OT: West Virginia to sell beer at home games
The WVU Board of Governors approved the sell of beer at Mountaineer sporting events by a 10-5 vote.
So what does AD Oliver Luck think?
Luck said he was "pleased" with the approval, which he believes will adress "coarseness" in the stands and "increase civility." The policy change will go into effect as WVU prohibits smoking in public areas of the stadium and ends its practice of allowing re-entry at Mountaineer Field during games.
"I believe we have taken a step forward toward our goal of a safer, friendlier and more civil game day experience," Luck said in a prepared statement ...
When they say "beer", they really mean "moonshine". After all, this is Morgantown, West Virginia we're talking about here. . . .
I'll take moonshine over Bud Light or related swill any day of the week.
That's all you need for a safer/friendlier environment is to get more people drunk in the stands-->that makes perfect sense. Why didn't MI think of that first? /s
I read somewhere that the students are pissed because they used to be able to leave at halftime and tailgate and come back in the game. WIth this, they can't leave anymore, so they're going ot be forced to drink $7 beers if they want to drink.
"Luck said he was "pleased" with the approval, which he believes will adress "coarseness" in the stands and "increase civility... I believe we have taken a step forward toward our goal of a safer, friendlier and more civil game day experience," Luck said in a prepared statement "
This guy's already drunk.
Because God knows... if there's anything that puts a fire out faster than water, it's gasoline.
The last thing WVU needs is more alcohol. The Backyard Brawl will quickly turn into a Field Turf Brawl, in which 60,000 drunk WVU fans will descend on 100 Pitt football players and call themselves brave afterwards.
Sounds like a good idea for a terrible action movie...o wait, it's already been done.
Not a bad idea if they had a lot of people leaving midway through to go take a couple of pulls and come back in. It's pretty easy to control consumption this way, and doesn't anger their fans by banning alcohol.
You just know this is going to be a fiasco.
It may be a little quaint in this day and age, but I like that most NCAA venues don't serve alcohol. I don't think we really want college fans to be more like pro sports fans. Regardless of what WVU claims, this is obviously a money grab. Luck probably has visions of 50,000 buying $5 beers dancing in his head.
I like that most schools don't serve alcohol either. The crowd at Michigan Stadium is a lot more enjoyable than the crowd at Ford Field and less alcohol is a big reason why, IMO.
A lot of WVU people are concerned about their crowd's moonshine'y tendencies. They'd love to sell a lot of beer and have folks not down a fifth before the game starts so they can "keep their buzz."
The thing that shocked me more was that WVU allowed readmission until now. That's asking for a disaster.
Most college crowds are still rowdier than pro crowds, alcohol notwithstanding.
People who want to be drunk at a game are going to be drunk at a game, whether they get that way before or during.
They may be louder, but I'd bet pro crowds have a lot more people escorted out by security. I've been to two Detroit Lion games, and both times I saw guys getting in fistfights that had to be broken up by security. I've never seen that at Michigan Stadium.
I think that has more to do with the free tickets....we are talking about the lions here, you have to be pretty desperate to cheer...
I can see this ending well...
"Well, he's an ex free-base addict, and he's trying to turn around, and he needs a place to stay for a couple of months."
Normally I wear protection but I thought to myself, "when's the next time I'm going to be in Haiti?"
I think they are just trying to make it easier on OC Dana Holgorsen. This way he doesn't have to leave the team at halftime to go to his car.
well, you can get beer at pro games all over the country, and it generally works out okay (with a few spectacular exceptions). I just find it hillarious that the answer to "coarseness" is "beer". Only in West Virigina!
Tulane plays their games in the Superdome and allows not just beer, but daquiris and mixed drinks to be sold at games. In addition to the full-bar at the Superdome, beer stands exist at on-camplus baseball and basketball stadiums. We had some issues, but certainly nothing more than I have experienced at any other college stadium.
Granted, Tulane students and alums are "different" from those at WVU. There were also smaller crowds, but I'm not sure you can dismiss this as a bad idea on its face. (FWIW, I don't think it adds to civility, but I'm not sure it does a lot to detract, either.)
For Tulane, it is an answer to the culture of the city. In New Orleans, they serve alcohol from kiosks at the mall and have drive-through daquiri shops. People in N.O. will decide to pass on activities if alcohol will not be served.
Perhaps this is an answer to the culture of the stadium crowd in Morgantown. I haven't been to a game at WVU, but I assume the argument is that people will get rip-roaring-drunk before games, at half-time, and on stashed flasks of booze during the game, for fear that their buzz may wear off before the 4th quarter. Prohibition often leads to similar unintended consequences. Maybe in their case a lively-but-university-controlled IV-drip of beer throughout the game will help curtail the "OMG I'm Gettin' hammerrerred!" culture.
No stereotypes were shattered by this announcement.
Of course not. WVU fans are known for their calmness and acceptance of opposing teams, disdain of racial/ethnic stereotypes and antipathy to arson.
