Student sections are the driving force of college sports. They are the loudest and most passionate fans. If left unchecked, however, their passion will cause problems: When you get thousands of 18- to 23-year-olds together common sense tends to go out the window. This was the case when Ball State University defeated Central Michigan University in Mount Pleasant, Mich., on Wednesday.
Even before the game, chants involving a certain F-word and Ball State rained down. It's a common chant done during rivalry games. I can live with it being done once, although the best student sections are more creative than that. The problem was the chant was done throughout the game, and I've heard it was picked up in the ESPN2 broadcast. Not exactly the image the Mid-American Conference needs.
Another problem, and a much larger one, was that the students continually threw things onto the field. When Louis Johnson caught his first touchdown in the end zone Central Michigan students threw a snowball at the wide receiver. It landed within five feet of him.
Then when Ball State players were going back to the sideline after celebrating the touchdown a beer can (not empty) was thrown close to the players. The referee quickly picked it up.
After the interception that clinched the victory, a stick was thrown that actually hit a Central Michigan cheerleader.
I'm sure I didn't see everything the students threw, so there were likely more instances. The blame for it happening isn't solely on the students, however. Remember a student section left unpatrolled will cross the line most of the time.
While on the sidelines the entire game I saw two security guards on the Ball State sideline. Neither was by the students, and neither was supplied by Central Michigan. One I know travels with the Cardinals and the other was wearing the same uniform and protected the team from media members getting too close to the players when going from one side of the field to the other.
Maybe there were security guards there that just weren't wearing obvious clothing, but if they were they didn't do their job. When students throw stuff onto the field, ejecting the first culprit normally puts an end to the problem. I never saw anyone talk to the student sitting in the front row who threw the snowball.
This is a major problem waiting to happen. What if one of the students connected and hit one of the players? If Johnson was hit by the snowball it would have been shown nationwide on ESPN2 and likely become a national story.
Instead of Ball State's big victory being the focus of the game it would have been "Are students out of control? Look as a player is hit by a snowball." Instead of the MAC getting a lot of good national publicity, it would have looked like a joke.
This was all made possible because Central Michigan didn't supply security guards to control the crowd, or if they did the guards didn't do their job.
Luckily it's an easy problem to fix. Central Michigan can fix it just by hiring guards who will boot students who cross the line or MAC Commissioner Rick Chryst can create a rule requiring all home teams to supply a minimum number of guards.
No matter who fixes the problem, it needs to be done now rather than later before a player or coach gets hurt and the MAC gets embarrassed.
Write to Levin at ltblack@bsu.edu
Read More
Three Air Jam teams take home the win
October 12, 2012Nineteen teams shimmied, shook and flipped for a sold out John R. Emens Auditorium on Thursday night during the 25th annual Air Jam.
Bill Clinton Speaks at North Central High School
October 12, 2012Former President's Speech Could Have Effect on State Senate Race
