SPORTS WATCH : Unfan-like Conduct

Fans who would like to savor Los Angeles Raiders games without showing up at the Coliseum with bodyguards--or first completing bodybuilding or Tae Kwon Do training programs--perhaps can breathe a little easier.

The general manager of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum says he has had enough. So have the police.

Last Sunday a fan rooting for the opposing Pittsburgh Steelers was given a severe beating by Raider fans, or fan. (One alleged assailant has been arrested but the investigation is continuing.)

By the time security officials reached the scene, the 35-year-old Tucson resident had to be taken to the hospital. As a result of this vicious and unacceptable incident, Coliseum policy is to be toughened, effective Sunday at the Chicago Bears game. Violent spectators will now be subject to arrest by police, not just banishment from the stands. Fans entering the stadium will be screened by police for drunkenness. The sales of alcoholic beverages will be closely monitored.

One hopes the new policy will curb the ruffians who would spoil the game for the rest of the fans. Fan violence is not a new phenomenon, but until now its prevalence has seemed largely the predilection of some American hockey and many English soccer fans.

The thought that someone might even lose his life--the Tucson victim briefly sank into a frightening coma--while watching a football game is chilling. The game on the field is brutal enough without people in the stands behaving like prehistoric beasts.