It's not really strange if you've experienced the Buffalo gameday experience first hand, I'm surprised things like this don't happen more often unfortunately..but it's a great article. Stories like this don't get told enough. Thank you for sharing. I was actually at that Bills game. I do a lot of work in Buffalo and always attend the Jets game there, I just stay the weekend. That was during the week and I hate the Fish, so I attended that one as well. We are going to see major changes to the stadium experience in the coming years. Yesterday when I remarked about the tailgating rules associated with this year's superbowl and how we might see that for all games in the future, maybe I was jumping the gun a little, but I really think tragedies like this and dwindling attendance will cause the NFL and teams to put in extreme measures to squash tailgating and the "alcohol culture" associated with games. Unfortunately, because we got destroyed, I was at the Bills / Jets game this year and I was really late for the first time and that's when my eyes were really opened to what happens on a Sunday in Buffalo. I missed the 1st quarter of the game and so when I was getting parked and walking towards the stadium, sober - most folks were already in the stadium. But the aftermath was ridiculous. Garbage littered everywhere. broken glass everywhere you looked. A decent amount of stragglers that hadn't made it into the stadium yet that were stumbling around, absolutely tanked, fighting, etc. I have been a big fan of tailgating in my life and I am not claiming that I haven't been a culprit of this behavior or that I even have anything against these folks but I couldn't help but thinking -holy shit! isn't there a line being crossed here? At the same time, were seeing dwindling attendance numbers league wide (buffalo having a big problem selling out games). People are going to blame it on rising costs, the improvement of the HD television experience of games, less disposable income, etc... -But the fact of the matter is, unless you are one the folks that partakes in this crazed alcohol culture, the gameday experience is NOT friendly, and in some cases- with kids, and opposing fans, not SAFE. I could see teams and the NFL in general putting in extreme measures to put a stop on this culture. To make the gameday experience more like other sports and in turn raising attendance. They will point out tragedies like these ones in Buffalo. I think we'll see: -More and more drunk people not even being let into the stadium, like ALOT more -Increased police presence around the stadium -Elimination of tailgating areas and increase of public transportation to games. (can't tailgate if you don't have a place to) -increased measures to insure singular individuals aren't buying more than 2 beers a game. (barcoded bracelets? idk) It's a shame because I think tailgating is fun, but I recognize that these measures might become a reality in the future and I feel for the families of tragedies like this.
Do you know someone named Gordon? You're welcome, I'm glad someone liked it. I don't really know how to do this. They could give out bracelets to everyone in the stadium when entering, that need to be presented when buying beer (and they could punch holes or something to indicate beers bought), but two things: A)A lot of people aren't even buying beer at the stadium, so it seems like a waste. B)There's no way to know whose bracelet it is. Maybe some of the other fans toss aside their bracelets and another guy uses them. What are you going to do, put names on the bracelets?
I guess what I'd do is only sell two beers at a time to people, and stop beer sales at halftime (that would raise an outcry, though). The truth is, though, people have to be responsible for themselves (or have a sober person along who will be responsible). It's not always easy to tell how drunk someone is. Obviously if a guy is stumbling and slurring his words, he shouldn't be served any more alcohol, but it's not always that simple. One of the guys in the article didn't even drink at the stadium (at least that's the impression I got). He and his friend got Budweiser and Jack Daniels before the game and got loaded.
They already have that in place in Buffalo. The two beers at a time and the stopping of beer sales after halftime. I think it's the same way in Cleveland, but I'm not sure. People do need to be more responsible for themselves. Unfortunately that's not happening. I don't know what the answer is, but they got to make some changes.
That not the answer. They don't sell beer at all at college games and those crowds are a thousand times drunker, take my word.
I wasn't aware of this, but a lot of stadiums won't sell alcohol after halftime. My experience is limited because I've been to games, but only at Giants Stadium, and I didn't even buy anything. This article is obviously very outdated, but it tells you how long they've been trying to curb this kind of behavior.
I spent a bunch of time at Buffalo Wild Wings sitting over the bar and watching the Jets when I moved this fall. The thing that struck me about the whole experience was how different it was from the last time I watched the Jets every weekend in a bar in 2005. The BWW bartenders and staff were keeping an eye on people. They wouldn't serve a drink after half time unless the guy was clearly in good shape. They were putting glasses of water on the bar at half time. I could get a third beer out of them if I wanted it but the days of drinking into the 4th quarter are long gone. The NFL has a much tougher job than those bartenders though. The BWW guys and gals are staring at 50-100 people tops over a couple of hour span. They can read things in their interactions that a stadium vendor is going to miss 9 times out of 10. The beer sales getting stopped at half time would be a good move. Trying to find other things that people would like to drink that have lower or no alcohol content is probably another thing that would be good. The problem with stopping beer sales without having something else to sell is that it hurts revenues. You probably have to do that at some point but it is going to raise other prices in the process.
I don't know how it is for teams around the league, but I stopped going to Bills games because of this atmosphere. It's so bad, at least to me, as someone who doesn't drink. For me, I just couldn't go and "watch the game" anymore. I found myself being distracted and people watching more than watching the game. Again, maybe it's like that around the league, I don't know. I moved down to Houston 3 years ago and they had just implemented a new rule here which fans hated at the time, but it really cut down on all the drunk behavior. They implemented a rule on tailgating, where they wouldn't open the parking lot until something like an hour or two before the game. It eliminates the people who get there at 8am and spend the next 5 hours getting hammered and then walking into the stadium. Everyone hated it because they just couldn't "party like they used to" but it really made the atmosphere more classy.
That's not entirely true, UNLV's stadium is located off campus and they sell alcohol. Needless to say I've seen some pathetic drunks at UNLV games. That being said UNLV has dirt lots so the tailgating experience isn't exactly on par with most stadiums.
http://www.footballscoop.com/news/9256-a-look-at-beer-sales-at-college-football-venues http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/spor...7-beer-sales-rising-at-college-stadiums_n.htm From 2011: Oliver Luck is of course most famous now for being Andrew's father.
its amazing that people will willingly go out of the house with zubas on. and you wonder why they drink.
They sell beer at the Carrier Dome for football and basketball games but they have it pretty much under control. Students don't have actual tickets to games, the "ticket" is on their SU ID card. Once they are scanned in at the entrance (they can only come in one gate) they are issued a colored wristband. All students with a wristband (i) must be over 21 to buy beer, (ii) can only buy one beer at a time and (iii) can not enter the student seating section with more than one beer. Beer sales for everyone end at the end of halftime. And there is a TON more security at the Carrier Dome than there is at MetLife or any NFL stadium relative to the size (the dome only seats about 50,000 for football). Having said that, you can't control the tailgating and drinking that goes on before hand, but it is a facility that you pretty much have to walk to so there isn't a lot of driving that goes on with students. Also, Syracuse isn't big time football, I can't imagine what the crowds are like down in Alabama or Auburn or Mich Texas or some of the Florida schools. _
I have fun tailgating at games. But I've never gotten totally drunk. I don't see the point. You'll feel sick and the next day is a total waste.
Getting wasted before the game is no fun.. i thought i was smart to drink a fifth of jd couple dozen beers on the way to the game.. all i got out of it was a nigbt in the drunk tank.
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/f...y-lubed-rowdy-ne-home-opener-article-1.952951 Tom Brady supports fans getting trashed.
