Buying a ticke is no permit to act up

MeanGreen61 · June 17, 2005

Buying a ticket is no permit to act up

Tuesday, June 14, 2005

Huntsville Times

Commissioners are concerned about some fans' behavior

TUSCALOOSA - So much to worry about in college athletics.Academics. Criminal behavior. Television dollars. Recruiting scandals. Performance-enhancing drugs.

Know what else they're worried about?

You.

You and where you sit in the stands.

You and the way you act when you sit in the stands.

Or at least the people near you, and the way they act in the stands.

And, in turn, the way those people affect the experience of attending a game with your family.

Buying a ticket, said Wright Waters, commissioner of the Sun Belt Conference, "doesn't give you a license to go in and act the fool. You don't check your civility at the door.''

Unfortunately, too many fans do.

We're concerned about sportsmanship issues, and concerned about Joe Fan,'' Waters said.

Waters and fellow commissioners Mike Slive (Southeastern Conference), Jon Steinbrecher (Ohio Valley Conference) and Robert Vowels (Southwest Athletic Conference) conducted a wide-ranging roundtable discussion Monday at the Alabama Sports Writers Association annual convention.

Ask them if the civility factor is really that significant, and all up and down the table it's like Commissioners' Bobblehead Night at the ballpark. Each man nodded in strong assent.

"As important as anything to our league, we are concerned about the sportsmanship issues,'' Waters said.

That covers the behavior of coaches and athletes, who are regulated by in-game penalties and the occasional off-the-field censure and suspension and fines.

But more and more, fan behavior can make the most competitive of athletes and coaches seem tame.

The SEC, Slive said, has instituted a system to fine its schools when fans rush onto a basketball court or football field. It's $5,000 the first time, $25,000 the second, $50,000 the next, and you-can't-afford-it the next.

"We don't want anybody to get hurt,'' Slive said. "We don't want somebody to do something out of anger they'll regret later.''

Perhaps nothing except sensitive ears is endangered by profane, obnoxious fans. But it's a problem Slive said his league is addressing.

"We've asked our presidents and chancellors and our legal counsel to take a look at some civility language legislation,'' he said. "It's very sensitive, very complicated. It involves First Amendment issues. It involved the right to enjoy yourself. We don't want to temper anybody's enthusiasm. We don't want to make it a less pleasant outing for anybody.

"But we don't want to make it pleasant for people who do certain things at the expense of other people.''

Steinbrecher's conference instituted a game-management security audit for its schools.

Each school was charged with taking an introspective look at its sportsmanship policies and behavior. In turn, each was asked to give feedback on other programs.

"This year,'' he said, "there was remarkable improvement. One of the things I was pleased to see was how seriously the institutions took the feedback from sister institutions. They addressed it.

"You know, we all have our crazies,'' Steinbrecher said.

He then related a story he had previously told the presidents and athletics directors of the OVC.

Last season, Steinbrecher was at a football game and encountered "a fan spewing vulgarities.''

In a non-threatening manner, he asked the fan, "Why are you doing that?''

Said Steinbrecher, "You get two answers, and they're fairly consistent. One is, they're part of the team. The second part is, they think they're helping their team by doing that.

"I don't think that's the case,'' he said. "My response is be a leader. Be positive.''

A ticket to a game buys much privilege.

Being an uncivil fool is not among those privileges.