They’ll Drink to It : Raiders Fans Find Way to Skirt Coliseum Ban on Beer Sales

For Los Angeles Raiders booster Shirley Smith, Sunday’s football game at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum was still the place for cheers--and booze.

Unfazed by a single-game alcohol prohibition inside the stadium, and increased police presence in the parking lots outside, Smith and friend Brenda Calhoun stood in a nearby parking lot and vowed to party any way they pleased.

“We can get drunk in the parking lot,” said Smith, smiling and sipping on a carefully concealed beer as she awaited the start of the game with the Seattle Seahawks. “Plus, the beer they sold in there was bad anyway. All people are doing is bringing their alcohol to the parking lot.

“The Coliseum people aren’t stopping people from drinking.”

Such was the sentiment of many fans Sunday as they seemed determined to skirt the one-game alcohol ban imposed last week by the Coliseum Commission in the aftermath of the beating of a Pittsburgh Steelers fan at the stadium in September.

In addition to the ban, the size of beer containers sold at ensuing USC and Raiders games at the Coliseum will be reduced from 20 ounces to 16 ounces. Also, the alcohol content of the beer will be lowered to 3.2% from 3.6%.

More Los Angeles police officers were added to security forces for the game, too, as plainclothes and uniformed officers patrolled parking lots in search of heavy drinkers. Officers were also stationed at stadium entrances to frisk people for hidden booze.

Seventy-three people were cited for alcohol-related violations, most for possessing open containers, said LAPD Sgt. Steve LaRoche. Sixty-seven of the offenders were cited before the game, he said.

The stricter measures were imposed after a Steelers fan was kicked in the head and critically injured as he walked through a crowd of hooting Raiders fans during the game.

Last week, Los Angeles County Supervisor Mike Antonovich characterized the steps as “a message that we will not tolerate illegal and obnoxious behavior at Raider games.”

Several fans at Sunday’s game, however, described the restrictions as dumb.

“It’s a dumb idea,” 30-year-old Michael Rogers said between swigs from a cup of vodka. “The guy from Pittsburgh was an isolated incident. They are making us suffer for the acts of a few. I blame security. If they can’t control a few, how are they going to control 80,000?”

Other fans contended that the ban and the restrictions seemed impractical. Los Angeles resident Ron Cooper said that potentially pugnacious fans were less likely to start trouble inside the stadium if they drank late in the game rather than before.

Said Cooper: “Think about it. Would you rather have a man coming (to the stadium) drunk or leaving drunk? Leaving drunk, of course.”

Cooper and others said the ban and the subsequent alcohol limitations would compel people to get more intoxicated before the games than they would during them.

“I rolled up and I saw people drinking hard liquor, rolling up marijuana joints and doing blow (cocaine),” said East Los Angeles resident Albert Orantes, 30. “People out here are drinking more than usual. They want their highs to last.”

Irate fans said the increased security also gave the police added cause to harass them.

“I’ve been out here for five seasons, and I have never been bothered by the police,” said David Huerta, 23, of Whittier. “Now, I’m getting cited for having beer. They never said anything about not being able to bring beer to the parking lot. There’s an inconsistency there.”

Police officers denied the harassment charges.

Despite the fans’ criticisms of the new rules, most of them said they would honor the Coliseum ban and not try to smuggle in their own alcohol.

“I don’t need to smuggle anything in; I’m getting drunk right here,” said Cooper. “I’ll be asleep before halftime.”