One way to keep 'em off the field
You can't account for the timing of news releases sometimes.
The University of Virginia athletics department put one out this week that had me shaking my head.
"The University of Virginia will implement a series of operational modifications for postgame crowd control at football games this fall in Scott Stadium," the first line of the release read.
The release went on to relate that UVa. will maintain "strict adherence to the Atlantic Coast Conference policy prohibiting fans from entering the playing field before, during, or after games," following a study by a Raleigh, N.C.,-based consulting firm commissioned in the wake of Virginia's 26-21 home win over Florida State last October, after which 20 fans were injured as students rushed the field to celebrate the big victory.
OK, so there was no way that the athletics department could have figured that it would release the results of this study following a demoralizing 38-13 loss on the road to a middling Pittsburgh team that has many in Wahoo Nation wondering if the Cavs can win even three or four games this year.
(Significant here: Daily Progress sports editor Jerry Ratcliffe, an Al Groh booster to the point that he does everything that he can to go out of his way to make Virginia's recruiting classes out to be among the top in the nation every year, in spite of the obvious, picked Virginia to beat lowly Wyoming by a 21-17 count this weekend. Ouch, babe.)
"The safety of our spectators and student-athletes is foremost in our minds as we adopt these operational modifications to avoid any repeat of the frightening events that took place following the Florida State game last year," athletics director Craig Littlepage said in the release.
Another way to do that, of course, is to field a football team that will have the fans rushing the exits instead of thinking about how they can rush the field.
- Chris Graham