OK, so Aloha Stadium management says what caught so many people’s attention in the stands Saturday wasn’t a "fight" in the strictest sense. I guess it’s technically true that it’s not a fight when someone is so drunk he takes a couple of swings at a police officer.
It’s lunacy.
It’s also definitely an alcohol-related incident that interfered with the enjoyment of the game for paying customers. Another one. You can hear the disgust of nearby fans on the YouTube video as the ruckus drags on and on, police trying to restrain rowdy drunks.
Star-Advertiser reporters Mike Gordon and Alan Yonan happened to be sitting near the fracas. They said it ended with two men being led away in handcuffs and two others later ejected.
When stuff like this hits the Internet from Aloha Stadium — as it has again and again and again in recent years — it makes people think all Hawaii sports fans are buffoons who don’t know how to watch a game without getting messed up and stupid. I’m pretty sure it doesn’t help tourism.
Not only is it embarrassing for the state and unfair to fans who want to watch the game, it’s dangerous. And it discourages people from buying tickets and supporting the team.
Last year there was a big fight caught on video in which the mother of a UH player — who wasn’t involved in the booze-fueled dispute — was injured. People who saw the video or read about the incident were outraged.
The stadium management and authority’s response? They said it was an isolated incident, and one of the board members said I should write something "positive" about how wonderful the stadium is.
Well, I’m positive about this: The stadium positively needs to address and amend its policies regarding selling alcohol at UH games. Not only are the stands dangerous; friends, guys who can handle themselves pretty well, tell me they’re intimidated by an atmosphere on the concourse that includes drunks looking for fights.
After that big fight last October, pleas to address an obvious public safety issue were ignored. The Stadium Authority chairman concluded everything was fine and dandy. Here’s what Nelson Oyadomari said then: "Currently we are still serving alcohol. I think the situation has improved a lot. From the inside we don’t feel it’s an issue."
From the outside there’s a different view. And UH’s interim athletic director, Rockne Freitas, does feel it’s an issue — one that he wants addressed. Maybe the stadium will listen now.
"I talked to (stadium manager) Scott Chan before the game and (Tuesday) and I told him I come from the Pac-12. That’s a conference where the stadiums don’t sell alcohol," said Freitas, who played football at Oregon State. "I asked Scott to talk to the Stadium Authority and broach the subject. We don’t want to lose a life because of alcohol."
Freitas said he’s OK with alcohol consumed responsibly at pregame parking lot tailgate parties.
I’ve covered many games at Pac-12, SEC and Big Ten conference stadiums and have never seen a fight in the stands. Common denominator? No alcohol sold in the stadium. The only venue other than Aloha Stadium where I’ve seen beefs, and plenty of them? Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas, where they do sell alcohol.
Would cutting alcohol sales affect attendance? I think it would encourage more people to come to games if they felt the stadium was a safer place for children.
"We want it to be a family-friendly environment," Freitas said. "I want it so I can bring my grandchildren to the game and not have to worry about people fighting and using bad language around them."
Current policy is that alcohol is served until the end of the third quarter of UH football games, but the taps can be shut down earlier.
Maybe they should be turned off permanently.
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Reach Star-Advertiser sports colulmnist Dave Reardon at dreardon@staradvertiser.com or 529-4783.
