Greg Byrne: Forfeits should be assessed for on field/court storming

[mfleck]

You shouldn't penalize the athletes for winning a game. The best solution is to have the teams next game be played without any fans. It has been done in some European soccer leagues for unruly crowds. Can you imagine Alabama playing UT in knoxville in an empty stadium. I bet nobody rushes the field again.

 

[Tidewater]

You shouldn't penalize the athletes for winning a game. The best solution is to have the teams next game be played without any fans. It has been done in some European soccer leagues for unruly crowds. Can you imagine Alabama playing UT in knoxville in an empty stadium. I bet nobody rushes the field again.

Ouch! That would appear funny and would be embarrassing for the guilty program.
Imagine the loss of income those cities would experience if a home game was before an empty stadium.

 

[Ole Man Dan]

Forgetting how you should act after a big win, there's a huge safety issue here for both fans and players. It's a matter of time before somebody gets hurt or worse. I remember some years...decades...ago a fan was killed when fans took down the goal posts after a football game and the post struck the fan in the head on the way down. That will happen again, it's just a question of when.

A couple of weeks ago, there was a nasty incident at Auburn when Gameday was in town (UTe game?). Due to logistics around the Gameday set, students weren't allowed in the arena until later than normal. And student seats are festival seating -- first come, first served. So when the gates finally did open up, there was a mad rush for seats. In which rush, some students were trampled. I don't think there were any serious injuries, but that was just dumb stumbling luck. No, it wasn't storming the court, but it poses the same dangers as storming.

We've tried fines, but that clearly hasn't worked. It's time for something more punitive. So I support Byrne's position and agree that it's time for forfeits.

That said, there are some issues with execution -- as in, exactly what constitutes storming the court? How do you draw the line between a few students showing their hindquarters vs. no-foolin' storming? A dozen students? A hundred?

How to handle a false flag incident -- wherein fans of the road team join in the storming in an attempt to cross the required number of stormers and overturn the home team's win? In today's world, those will come.

Who determines where the line is crossed and when? Must it be imposed on the spot? Or can it be imposed later upon further film review? When the inevitable lawsuits come, how do you get it resolved before seeding for tournaments?

Conceptually, it's time for forfeits. Execution, especially immediately after the rule is adopted, could be a problem.

Late Add: I kind of like mdb's suggestion of no fans after a storming -- however that might be defined. That might be a good interim step....especially if fans can't get refunds for tickets.

Arresting fans who storm the field sounds good, but can a limited number of Officers arrest a large crowd. The answer is they can't.
First hand knowledge. Many years ago there was a riot at JOB CORP in Gadsden, about 200 students rioted, the best I could do that night was field about 20 officers. NO ARREST WERE MADE.
NO INJURIES. We did video many students. a couple of days later we showed the videos to JOB CORP personnel, and they suspended the rioters they could identify. WE NEVER HAD ANOTHER INCIDENT AT JOB CORP.

Revoking student access to a few games just might work.

 

[Power Eye]

You shouldn't penalize the athletes for winning a game. The best solution is to have the teams next game be played without any fans. It has been done in some European soccer leagues for unruly crowds. Can you imagine Alabama playing UT in knoxville in an empty stadium. I bet nobody rushes the field again.

This is the best answer. You're right, a team should not have to forfeit a game because of fans, it's the fans that should be punished. Do this for football and basketball and prevent the students from attending the next game, and just have no one sitting in the student sections.

 

[RollTide-YNWA]

A couple of weeks ago, there was a nasty incident at Auburn when Gameday was in town (UTe game?). Due to logistics around the Gameday set, students weren't allowed in the arena until later than normal. And student seats are festival seating -- first come, first served. So when the gates finally did open up, there was a mad rush for seats. In which rush, some students were trampled.

Word among the students was there was a broken leg, broken wrist, and broken nose, among possible others. Incidences like this will end up leading to lawsuits at some point (probably soon).

Oh, and let's not get into how I have knowledge from students at Auburn. It's a sore subject.

 

[mikeua69]

Fine with me. We won't ever have to worry about it.

