SOT: Student killed by falling goalpost

[Guest Common Sense]

I don't care what douchebags at what university were dumb enough to kill somebody while tearing down a goalpost.

Why are you making stuff up??

There are a million and one ways to keep fans from tearing down goalposts, and 999,999 of them involve making the fans happy too by allowing them to rush the field without touching the goalposts.

How many ways are there to keep a drunken student (yes, I know it's a stretch but there may be a few) from running up to an opposing player and getting his face rearranged?

[Apis Bull]

Dozen not all dirty

Big 12 stadium tour finds some fan rudeness remains, but politeness prevalent

By Bill Briggs

Denver Post Sports Writer

It was a season on the drink.

Which means the 2003 college football slate was staggeringly similar to past years: two-day tailgating binges, students with a snootful of "loudmouth stew," goalposts going down in Columbia, Mo., and Lawrence, Kan.

Yet one difference surfaced this fall, a calm ripple amid the swell of disorder. Across the land, conferences, colleges and campus cops took new steps to instill order and better manners in the stands. The Big 12 banned fans from rushing the field. Texas Tech hired a small army of cops to keep the peace when rival Texas A&M came calling. Colorado launched a long-term look at changing the culture of poor sportsmanship.

The Denver Post

[Guest Common Sense]

The Denver Post

This about sums it up from the article ......

"We've gone from a spectator society to a participant society (with) fans playing out the fantasy of being an athlete, overidentifying with teams," said a preliminary report written by summit members.

[Apis Bull]

University of Michigan forbids rushing the field

By Sam Stavis

Daily Staff Reporter

As excitement builds for this Saturday's football Showdown, many University students hope Michigan will crush Ohio State and 106,000 raging fans will rush the field, carrying Charles Woodson on their shoulders as "Hail to the Victors" echoes throughout Michigan Stadium.

But that's not going to happen, according to University officials. At least not the part about rushing the field.

"If somebody rushes the field, they're going to be arrested," said Department of Public Safety spokesperson Beth Hall. "It's a violation of regional ordinance, and it's also very dangerous. We don't want anybody to hurt themselves."

This may come as a disappointment to many Michigan fans who were anticipating an all-out victory celebration on and off the field.

"If Michigan wins, we should go hog-wild nuts," said LSA first-year student Jason Kohler. "It's the biggest game of the year, and it would be absurd if students couldn't celebrate."

Engineering sophomore Joshua Sauer proposed a way around the regulation.

"I'd try to get everyone else around me to rush the field, so they couldn't stop us," Sauer said.

Rushing the field may endanger fans, Hall said.

"It's our hope that people will not rush the field," she said. "It presents a danger to both people in and out of the stands."

DPS will be cooperating with the Michigan State Police, Ann Arbor Police Department and the Washtenaw County Sheriff's Department to maintain order at the game. "There's going to be increased security in general," Hall said.

Students have never rushed the field in full force at Michigan Stadium. Still, officials are concerned that this may happen at such an emotionally charged event.

"The level of excitement among students, staff and particularly among alumni, is just astonishing," said Vice President for University Relations Walter Harrison. "People are absolutely thrilled by all this. I think it's terrific."

While fans might not be permitted to rush the field in the event of a Michigan victory, there will still be plenty of excitement. Two events are being planned to make this football Saturday in Ann Arbor even more memorable - a pre-game student tailgate on Elbel Field and a post-game celebration at Michigan Stadium.

The student tailgate is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. and will last until kickoff at noon. The event is sponsored by Nike, Starbucks Coffee and Borders Books and Music and other local and national companies. Along with $1 pizza slices, the event will feature activities such as Nike interactive sports, a raffle for footballs signed by the Michigan football team and a live band performance.

The student tailgate is being organized by Spiritchange, a new student organization that has been working since September to host this event.

"Our basic goal is to increase school spirit at athletic events," said Spiritchange member Barbara Rublein.

Spiritchange members sent out more than 1,000 e-mail messages to attract attention to the tailgate and plan to continue advertising throughout the week.

"We're hoping to get around 500 or 600 people," said Rublein, a Business senior.

"It will be interesting," said Spiritchange president and LSA senior Rachel Madden. "Hopefully, we'll get a good turnout."

The post-game celebration will be held in Michigan Stadium immediately after the game. Organizers originally intended to hold the festivities at Crisler Arena, but changed the location to Michigan Stadium because of its larger size, said Deb Moriarty, assistant to the vice president for student affairs.

"Players (and) coaches will speak," Moriarty said. "(It will be) a typical post-game celebration."

Fans will inevitably be worked up by the end of the last quarter and the post-game celebration is a way to safely cool down. "There's a need for everybody to expend their energy," Moriarty said.

The Michigan Daily

[Apis Bull]

Police: Spray a needed force

By Halle Stockton  

Collegian Staff Writer

A Penn State University Police spokesman yesterday defended the department's actions following Saturday's Penn State football game, saying that any police action would have been criticized, and harsher tactics could have been used.

