Tears Fall On Mile High

Alcohol and college football is an unholy mix. That was not breaking news Saturday night at Mile High Stadium, just the latest reminder of how those two elements are kindling for a potential inferno on any game day.

The "right" set of circumstances existed at the end of Colorado State's 41-14 victory over Colorado to set off a riotous scene that luckily didn't escalate any further. Inebriated fans clashed with Denver police who were given orders to protect the north goalpost at any cost. That cost included the use of Mace, pepper spray and tear gas grenades.

The cost also might have included the Colorado-Colorado State series. Officials from both schools will discuss with the city of Denver whether to play next year's game at Mile High. The 2000 game is contractually bound to be played there again, but it could be moved to campus sites or canceled altogether.

Angry fans hurled debris -- including glass bottles -- and taunted police with shouts of "Let's get tear-gassed," in the corner of the end zone that included approximately 5,000 out of the 73,000 announced in attendance. Whether a couple of teargas grenades were first thrown by police into the stands or out of the stands by fans is up for debate.

One policeman complained that "they could learn how to make those things on the Internet."

"This was the most unruly crowd I've ever seen and I've been working Broncos games since 1967," said Denver police detective J.C. Tyus.

It was a flashpoint in a larger nagging issue that needs to be eliminated from college football. At the same time police were spraying Mace at fans Saturday, beer vendors outside the Cotton Bowl were packing up their equipment after the Arkansas-SMU game. The beer was flowing freely at that very moment from concession stands at Qualcomm Stadium, where San Diego State was playing South Florida.

"I would hope that if this happens again, there are no beer sales for a college game," said Denver police Lt. Tony Ryan after helping end the disturbance. "That's part of the problem. You might note that the schools that have games on their fields don't have beer sales."

The vast majority of Division I-A schools do not allow alcohol sales inside stadiums. Colorado State, coincidentally one of the few schools in the country that does sell beer at games, is preparing the Hughes Stadium taps for next week's game against Nevada.

Colorado stopped selling beer at football games three years ago at the urging of a vice chancellor. It might seem like a bold move for a school that has significant financial ties with the nearby Coors Brewing Co. Beer is sold Colorado's basketball arena, which, not surprisingly, is named the Coors Special Events Center.

UNLV allows alcohol sales at both football and basketball games.

"It's the Vegas mentality more than anything," said one school officil, who added jokingly, "It's half our budget."

The problem is with public venues. Like hot dogs and nachos, beer sales produce concession money that goes into city coffers. That was the case Saturday at Mile High, the Cotton Bowl and Qualcomm.

The policies differ in the two Division I-A conference championship games. At the SEC championship played in Atlanta's Georgia Dome, no beer sales are allowed. At three Big 12 championship games, beer sales were allowed at the Trans World Dome in St. Louis and the Alamodome in San Antonio.

It can be argued that on-campus games produce a more laid-back atmosphere. Had the game been played in Fort Collins, police probably would have easily given up the goalpost to be torn down. As it was, the incident overshadowed one of the biggest victories in Colorado State's history.

"I wish the police had let all our supporters come down and give us a big hug," Rams coach Sonny Lubick said. "But I guess it's against policy here to let any fans on the field."

There is another issue to raise here. If the NCAA spent as much time railing against alcohol sales at its members' events as it does on its rabid anti-gambling campaign, the entire organization would benefit. Gambling is arguably a victimless crime that -- in the eyes of the NCAA -- casts doubt upon the legitimacy of games.

Alcohol ruins lives. Both police and fans were blamed for what happened Saturday night, but the central issue was alcohol. Stadium officials wisely cut off beer sales after the first quarter. But judging from what was hurled out of the stands at police, it didn't matter. Beer bottles and pints of whiskey -- some full -- rained down.

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Denver police prepare during Saturday's Colorado-Colorado State game.(AP)

"It was like war or something," Colorado defensive back Ben Kelly said. "In that situation you do (fear for your safety.)"

In the bowels of the stadium, there was a makeshift triage unit with cheerleaders, media and school officials being treated by trainers. Not 30 feet away, Colorado coach Gary Barnett was calmly discussing the loss.

That wasn't the only surreal scene. In a weird way, the confrontation resembled the infamous killings at Kent State University in 1970. During that melee, National Guardsmen waded into protesters and began firing rifles. Four students were killed.

Saturday's aftermath had the same elements. Police showing force by summoning a SWAT team. Students reacting against that show of authorit by pelting police. Only luck kept it from getting out of hand.

"It was like the cops were scared," Colorado State fan Bart Palmer told the Denver Post. "If they were shooting bullets at us in a shootout, instead of canisters of gas, we would all be dead. How many people would they have killed?"

Thank goodness the only casualty of the game might be the rivalry.

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