Fans who decided to stay home Tuesday night rather than brave the snow to camp out for Final Four tickets can breathe easy. They can still experience all the thrills of the Final Four right in Syracuse.

Vendors will sell popcorn, drinks and official programs when the Carrier Dome opens its doors to fans Saturday night to watch Syracuse face Texas at 8:37 p.m. The game will be televised on three video boards where the basketball court would be and one in a winged alignment. The event is limited to 10,000 people. While Dome workers prepare for that crowd, M-Street businesses also hope to bring spectators for special events. They don’t, however, hope to see those fans get rowdy.

At the Dome, fans will be charged $3 and can enter at 7:30 p.m. to watch the end of the other Final Four game, Marquette vs. Kansas, which begins at 6:07 p.m. Doors would open earlier, but a women’s lacrosse game is scheduled for 4 p.m. and workers need about two hours to set up.

Syracuse CBS affiliate WTVH and local rock station WAQX are sponsoring the event and providing entertainment during commercials.

“They’ll be emceeing it when there’s breaks in the action,” Carrier Dome manager Pat Campbell said. “We’ll have contests giving away t-shirts and stuff like that during down time. It should be really fun.”

Syracuse employed a similar set up in 1996 when the Orangemen reached the FInal Four and beat Mississippi State, 77-69. Campbell said he sold 3,500 tickets for the MSU game and about 5,000 for the championship game against Kentucky, which SU lost, 76-67.

This year, Campbell anticipates the sales to rise.

“We’ll probably have 5,000 to 7,000 for Saturday, and I’d expect close to 10,000 if they’re in the championship,” Campbell said. “There’s just something about how the community has rallied around this team, and the people are really drawn to them.”

In 1996, SU failed to cover costs by hosting the event. Although he expects more fans to show, Campbell’s just hoping to break even.

Despite a number of riots in recent years — Maryland last season and Michigan State in 1999 — Campbell said he’s not concerned about rowdiness this weekend.

“Seven years ago, it was a great atmosphere,” Campbell said. “Everybody left the building in a great mood. There weren’t any crazy instances. We want to be normal, not crazy.”

As a precaution, Marshall Street and South Crouse Avenue will be closed at 4 p.m. Saturday. Extra security will also be present on M-Street, alleviating some anxiety of many businesses of a possible riot. Security will patrol Maggie’s Tavern, Darwin’s Restaurant and Bar, Varsity Pizza, Konrad’s and Acropolis Pizza House, five places fans can relax and watch the game.

Despite the extra security, Darwin’s is taking its own precautions. All staff, including 10 to 15 bouncers, will be working during the game. Besides extra security, however, Darwin’s won’t do anything special for the Final Four besides ordering extra food and drinks.

While riots may not be a problem, Marshall Street should be swarmed with fans following the game. Gus Forsman, a worker at Varsity for 23 years, remembers how chaotic the scene was in his restaurant in 1996, despite police on duty.

“When Syracuse won, the people basically threw their beers up and hit the ceiling here,” Forsman said. “There was a street sign on the end of Marshall Street. They pulled it up and carried it off. People were climbing the trees and the buildings. We had to close at like 8:30 at night to try and keep people from climbing on the building.”

But, despite the threat of riots, the only thing Varsity is doing to prepare for Saturday night is ordering extra food. It will televise the game on its screen, as it does for every SU game.

Konrad’s is changing its regular set up for Saturday night. Owner John Cadorette brought in a 64-inch television and will have specials on food and drinks for the game. All bars have agreed to use paper cups for drinks rather than bottles.

Acropolis worker Steve Papazibus doesn’t anticipate as many people in his restaurant as in 1996, when he said he got a “major” amount. He doesn’t think the fans are as loyal as they were seven years ago.

“I don’t know if it’s the school spirit or what,” Cadorette said. “I see people buying tickets just to try and turn around and sell them for profit. It’s depressing, really.”

Even so, most bars ordered extra beer for the weekend. Distributor Russ Smoke said Maggie’s ordered 20 kegs for this weekend compared to the 14 it usually orders.

“They’re stocking up on beer,” distributor Mark Fancher said. “If your team’s winning, you drink beer. If your team’s losing, you drink even more beer.”

Asst. Photo Editor Natalia Jimenez contributed to this story.

Published on April 3, 2003 at 12:00 pm