 

[4Q Basket Case]

Word among the students was there was a broken leg, broken wrist, and broken nose, among possible others. Incidences like this will end up leading to lawsuits at some point (probably soon).

Oh, and let's not get into how I have knowledge from students at Auburn. It's a sore subject.

I wasn't aware that injuries were that serious. Thanks for the information.

Tangentially related, and not a question aimed at you -- How come this isn't in the news? If it had happened at Coleman, it'd be on every sort of media on endless loop with every PI attorney in the country advertising for additional victims.

 

[Crimson1967]

this never happens at the professional level. in fact, you would probably be arrested.

 

[RollTide-YNWA]

I wasn't aware that injuries were that serious. Thanks for the information.

Tangentially related, and not a question aimed at you -- How come this isn't in the news? If it were in Tuscaloosa, it'd be on every sort of media on endless loop.

That's what I asked, too. I chalked it up to either "taking one for the team" or overactive imaginations. Either way, I know firsthand that it was mass chaos and a very dangerous situation.

Almost all their SEC games are like that, for that matter. It's a mass push of people getting in and a lot of the students who have been waiting there the longest end up getting pushed out of line, from what I've been told.

The very next game after the gameday one was the Oklahoma game, and that's the first one that I heard about that students could actually walk in and find a seat close to game time. I wondered if it was because people stayed away after their experience when gameday was there.

 

[DzynKingRTR]

so almost 50 years ago, it did. well I guess I was kind of wrong

 

[Crimson1967]

so almost 50 years ago, it did. well I guess I was kind of wrong

Chambliss could have been seriously hurt by that mob. There was also ten cent beer night and Disco Demolition.

But it does seem to be a college thing except for random nutjobs running on the field.

 

[BamaFossil]

I don't agree with forfeiting a game when stupid fans storm the field/court. Punishes the team for actions of stupid fans.

But, if that's the rule, perhaps a well-heeled alumnus can recruit a 100 or so kids to wear the opponent's jerseys and storm the field/court.

 

[bamadwain]

I don't think having no fans is not to much of a deal (covid) but if some fans storm the field, you play next two years at the other teams place, like UT/ Bama, no revenue for two years for UT and no home field advantage to, might slow it down when you start taking away money

 

[Slowpoke Catracho]

Overreaction

 

[Islander]

$1,000,000.00 per trip should be sufficient!

 

[CrimsonTheory]

I love the idea of forfeiting if fans rush the field/court. I don't see it as punishing the players, I see it as incentives the football team to convince fans not to rush. If they can not do it, they deserve the forfeit. But if a team has to forfeit because of fans, the team that actual lost does not get the win. Both teams would get the L.

Another suggestion would be for the home team to lose their next home game in the series if it against a rival. Imagine Tennessee fans rushes the field after the Bama game and UTe football would have to go to Tuscaloosa for the next three seasons.

 

[B1GTide]

I love the idea of forfeiting if fans rush the field/court. I don't see it as punishing the players, I see it as incentives the football team to convince fans not to rush. If they can not do it, they deserve the forfeit. But if a team has to forfeit because of fans, the team that actual lost does not get the win. Both teams would get the L.

Another suggestion would be for the home team to lose their next home game in the series if it against a rival. Imagine Tennessee fans rushes the field after the Bama game and UTe football would have to go to Tuscaloosa for the next three seasons.

I like your second proposal

 

[imauafan]

First, hire enough security guards to be a reasonable deterrence, and second, arrest those that storm the field and fine them. Problem solved. No reason to get into silly penalties that could have kinds of unintended consequences. But I do get the point that if schools are unwilling to do the first two things then they should be punished in some way. Perhaps fines for repeated offenses and then forfeiting a game would be the motivation needed to do the first two things that I wrote.

 

[colbysullivan]

Fans have no business being on the field. I don’t know if forfeiture is the answer, but something has to be done.

 

[rolltide_21]

This actually sounds like a good deterrent and might just work. Doesn't punish the players.

100% don’t punish the players for a big time win. Other measures would be just as effective.