Patron Management Institute
Benches-clearing youth indoor lacrosse brawl leads to 15 suspensions
It’s probably safe to say that any debate over the most ridiculous youth sports fight of the year is over. The feat was surely accomplished in British Columbia, where a British Canadian Intermediate A league indoor lacrosse game devolved into a street brawl that was practically taken directly from a video game. As you can see in the video above, and covered by the Nanaimo Daily News, the Nanaimo Timbermen against the Coquitlam Adanacs became embroiled in a nasty fight when Cody Reed scored to give Coquitlam a nearly insurmountable 15-4 lead before halftime. Rather than let Reed celebrate his goal with his teammates in peace, a Timbermen player attacked, in part of what the Daily News chronicled would later lead to suspensions for a whopping 15 players. BLOCK: Reed was hit by the Timberman’s Jordan Kuziuk, who two seconds later was crosschecked by the Adanacs’ Zachary Hartman, who was playing in his first game back after missing time to a concussion. Those early incidents eventually led to both benches clearing, inciting a fight the likes of which the Intermediate A league had never seen. “It’s the first time this has happened to me as a commissioner,” B.C. Intermediate A Keep Reading
Orioles Boost Security To Stop Fans From Running On Field
Saturday, May 12, 2012 Robert Lang and WBAL-TV The Orioles are adding extra security at Oriole Park at Camden Yards to stop fans from running out onto the field during games. There have been several incidents, including one where a fan was tackled at home plate by an umpire. Christopher Fatkin was arrested April 27, after he ran onto the field during a game. Umpire Jeff Kellogg tackled Fatkin as he attempted to slide into home plate. On opening day, another fan Mark Harvey ran onto the field wearing only a cape and “Batman” underwear. He was banned from the stadium. “It may seem like a fun, harmless stunt, but it’s a real security risk,” said Kevin Cummings, director of ballpark operations at Camden Yards told WBAL-TV. “It’s all in good fun. Everybody’s having a good time. I think it’s somewhat hilarious, but I think, for them, it’s less hilarious when they’re incarcerated,” said Jen Frieda, an Orioles fan at Friday night’s game. “It’s disgusting. They should be arrested and put in the pokey where they belong,” another fan said. “The players are working. This is their workplace, and anybody who would disrupt a workplace like that is not welcome,” Keep Reading
Minnesota will be the first Big Ten school to allow stadium alcohol sales
by Eric Thurm April 25, 2012 The Minnesota state legislature has overwhelmingly voted to pass a bill that would allow beer to be sold at TCF Bank Stadium starting this fall. Gov. Mark Dayton has said he will sign the bill into law, which would make TCF Bank Stadium the first Big Ten stadium to allow the sale of alcohol, allowing the football team to lead the conference in something, at least. Part of the reason for the change in policy is financial—the university’s insistence on alcohol-free games had led to serious losses of revenue in recent years, which somehow came as a surprise to the athletics administration. University police also pointed out that people were coming to games drunk anyway (obviously), mooting the administration’s safety concerns about alcohol sales. Once the law is enacted, anyone in a premium suite will be able to purchase beer in the comfort of their suite, while everyone else will have to go to designated beer gardens that will only serve alcohol through the beginning of the second half of games. University Board Of Regents Chair Linda Cohen argued that the beer gardens would make games safer. “People wouldn’t have to rush and drink Keep Reading
1 dead after storm blows down St. Louis beer tent after game
4/28/12 ST. LOUIS (AP) — High winds swept through a beer tent where 200 people gathered after a Cardinals game Saturday, killing one and seriously injuring five others. But the owner of the St. Louis bar that hosted the crowd said it was lightning – not wind – that killed the patron. Seventeen were hospitalized and up to 100 people were treated at the scene after straight-line winds whipped through a large tent outside Kilroy’s Sports Bar, near Busch Stadium. The crowd was celebrating after the Cardinals had beaten Milwaukee 7-3, a game that ended about 80 minutes earlier. Eddie Roth, director of the St. Louis Department of Public Safety, said winds of about 50 mph shattered aluminum poles that held up the tent, located south of the stadium. The force of the wind Saturday afternoon blew the tent onto an adjacent railroad bridge. Both Roth and Deputy Fire Chief John Altmann said they could not confirm a cause of death for the man killed. Roth said the man appeared to be in his 50s. His name was not immediately released. “It was crazy, scary,” said Annie Randall, whose family owns Kilroy’s. “We’re just so sorry this happened.” Janece Friederich Keep Reading
Update on CA Bill
Lawmakers Knock Down Plan For Stricter Rules On Stadium Violence Call for new law follows NBC Bay Area investigation By Tony Kovaleski, Liz Wagner and David Parades, Wednesday, Apr 18, 2012 Democratic assemblyman Mike Gatto plans to reintroduce a bill to stop the growing trend of fan violence at sporting events after the assembly Public Safety Committee shelved the bill this afternoon. Earlier this year the NBC Bay Area Investigative Unit exposed problems at sporting venues throughout California, and the issues caught the attention of state lawmakers. The proposed bill, AB 2464, calls for greater punishments for anyone caught committing violent acts at sporting events. It would create a ban list that would prevent these people from attending games in the future. Today lawmakers heard from Manuel Austin Jr., the Los Gatos resident at the center of our investigation, who was a victim of fan violence at Candlestick Park late last year. His family went to the 49ers Steelers game on December 19, but Austin never saw the game. A verbal exchange lead to a pregame fight that left him with a concussion, four missing teeth and a black eye. “The fans are not gladiators,” Austin said, “they should not Keep Reading
