Alcohol & U of U football

[Mormon Red Death]

Originally Posted by SeattleUte

An aquaintance emailed me today and said that a spate of hard core drinking nearby him at the U of U Spring game kind of spoiled the experience for him. I've been to a fair number of pro and college football games within and outside the state of Utah and I'll have to say that elsewhere I've never seen the kind of alcohol issues I've seen at the U of U football games. Middle aged guys with red faces and purple noses drinking themselves literally into a stupor with cheap alcohol. They don't seem to go away. The ones who were there when I was a kid are likely dead, and these types keep coming. They don't seem to me to be real fans.

What explains it? I have a theory. Two factors: First, Utah football was down for so long that there developed a chronic condition of empty seats and low morale and easy access. The upshot was this drinking subculture of folks who may not even have degrees from the U of U or give much of a damn about football but go to the games just because it's tradition to go there and get smashed . Second, Utah being the anti-BYU seems perversely to encourage this behavior. See, e.g., Bill at KKK/Trounce, who seemingly is one of those I described in the preceding paragraph.

If I were Pres. Young I'd go after these guys like Giulani did the drug dealers and gangs in New York.

I just dont see it as that big of a problem. Michigan games have just as many Older people in proportion who get just as drunk as older adults at Utah game. Perhaps its because your friend isn't used to seeing more people imbibing than one would normally see.

[BigFatMeanie]

The gold standard for public drunkenness and lewd behavior has always been the University of Wyoming. Their whole state seems to revel in that drunken cowboy stereotype.

[il Padrino Ute]

Like others, I believe the issue is not that the imbibers in the stadium are Ute fans, but are those who do what they can to demonstrate their spite for the LDS church. I absolutely hate it, as nothing can ruin a game for fans than a few drunken boors.

The stadium security does what it can to enforce the no alcohol rule in the stadium, but it needs help from the fans to eventually eliminate it. There is no shame in informing security if one sees somebody who has smuggled in alcohol. Only those who are the offenders will complain if they can't get drunk during a game.

[Detroitdad]

Originally Posted by Mormon Red Death

the head of HR at my company went to U of A and a guy on his floor was in a wheel chair. Well they fixed up the wheel chair to house a keg in the bottom

Necessity is the mother of invention.

[SeattleUte]

Originally Posted by Mormon Red Death

I just dont see it as that big of a problem. Michigan games have just as many Older people in proportion who get just as drunk as older adults at Utah game. Perhaps its because your friend isn't used to seeing more people imbibing than one would normally see.

As Detroit suggested, it's hard to get into a game like a Michigan game in Ann Arbor unless you have something going for you. The same is true in the Pac 10 and other majors. If you're over 21 you have good reasons not to make a drunken jackass out of yourself in public, in your community. Seems to me the people who do it in the Utah games are just recreating there for a change rather than at their usual abode under the viaduct. These people are the dregs, from what I've seen. They wouldn't have the means to get into a Florida or Michigan game. Seriously, Young ought to send the cops after them and prosecute.

[il Padrino Ute]

Originally Posted by SeattleUte

As Detroit suggested, it's hard to get into a game like a Michigan game in Ann Arbor unless you have something going for you. The same is true in the Pac 10 and other majors. If you're over 21 you have good reasons not to make a drunken jackass out of yourself in public, in your community. Seems to me the people who do it in the Utah games are just recreating there for a change rather than at their usual abode under the viaduct. These people are the dregs, from what I've seen. They wouldn't have the means to get into a Florida or Michigan game. Seriously, Young ought to send the cops after them and prosecute.

You hit the nail on the head Seattle. For the cretins at the Utah games, the location doesn't matter to them, so long as they are drinking and making jerks of themselves.

President Young ought to really clamp down on this. Attendance may go down, but I'd rather watch a game with fewer people that are there for the football than have to deal with the dolts that are incapable of having a good time without the booze.

[RockyBalboa]

Originally Posted by il Padrino Ute

You hit the nail on the head Seattle. For the cretins at the Utah games, the location doesn't matter to them, so long as they are drinking and making jerks of themselves.

President Young ought to really clamp down on this. Attendance may go down, but I'd rather watch a game with fewer people that are there for the football than have to deal with the dolts that are incapable of having a good time without the booze.

With the emphasis they're placing on tailgating up on the hill this year good luck with that.

[il Padrino Ute]

Originally Posted by RockyBalboa

With the emphasis they're placing on tailgating up on the hill this year good luck with that.

I don't have a problem with anybody who drinks at the tailgate. I'm specifically commenting about inside the stadium.

[RockyBalboa]

Originally Posted by il Padrino Ute

I don't have a problem with anybody who drinks at the tailgate. I'm specifically commenting about inside the stadium.

I don't have a problem with it either, but you know as well as I do, that not all, but many who're drunk or get drunk while tailgating, more often than not go into the game inebriated or close to it.

[il Padrino Ute]

Originally Posted by RockyBalboa

I don't have a problem with it either, but you know as well as I do, that not all, but many who're drunk or get drunk while tailgating, more often than not go into the game inebriated or close to it.

That's not really relevant here because there is absolutely nothing that can be done about alcohol in the tailgate lot, as that isn't on campus; however, those that have already been drinking are usually those who smuggle it in.

The U can only enforce the rules they have. They can make a more concerted effort to kick people out of the stadium when caught with alcohol in the premises; they can give them the boot for inappropriate or belligerent behavior.

I just know that I do my part and rat out those that choose to act like an ass. And I have fun doing it too. Perhaps I could start my own little vigilante group like the Guardian Angels and roam RES during a game then take it upon myself to drag these putzes to the exit gates.

That could be lots of fun.