"We knew coming into the game that there would be a no-win situation," University Police Assistant Director Tyrone Parham said. "Either way, we are going to be told we did not do our job properly."

University police -- who were in charge of stadium security Saturday -- handled the students' rushing the field after the game "absolutely appropriately," said Vice President of University Relations Stephen MacCarthy, who spoke after Penn State President Graham Spanier's office directed all questions to university relations. "Controlling a very large, surging crowd is a difficult task," MacCarthy said. "We try to make it clear through the loudspeaker for people not to go on the field because it creates genuine safety issues."

Parham said that after announcements had been made to clear the field, university police used pepper spray, which causes a "very temporary level of discomfort."

"We could have used nightsticks, riot gear, shields, rubber bullets or gas rather than pepper spray," Parham said. "There are other levels of force, and we could have been a lot more physical."

Parham would not comment on specific police tactics, but he said the department would re-evaluate the post-game police action beginning with the Oct. 29 Purdue game. He said he doesn't know of any student injuries cause by the pepper spray, and added that extra force was needed because fans kept entering the field without showing signs of leaving.

"The other levels of force did not work -- once these people were on the field they were criminals," Parham said. "They were in violation of trespassing on private property ... you have to suffer the consequences."

Parham said there were incidents in which officers were injured.

"We had an officer intentionally punched down on the field; he went to the hospital and he is in a back brace right now on limited duty," Parham said. "It wasn't a random attack -- the guy told the officer he was coming down for him." Student Nathan Lehman was arraigned in connection, on charges of aggravated and simple assault, resisting arrest and defiant trespass.

Parham said that in another incident, an officer was near the stadium railing that collapsed.

"The officer fell to the ground and ended up with a leg injury, which luckily was not serious," he said.

MacCarthy said students rushing the field do cause damage, but the big concern is that fans can be trampled, causing serious injury.

"Pepper spray is a minimal deterrent, and police are going to use whatever they think is necessary to keep the situation under control," MacCarthy said.

Parham said the unanticipated railing break served as an immediate entrance to the field for many.

Undergraduate Student Government President Galen Foulke said it would be valuable to explore other options to prevent students from rushing the field.

"Obviously, we'd all like a scenario where no one gets pepper sprayed," Foulke said.

Parham said university police initially use the least amount of force -- police presence and verbal warnings.

"Neither option worked, so we had to increase our response level," he said.

Parham said university police do not have a set plan for the Purdue game.

University police received some feedback from those who thought they were pepper sprayed without cause, Parham said.

"There are some people that were not intentionally pepper sprayed, but the lingering mist may have come into eyes or skin," Parham said. "The only people we sprayed were people coming down on the field."

Foulke said the police force was necessary to keep the students safe and damage to the field minimal, and added that he saw no need for "serious actions or investigations."

Parham said formal complaints are kept confidential, and if there were complaints, he could not disclose the information. Complaints filed would first go to the supervisor on duty, and the supervisor would then conduct an investigation. If there were any violations, the issue would be forwarded to University Police Director Steve Shelow.

MacCarthy said he has not received complaints about the police work, but rather the "boorish behavior" on part of the Penn State fans toward the Ohio State fans.

Parham said police had to deal with mostly alcohol-related incidents Saturday.

"People were really trashed and loaded at 10 a.m., and that level continued throughout the day," Parham said. "At times, I was embarrassed of the behavior of our students -- they were intoxicated, rude and vulgar."

Collegian Staff Writer Devon Lash contributed to this report

The Digital Collegian

[Guest TraditionRich]

Wow, I guess all of those tradition rich programs want to be more like us....

We were just ahead of the curve.

[Guest Common Sense]

Students have never rushed the field in full force at Michigan Stadium.

WTF?? Rushing the field has been as a tradition in college football forever, or so we were told. How can it be that Michigan fans, one of the most traditionally rich programs in the country, have never rushed the field in full force??

[Apis Bull]

Purdue brings in backup to stop rushing fans

By Jon Nyatawa

Assistant Sports Editor

It has become a college football tradition for fans to celebrate a big win by running onto the field.

Even though it may seem incomprehensible to ask thousands of over-joyed fans who just witnessed their team play at its highest level to exit the stadium in an orderly fashion, at Purdue, any unauthorized access to the field at Ross-Ade Stadium is illegal.

Steve Simmerman, assistant athletic director, said Purdue's policy is based more on safety than anything else.

"Anytime a crowd rushes the field, it's a major concern because it's a real safety issue," he said. "We want to ensure the safety of both the fans and the student athletes."

Simmerman said there have been a couple instances in past years where injuries such as a broken leg have occurred after fans were trampled. Fans, once they're on the field, often make an effort to tear down the goal posts, which can cause serious injuries for the people underneath.

To help prevent these types of situations from occurring, the Purdue Police Department supplies officers who stand in between the stands and the field toward the end of football games.

Capt. Tim Potts of the Purdue Police Department said the officers are always present at the stadium, but they will stand on the sidelines if the possibility of a rush is high. Potts said he instructs his officers to try and be polite with the fans.