Fan banned for Life
Baltimore’s ‘Batman’ speaks after Orioles ban him from Camden Yards for life By Kevin Kaduk The YouTube video of an underpants-clad Batman storming the field during the Baltimore Orioles’ opener last week has been viewed almost 200,000 times. Now the joker behind the black bloomers — Mark Harvey, a 26-year-old from Severn, Md. — is speaking out. Just what compelled Harvey to put a dent into the O’s-Twins game last Friday? As you might expect, his answer is as deep as Maggie Gyllenhaal’s acting in “The Dark Knight”: “It was my birthday and I just love to make people laugh and get them going,” Harvey told WJZ. “So I was like what’s better not to do than to go on opening day and do it? So I went with it.” The CBS affiliate in Baltimore has more from Harvey in this interview: Despite a Camden Yards warning that says trespassers will be prosecuted, Harvey somehow escaped charges from the state attorney’s office after sitting in jail for 13 hours. (Perhaps it was just as amused as we were and decided to release him back into the night?) The Orioles, however, say Harvey has been banned from the ballpark for life Keep Reading
New Law Proposed in CA for Major Sport Stadiums
California Bill Could Restrict Who Attends Sporting Events By Jordan Kobritz Don’t take me out to the ballgame. That could become the new refrain if a bill recently introduced in the California State Assembly is enacted into law. Assemblyman Mike Gatto, D-Los Angeles, introduced Bill 2464, dubbed the “Improving Personal Safety at Stadiums Act,” which is designed to prohibit anyone who has been convicted of committing a violent crime in or around a Major League sporting event from attending similar events at stadiums and arenas around the state. Gatto says his bill was motivated by the vicious beating of San Francisco Giants fan Bryan Stow in the parking lot of Dodger Stadium on Opening Day 2011. Stow nearly died from the beating, spent several months in a coma and is currently undergoing treatment for his injuries. The Stow incident — along with multiple acts of violence which included a shooting at an Oakland Raiders-San Francisco 49ers preseason game at Candlestick Park last year — brought renewed attention to the issue of fan violence at sporting events. Gatto says his goal is to make fans who attend sporting events feel safe again. “There are so many people out there who are Keep Reading
Fans burn couches, cars after Ky. beats Louisville
By BRUCE SCHREINER | Associated Press , 4/1/12 LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Thousands of fans swarmed streets near the University of Kentucky campus, setting couches and a car on fire, after the Wildcats beat cross-state rival Louisville 69-61 in the Final Four. The screaming, cheering fans took to the streets following the win Saturday evening in New Orleans. Many streets had already been blocked off around Kentucky’s Lexington campus to make way for the crowds, but sirens blared and police began shutting down more streets as the blazes broke out. A spokeswoman for Lexington’s mayor, Susan Straub says police made fewer than 10 arrests. She says a few injuries have been reported, but says things have not gotten out of control. In Louisville, disappointed Cardinals fans gathered on a closed street near campus and chanted “C-A-R-D-S” while waving school flags. Shortly afterward, the crowd dispersed and the campus was quiet. Screaming, chanting fans swarmed the streets around the campuses of the University of Louisville and cross-state rival Kentucky after the Wildcats beat the Cardinals 69-61 in the first game of the Final Four. In Lexington, where police say some bars had opened at 9 a.m. EDT, throngs of jubilant Kentucky Keep Reading
Fan declared brain dead after violence in Brazil
By The Associated Press SAO PAULO (AP) — A Brazilian soccer fan has been declared brain dead, the second casualty from a confrontation involving nearly 500 fans from rival groups last weekend. The Sao Camilo hospital said Tuesday the 19-year-old Palmeiras fan remains on a ventilator but will not recover from the head injuries from Sunday’s fighting. His name was not immediately released. On Sunday, 21-year-old Palmeiras fan Andre Alves died after being shot in the head. Two other fans remain hospitalized, a 17-year-old with head injuries and a 23-year-old who was shot in the hip and needed surgery. The fight renewed concerns over escalating fan violence in Brazil. The fan groups were banned from stadiums. 2012-03-27 16:44:04 GMT http://news.findlaw.com/apnews/31ef6276130541d398589af0fa68782e?DCMP=NWL-cons_sportslaw
NJ man faces trial for attack on NY fans in Philly
PHILADELPHIA (AP) – A man accused of beating two New York Rangers fans in a brawl after the NHL Winter Classic in Philadelphia will be tried on assault charges. A judge ordered 32-year-old Glassboro, N.J., resident Dennis Veteri to stand trial following a preliminary hearing on Thursday in Philadelphia. The fight occurred outside a cheesesteak stand after the Jan. 2 game between the Rangers and the Philadelphia Flyers. The Philadelphia Inquirer ( http://bit.ly/GH8K7A) reports the victims testified Veteri was in a group of Flyers fans who taunted and assaulted them as they waited for sandwiches. One victim was an off-duty policeman from Woodbridge, N.J. He was beaten unconscious. Veteri’s attorney has said the case is a fistfight that’s being blown out of proportion. The Winter Classic drew 47,000 fans to Philadelphia’s Citizens Bank Park. The Rangers beat the Flyers 3-2. http://news.lp.findlaw.com/ap_stories/s/2040/03-22-2012/20120322132003_68.html?DCMP=NWL-cons_sportslaw