of SantaCon, when people dress up in Kris Kringle and elf costumes, got under way Saturday afternoon and went on into the night, the Bay City News Service reported. The event, which began in San Francisco in 1994, was loosely coordinated with a list of bars and times to convene posted on a blog. "I would say we're about on par with the number of Santas from last year," said Michael Thompson, a manager at Harvey's gay bar and restaurant in the Castro neighborhood. "A boatload of Santas rolled in at about 5 p.m.," said Jason, a bartender at Gold Cane Cocktail Lounge in Haight-Ashbury. He said about 150 costumed partiers were "playing pool and carousing," he said. About 50 Santas showed up at the Lucky 13 on Market Street about 6:30, bartender Martin Kraenkel said. "Every year we get hundreds and hundreds of them, so we've always been super packed." Boston falls short in caroling record try BOSTON, Dec. 5 (UPI) -- An attempt to set a new Christmas caroling record in Boston fell short Saturday, but organizers said a good time was had by all. Advertisement A total of 3,239 singers belted out holiday tunes in unison at the Prudential Center but the crowd was well short of the Guinness World Record of 7,514 carolers set at Bob Jones University in 2004. "At some point when we knew we weren't going to hit the 7,515 mark," Andrea Simpson told the Boston Globe. "It became more about hitting an all-time record … for holiday spirit." Simpson is a spokeswoman for Shops at the Prudential Center, which organized the event with the Boston Pops and the Tanglewood Festival Chorus. The Globe said Sunday that the crowd count was made with the assistance of red and green caps given to every 50th caroler who entered the area. The colors made it easier to get an accurate count from aerial views of the event. School wonders what time capsule holds SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 5 (UPI) -- A San Francisco school says it has just learned it contains a time capsule deposited 100 years ago and then forgotten. Mayor P.H. "Pinhead" McCarthy put a copper box in the wall of Cleveland Elementary School when he dedicated it in 1910 and covered it with the cornerstone. The only evidence of its existence was one sentence in a Sept. 19, 1910, newspaper article that former Cleveland student John Weidinger, 69, found while doing research for the school's centennial at the San Francisco Public Library. Advertisement No one knows what's in the box. Cleveland principal Kristin Tavernetti hopes to find 100-year-old "kid stuff," while some of the children speculate it may hold gold coins. Unfortunately, the cornerstone is behind a well-loved mural painted in the mid-1990s by artist Susan Cervantes. The mural already needs restoration and Cervantes will be brought back for touch-ups, said David Goldin, the school district's chief facilities officer. Goldin also is anxious to keep the cornerstone safe during the excavation. He says he will attempt the operation over the winter break.