"We try to warn people that if they do (go on the field), they'll be arrested for trespass," he said.

If the fan that's arrested is a student, he or she will be subject to the University's penalties as well, Potts said.

Heather Webb, student affairs specialist, couldn't provide a typical penalty because each case has different factors, but she did say a student who rushes the field violates two sections of the University's regulations.

And in the SEC conference, penalties go beyond the guilty rushers. The conference fines its universities each time students rush the field. Charles Bloom, an associate commissioner of the conference, said only two schools have been fined since the fall of 2004 and both instances were after basketball games.

The Big Ten conference has no such policy and has no intention of adopting one, according to assistant commissioner Scott Chipman.

Simmerman said he thinks the colleges in the conference do a good job of policing themselves. At Purdue, fans have rushed the field just twice in the last five years, the last time being in 2002 against Indiana. But that hasn't changed his pre-game preparation.

"We try to monitor what the condition is going into the game," he said. "We pay attention to what will be the atmosphere, which gives us some indication for what we need to do in preparation."

[Apis Bull]

Universities look for solutions to fan violence

By Michael Marot

AP Sports Writer

INDIANAPOLIS -- A weekend of frightening scenes at college football games is forcing university presidents and the NCAA to try to find ways to stop violence on college campuses.

Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany said he and school presidents from the conference will meet Sunday and discuss the issue.

Delany almost was caught in the middle of trouble last weekend. As he stood in the end zone near the end of Ohio State's 14-9 victory over Michigan, he was given the choice to stay or go. Fearful of what might happen, he left early.

The victory sent No. 2 Ohio State to the Fiesta Bowl, where it will play for its first national championship since 1968, but it also set off a raucous celebration in Columbus and riots in the streets.

Students rushed the field, tried unsuccessfully to tear down the goal posts, and hours later set about 30 fires.

Saturday's trouble brought the problem of fan violence "into bold reflection," Delany said.

There were other cases. Washington athletic director Barbara Hedges said she "feared for her life" when fans littered the field with glass bottles and plastic souvenirs following the Huskies' 29-26 triple overtime victory over rival Washington State in Pullman.

Also:

--In Clemson, S.C., Tigers fans celebrated their 27-20 victory over South Carolina by tearing down the goal posts. In the rush, one woman and a police officer were injured.

--In Berkeley, Calif., the biggest skirmishes occurred between fans after California had beaten Stanford 30-7. Four arrests were made.

--In Raleigh, N.C., 21 fans were arrested and three were injured in a melee following North Carolina State's 17-7 win over Florida State.

West Virginia is increasing security at Mountaineer Field, even though the team is playing 75 miles away on Saturday. And officials will be on the lookout for problems at other games, including Texas-Texas A&M, Miami-Syracuse and Hawaii-Alabama.

"This is the first time I've seen something like this, in a non-championship setting," said Richard Lapchick, a sports psychologist and chairman of Central Florida's sports business management program. "I think this explosion is to some degree a reflection of what's going on in our society."

The violence has led to renewed debates about policies, enforcement and security procedures. At the NCAA, officials are waiting to hear from university officials before deciding how to respond.

"It's a concern," NCAA spokeswoman Natalie Sutkowski said. "I have heard on television that there is concern among our constituents and there very well may be something that happens."

Some people have suggested stiffer penalties for fans, such as expulsion or criminal charges, are the only way to change how they respond to victories and defeats.

"I think part of the problem is a mentality that has developed over the country that this type of behavior is acceptable," North Carolina State police chief Tom Younce said.

NCAA rules require each school to provide security and hold games in an environment that promotes respect, fairness, civility and responsibility. But that clearly wasn't the case last weekend.

"It was a war zone, like a game of dodgeball, except it wasn't fun," Washington wide receiver Paul Arnold said. "We were ducking and diving, trying to get out of there."

Delany wants to discourage such behavior, of course, but he also urges caution, knowing some ideas can backfire.

In October 1993, Wisconsin students tried to rush the field following a victory over Michigan and dozens were pinned in a narrow gap between the stands and a 4-foot chain link fence that was erected to keep fans off the field. Sixty-nine people were injured.

"It's a matter of what you're trying to protect and what you're trying to achieve," Delany said.

"There's an arsenal of things that could be done. We have to move further toward the side of civility."

Originally published Friday, November 29, 2002

CentralOhio.com

[Guest S.  Bien]

Ok...BUT if you were a student RIGHT NOW would you be thinking about it?

**** straight I'd rush, but I'd only do it if it was a monumental win (of course I am not a student).  I honestly missed the reason to rush UL it was a good win, but we didn't get anything out of it.  We were beating the stink out of them throughout the game, the celebration was on-going, no need to necessarily rush.

I really only see a reason to rush the field is if the game is a big win, but it also must signify something, i.e. we beat WVU for our first conference championship and a trip to a BCS bowl.  We beat a #1 ranked team, or we're pla