They'll responsibly enjoy some of the best craft brews, don't worry.
Given that you went to Pitt originally, I'm sure you understand the rivalry with WVU better then most people on this board. Wasn't Morgantown #1 in couch burnings a couple of weeks back?
They always are, and that's not trying to be mean. Morgantown leads the nation in intentional fires set basically every year. Case in point: 22 fires set following bin Laden's death.
Not to mention Luck had to issue a formal apology to the Pitt basketball team/ Jamie Dixon in 2009 for having debris thrown at them in the Colesium, and they don't allow alcohol sales there.
in the last year. When I also have M gear on, they are the only fans that rival osu fanz in terms of the raw hatred I feel radiating from them. And I know hate.
Yea I hear ya. WVU fans (and I'm also stereotyping here, I'm sure there are some great ones...somewhere) are the worst parts of MSU and OSU, in my experience.
Still though, some of the things you can hear even at Heinz Field from guys in WVU jerseys about LeSean McCoy (and I'm sure it's the same with Lewis/Graham)...let's just say I doubt you'll hear OSU/MSU fans make the same comments about Denard at the Big House.
USC used to sell beer at the Coliseum and I remember the season after they stopped being just an absolute shit-show with kids blowing chunks in the aisles and people sneaking in wineskins full of tequila. A well run beer sales policy (SC's was kind of a mess because all the concession workers were people from the hood who didn't give a shit about checking ID's and would just give you a giant tray of beers so long as you tipped an extra $10) limits the pace of consumption, discourages pre-game binge drinking (if only slightly), and allows security to focus on people who are causing problems or are underage rather than looking to bust all of the 50,000 people who had to sneak a flask into the stadium just to have a drink.
Also, it isn't like the atmosphere at a West Virginia game could get any worse. Got to give them credit for trying something.
I'm not sure it will work that well. People in California are used to paying too much for everything, so an overpriced beer at the Coliseum was no big deal. But at WVU, my guess is that the "serious" drinkers will quickly become outraged at the high price of beer at the stadium and resume smuggling in their flasks, while some people who previously weren't imbibing during the game will decide to knock back a few beers, leading to an even more liquored-up crowd than before.
I just think anyone who wants to drink (especially at a WVU game) is drinking already. If they can get one person to switch from a jug of grain alcohol to two light beers at a time then it is a win for the school.
I thought NCAA policy specifically said that you cannot serve alcohol at any intercollegiate sporting event. Was this recently changed?
They sell beer at Nippert Stadium, but that's the first I ever saw.
"on campus." I bought beer at the '03 game at Minnesota. Had never experienced even partial inebriety at a Michigan football game up until that point. Way too nervous. Howeva, since that magical comeback despite surrendering 424ish yards on the ground, I haven't had a day of sobriety since.
After having just been to a March Madness regional (no booze, NCAA event), I can't understand anyone who wants a playoff in college football. You people should know that the satisfaction of seeing a true champion crowned on the field can't compete with the magic of seeing me pee in the sink after the Rose Bowl.
I always assumed it was off-campus as well. I bought beer at the Capital One Bowl a few years ago and I remember my dad buying it at the 98 Rose Bowl. Also, Joe Louis sells alcohol when the hockey team plays there.
When M palyed there in '99 they were serving beer at the Carrrier Dome and that stadium is right on campus so that always confused me too. I then thought it must be a private school thing.
It was a late game too so people were tailgating all day. My buddy who came to the game with me said, "Syracuse floats on a river of beer."
Alcohol isn't allowed at any official NCAA-sanctioned competition (like NCAA tournaments and such). Regular-season games are a loophole.
are now considering replacing their water cannons with beer cannons the next time they need to dispurse riotous sparties. To think that all this time they just needed to drink MORE.
"Beer. The cause of, and solution to all of lifes problems." -Homer Simpson
I'll get you Beer Baron!
here's the snag: while fans MIGHT wait to drink until they reached the stadium (assumption fueling this decision), the first alcohol-fueled death/fight/melee/lynching, etc. that FOLLOWS the decision is going to bring so much opprobrium down on the heads of the WVU Board of Governors that not only won't they ever live it down. . . they will be bankrupted by the lawyers lining up to milk their sorry asses for all their very mediocre university is worth. Ouch just ouch.
Not only that, but this is so patently obvious and unseemly a play to corner a portion of the market on beer sold in West Virginia on football saturdays that even the US Supreme Court may end up striking the decision down.
Selling beer will stop coarsness and increase civility?
I would rather deal with the 21-year-old that was willing to stand in line and pay $5 to have 3 beers during the game than the one that snuck a pint of Jack Daniels in each pocket.
Do yout think people in these pictures are intentionally making jokes, or are they just that dumb/drunk and have the bad luck of having a friend with a candid camera and decent internet skills?
Now they can buy their beer and denture adhesive at the same time.
what Michigan Stadium was like before they banned coolers.