C-man Posted 24 December 2005 Share Posted 24 December 2005 NFL.com wire reports HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. (Dec. 20, 2005) -- Alcohol won't be sold during the Monday Night Football game between the Jets and Patriots at the Meadowlands in an attempt to quell rowdy fan behavior. The ban comes after nine fans were arrested during the Jets-Saints game Nov. 27. One man was charged with stabbing two fans in a restroom, and a state trooper broke his leg while trying to eject a fan who reportedly threw a beer bottle. Jets spokesman Ron Colangelo said the ban was put in place to protect fans. The Jets and New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority made the joint decision. "It's for precautionary reasons, to provide for the safety and comfort of our fans," Colangelo said. Colangelo said alcohol will be available at the Jets' season finale Jan. 1 against Buffalo, with kickoff set for 1 p.m. ET. Earlier this year, NJSEA president George Zoffinger pledged to deal with the problem of drunk fans. It annoys me when hooliganism is immediately linked with England, because it is very rare that something extreme happens, whereas in places such as Turkey, it is part and parcel of fan behaviour. This is taken from the NFL website, and i usually associate American football with good fans, as there is no segregation, but no trouble whatsoever. Having said that, i was suprised to read this article that two fans were actually stabbed at a game, and a policeman was injured trying to eject someone. What are all your views, in particular JoBeck? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Head Honcho Posted 24 December 2005 Share Posted 24 December 2005 I think you may be confusing Hooliganism with drunken behaviour, much of the rowdiness that goes on in US sport is purely alcohol related, whereas Hooliganism as we know it is much more organised and premeditated. Dont get me wrong I know what your saying, we do get bad press in this country but I think this is because 15-20 years ago it was pretty much endemic to British Football and the behaviour of the English fans abroad is always going to be in the spotlight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Gist Posted 24 December 2005 Share Posted 24 December 2005 I heard england fans have been banned from drinking alcohol?? Surely if this is true they cant just do it to them and not other countries Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Libertine Posted 24 December 2005 Share Posted 24 December 2005 It angers me so much. Other fans eg. Spain and Italy are far worse. Racist abuse and throwing flares etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jordan Posted 24 December 2005 Share Posted 24 December 2005 Fair points, all Allen is right--most of the problems that are caused by fans at American sporting events is caused by someone having a little too much to drink and crossing the line. That's been the cause of nearly every fistfight I've seen at a sports game here. Organized fan-on-fan violence in the same vein as "hooliganism" does not exist in the United States, with the only thing coming close being the occassional post-championship riot in the victorious city. Philadelphia fans have a little bit more of a reputation for being assholes, though I'd say they're still miles away from approaching "hooligans" However, if you put 80,000 people in a stadium--many of whom are drunk--there's bound to be a few stupid incidents. Drinking is a big part of American football fan culture--many people like to have tailgate parties before the games (which basically involves drinking a lot and grilling food outside your car in the parkinglot) and show up to the games drunk. Beer advertizements are everywhere at American stadia and the amount of beer commercials shown during sports television broadcasts are staggering. That incident at the Jets game is odd, though, because the fan brought a knife, so he was probably up to something. Reports seem to indicate that he got into an argument with a fellow Jets fan. If American sports teams and stadium officials were more responsible with the way they served alcohol, crimes and disturbances at games would drop dramatically. There was an article by the Guardian's football editor mocking American stereotypes of hooliganism while attempting to portray the U.S. as having a serious hooligan problem of its own, but I thought that piece was a total hack-job. There ought to be a much bigger concern for other countries' stereotypes of English fans (what Allen and gisty said)--particularly Germany's, where they're already taking steps to prevent hordes of English "hooligans" from causing trouble at the World Cup. I've not heard of any steps by Germany to combat hooligans in countries right in their own backyard--and the fan violence problem in Eastern Europe is getting out of control (I've been told that in Poland, not only are there football hooligans, but also "hooligans" at basketball and speedway). And oh yeah, the only time I've seen violence between groups of fans? When a Bayern Munich ultra/hooligan group fought in the stands with a group of MetroStars fans Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sigma Posted 28 December 2005 Share Posted 28 December 2005 It angers me so much. Other fans eg. Spain and Italy are far worse. Racist abuse and throwing flares etc. Eastern Europe has some major problems as well. The club that I support in the Czech Republic has problems with skinheads. Needless to say when I go to away games I keep to myself.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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