It's time to end the madness

Sporting News, The, Oct 30, 2000 by Matt Hayes

It's a fairly simple concept, one that has been overlooked for years and one that is suddenly more prevalent in the passionate world of college football.

Mass multiplied by force equals one big, fat lawsuit.

Apparently, athletic directors around the country can't seem to grasp the formula. Goal posts go down, risks go up and the dangerous game of roulette continues.

This from LSU AD Joe Dean, after fans swarmed Tiger Stadium and tore down the goal posts after a win over Tennessee last month: "Whatever it costs, it was worth it."

There is no price tag on life.

That may be oversimplifying things, but consider this: Every fan prancing on the field or hanging on a goal post is a potential injury. Just how severe depends on mere circumstance.

Earlier this month, Georgia fans showed how wild the postgame decadence can get when the Bulldogs' first victory over Tennessee in 12 years translated into anarchy on the field. In fact, the looting--let's face it, that's what it was-began before the game even ended when fans started flooding the field with a minute to play.

By the end of the night, seats were ripped out of historic Sanford Stadium and turf was ripped up. Wheelchair ramps were destroyed, and the hallowed hedges that surround the playing field were reduced to shrubs.

And one more thing: A student was trampled and hospitalized, and dozens of others were injured. Is this European soccer or American football?

Earlier this month in Starkville, Miss., fans stormed Scott Field after Mississippi State's victory over Florida. A trainer for the Gators was trampled and knocked unconscious. That same trainer had undergone brain surgery last January, which left him sensitive to any blows to the head.

At some point, we have to take this college "tradition" for what it really is: Mob mentality. Where else in the country can you storm a facility, destroy property and be cast on the nightly news as an "elated" fan?

It's time to end the madness. The passion and pageantry that used to be unique to the college game have run their course. Grease up the goal posts and warn teams that if fans enter the playing field, the game is automatically forfeited.

Eventually, one of those 1,000-pound goal posts is going to crash down on an "elated" fan, and that will end storming the field as we know it. By then, it will be too late.

Matt Hayes is a projects editor for THE SPORTING NEWS.