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

[BamaNation]

Byrne has said forfeits seemed to be the most effective answer -- a stance he reiterated last week to ESPN.

"I truly believe it -- if we said that the home team, if they storm the field or the court, they're going to lose that game right then and there, that will stop it," Byrne said.

"I think that's a tough proposition," Sankey said. "I do think there's more than Greg in this league who feel that way, though."

College sports still grappling with how to stop court storms

The question as storms in football and basketball continue: How to let fans celebrate and keep everyone safe?

www.espn.com

Two questions...

1) What are your thoughts on this?
2) How would you feel about forfeiting a game Alabama won where idiot fans stormed the field and we had to forfeit?

Storming fields is not something we generally do but lots have done it to us. I'm 100% ok with this and believe that fines don't really impact it much. Most schools turn it into a pride / fundraising opportunity.

If Bama fans storm the field then I would say we deserved it for being idiots.

 

[BamaFanatJSU]

Storming fields is not something we generally do but lots have done it to us. I'm 100% ok with this and believe that fines don't really impact it much. Most schools turn it into a pride / fundraising opportunity.

If Bama fans storm the field then I would say we deserved it for being idiots.

I absolutely agree. There's no place for it from a safety or decorum standpoint. As the Bear was known to say, "Act like you've been there before." Frankly, that should still apply even if you haven't been there before.

 

[bamaga]

No. The players shouldn’t be penalized for the actions of fans. They played hard, worked hard and won the game. Administrators should not be able to take that away from them for actions committed by others. If you have ever played organized sports, competed as a team, you should be against this. JMO.

 

[gman4tide]

If you want storming the field to result in a forfeit...let Alabama do it 1 time. There'd be a mid-season rule change...i promise.

 

[Bamabuzzard]

If I'm a university president my fear would be the day someone dies or gets severely injured from the court/field storming and the university is hit with a massive lawsuit.

 

[BamaNation]

No. The players shouldn’t be penalized for the actions of fans. They played hard, worked hard and won the game. Administrators should not be able to take that away from them for actions committed by others. If you have ever played organized sports, competed as a team, you should be against this. JMO.

I understand that sentiment, but many teams use fan involvement and the chaotic environment as part of their appeal.

An alternative could be that they have to play their next 3 home games with nobody in their stadium.

Regardless, $100K and $500K fines are nothing and definitely not working.

 

[DzynKingRTR]

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

 

[Bamabuzzard]

I understand that sentiment, but many teams use fan involvement and the chaotic environment as part of their appeal.

An alternative could be that they have to play their next 3 home games with nobody in their stadium.

Regardless, $100K and $500K fines are nothing and definitely not working.

Revoke student tickets for three games. Those seats don't get sold to anyone and go unoccupied for three games. It seems the students are the ones rushing the courts and fields.

 

[mdb-tpet]

I understand that sentiment, but many teams use fan involvement and the chaotic environment as part of their appeal.

An alternative could be that they have to play their next 3 home games with nobody in their stadium.

Regardless, $100K and $500K fines are nothing and definitely not working.

Don't penalize the players and coaches for stupid fan behavior by taking away a win. That's as dumb as taking away a game because a player sells notebooks they were given.

Play the next home game with zero fans in the stands. That will fix the storming of the field issue right away. But, if it doesn't, then the second offense is two home games with no fans. Etc. When you can no longer see your team play anymore, you'll get the message one way or another.

 

[4Q Basket Case]

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 someone 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? Where 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.

 

[tusks_n_raider]

I would not be okay with forfeits because it's not even remotely fair to the players.

They work harder in 1 week to be able to play than the average fan exerts in a year...or even a decade.

The fans should be punished though.

I'd say take away tickets from students and take away tickets from season ticket holders instead.

Then there would be extreme peer pressure to not storm the field/court.

 

[Toddrn]

I'm OK with forfeits, you have to do something to put a stop to this. I would take it a step further and make them play their next home game to an empty stadium.

 

[stlimprov]

That said, there are some issues with execution --

I'm in favor of it.

(John McKay should have a wing in the NFL HoF dedicated solely to his quotes.)

 

[stlimprov]

Seriously, though...key to the argument for forfeits is that it is the home team's responsibility to secure the field/court, whether that's from home fans, visiting fans, Godzilla, the Huns...whatever.

 

[RollTide_HTTR]

It needs to be stopped so I'm good with this

 

[mrusso]

I understand that sentiment, but many teams use fan involvement and the chaotic environment as part of their appeal.

An alternative could be that they have to play their next 3 home games with nobody in their stadium.

Regardless, $100K and $500K fines are nothing and definitely not working.

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

 

[BamaNation]

Don't penalize the players and coaches for stupid fan behavior by taking away a win. That's as dumb as taking away a game because a player sells notebooks they were given.

Play the next home game with zero fans in the stands. That will fix the storming of the field issue right away. But, if it doesn't, then the second offense is two home games with no fans. Etc. When you can no longer see your team play anymore, you'll get the message one way or another.

When somebody is killed or a player seriously injured, they'll wish forfeits had been in place.

That said, I'm also totally ok with the no-fans suggestions. Maybe a combination ... First two times it's your no-fans suggestion and 3rd+ results in forfeit?

 

[BamaFan6462]

I understand that sentiment, but many teams use fan involvement and the chaotic environment as part of their appeal.

An alternative could be that they have to play their next 3 home games with nobody in their stadium.

Regardless, $100K and $500K fines are nothing and definitely not working.

This. I can remember a few years ago when there were lots of complaints about LSU fans treating other fans badly at home games and the AD acted like they had zero control over what a handful of fans were doing. I know quite a few LSU fans and they thought it was funny when other fans got spit on, cursed at, had drinks thrown on them, etc. If the SEC had told their AD that any more complaints would result in them playing all of their conference games away for the next season you can bet they would’ve gotten their fans under control very quickly.

I normally don’t agree with forfeits, but fans storming the field before the players and coaches can get to the locker rooms is a safety concern and fining the offending university has had no effect on stopping it. I doubt this would ever be enforced more than once if at all, but nothing else has worked up to this point.

 

[Bamabuzzard]

When somebody is killed or a player seriously injured, they'll wish forfeits had been in place.

That said, I'm also totally ok with the no-fans suggestions. Maybe a combination ... First two times it's your no-fans suggestion and 3rd+ results in forfeit?

I don't think many realize what an enormous risk the university is at with all the recent court/field storming, especially in football. It's literally thousands of people bullrushing the stands and sprinting onto the field and god knows who in the crowd of those people is crazy enough to attack a player or coach. Not to mention if one or more of those students get trampled and die the university will be held liable for not securing the field. I also wonder if stuff like that is covered by the university insurance? Insurance company's don't like to be held liable for things other people not on the policy do.

 

[bamaga]

I understand that sentiment, but many teams use fan involvement and the chaotic environment as part of their appeal.

An alternative could be that they have to play their next 3 home games with nobody in their stadium.

Regardless, $100K and $500K fines are nothing and definitely not working.

I agree, the fines are not working. I would favor the no fans in attendance over penalizing the players.