Concerns Abound for Crowd Control

A couple of weeks ago, the NFL’s weekly Monday night party settled in Veterans Stadium for a 9 p.m. kickoff between the Philadelphia Eagles and San Francisco 49ers.

These are always dangerous events because they provide the customers far too much idle time before kickoff, time often spent sampling various beverages that rob them of reason.

In 1988, New York Jets fans became unhappy with the way their team was playing in a Monday night game against Buffalo and set a protest fire in the stands at Giants Stadium. The following year, beer sales were cut off at night games at The Meadowlands.

Philadelphia’s Monday night celebration was pockmarked by excessive drinking and boorish behavior, an ugly sequence of events punctuated by one customer who decided it would be a great idea to fire a flare across the field and into the stands. Miraculously, there were no injuries, other than those suffered by the sensibilities of a concerned Eagles management.

Ten days later, team owner Jeff Lurie announced new security policies for home games. The centerpiece of the strategy is located in the bowels of the ballpark where a maintenance room used by the Philadelphia Phillies has been transformed into a courtroom.

There are purple curtains, pieces of blue carpet and an American flag in place and in that setting, Municipal Judge Seamus McCaffery dispenses instant justice.

McCaffery entertained 20 customers for the game between the Eagles and Pittsburgh, a cross section of blue-collar fans to professional people. Seventeen were convicted on a variety of charges, mostly disorderly conduct. A week later, for the game against Cincinnati, there were just five cases in McCaffery’s walk-in court.

The judge’s policy is simple. Pay the fine--usually between $200 and $300--or do the time. “If you don’t pay, you will be sent to jail,” McCaffery said.

It is not a perfect system. While McCaffery was fining drunk and disorderly people inside the Vet during the Steelers game, at least four expensive cars, including one belonging to middle linebacker James Willis, were vandalized in the stadium’s reserve parking lot.

So far, Philadelphia has the NFL’s only on-site courtroom. It is not, however, the only team to experience crowd-control problems. Security trouble developed early this season at the Pontiac Silverdome, home of the Detroit Lions.

“We had problems with a pop-up fight here and a pop-up fight there,” said Eric Walker, executive director of the stadium. “In one fistfight at the Green Bay game, a guy went down and hit his head on concrete. The other guy was arrested and charged accordingly. We can’t tolerate a fight. We don’t even tolerate people throwing paper airplanes over the railings.”

Walker said the Silverdome never considered the ballpark courtroom, though. Instead, he just added security.

“Local enforcement has worked with us to curtail incidents,” he said. “We increased staffing by 78-80 guards. We’re up to 153 for in-house security plus up to 100 local police who are on traffic detail before and after games.”

The show of force has worked. The Silverdome has become a safe environment.

“The number of incidents have been reduced significantly,” Walker said. “Last year we had games with 41 or 42 incidents, everything from medical problems to disorderly conduct. In our last home game, on Thanksgiving Day, there were none.”

This, of course, is what Lurie and the Eagles would like to see at the Vet.

“We want to make it an environment where it is safe and enjoyable to watch football,” Lurie told MSNBC. “The 49ers game was a step backwards. It’s a matter of taking back public spaces and making them safe and secure. It’s a question of how you want your city to be. What quality of life do you want?”

Lurie huddled with Philadelphia Mayor Edward G. Rendell and came up with courtroom solution, which gets a real test Sunday when the NFC-rival New York Giants, almost certainly accompanied by cars full of their fans, motor down the New Jersey Turnpike to play at the Vet.

McCaffery’s courtroom could really be a busy spot then.

How Voters, Politicians Reacted to Recent Issues

Some recent examples in which voters or politicians have balked at using tax money for new stadiums or arenas for professional sports teams:

WASHINGTON, D.C.

In a situation unique in modern professional sports, Washington got two state-of-the-art facilities this fall with minimal taxpayer expense because local municipalities weren’t willing to foot the bill. Late Washington Redskins owner Jack Kent Cooke paid for construction of the $170 million Jack Kent Cooke Stadium in Landover, Md., which opened Sept. 14. Washington Wizards and Capitals owner Abe Pollin used his own money to build the $200 million MCI Center downtown. It opened Dec. 2.

COLUMBUS, OHIO

When a sales-tax increase that would have built a new arena and soccer stadium downtown failed in May, local business leaders offered to build the $125 hockey arena themselves. Nationwide Insurance pledged 90% of the money; the other 10% came from The Columbus Dispatch Printing Co. The city was awarded an NHL expansion franchise in June.

PITTSBURGH

On Nov. 4, voters in 11 Pittsburgh-area counties overwhelmingly rejected a half-cent sales-tax increase that would have financed new stadiums for the Steelers and the Pirates, plus a renovated convention center and other regional projects. Proponets say the campaign was poorly organized and they may bring the proposal back in another form. Others are suggesting the stadiums be funded with personal seat licenses; increased hotel, car-rental or restaurant taxes; a new lottery; or a creative redistribution of money already in state or regional coffers.

CONNECTICUT

The University of Connecticut was hoping to get the state to pay for a new $102 million football stadium, which must be built if the school is to accept the Big East’s invitation to upgrade to Division I-A. Lawmakers balked, however, after polls showed voters were opposed, and Gov. John Rowland postponed a special legislative session on the matter. The school is now offering to shoulder as much as $15 million, but it may not be enough. The Big East wants an answer by Dec. 31.

MINNESOTA

With the Minnesota legislature turning down a request to finance a new baseball-only stadium, Twins owner Carl Pohlad says he’ll sell the team to North Carolina businessman Don Beaver. Beaver would then apply to move the team to the Greensboro-Winston-Salem area--assuming voters there approve taxes on restaurant food and stadium tickets in a May 5 referendum. The money would pay for two-thirds of a $210 million stadium. Meanwhile, a Minneapolis group headed by Clark Griffith is offering to buy the team and keep it at the Metrodome for at least another five years.