Commentary
Fans don’t belong on the field for any reason PITTSBURGH – Tear down the goalposts.
It’s a romantic notion, one that was even immortalized in the sappy song, “Graduation Day.”
Of course, it goes back to the days when the goal posts were made out of wood and easily snapped under a reasonable amount of pressure.
Today’s single-post unit is made of steel and you really need a blowtorch to effectively disassemble one. You’ve seen the footage where a dozen or so college students are hanging onto the crossbar and still not dislodging the goal post from its cemented Mostly they just put a serious bend in it.
All of which means people should really be discouraged from trying to tear the goal posts down. It’s not very practical these days.
In fact, colleges ought to establish order very firmly and make sure that people don’t get on the field at all.
We’ve already seen an incident where a taunting fan was shoved by a coach from the losing team. The coach shouldn’t have shoved anyone but the fan – who is a lawyer – had no business on the field, either.
It was just a few months ago that father and son idiots jumped the railing at Comiskey Park in Chicago and attacked Kansas City Royals first base coach Tom Gamboa for no apparent reason.
Fans don’t belong on the field for any reason. A ticket entitles you to a seat and nothing more.
Somehow, the greatest moments for a sports team have now become an excuse to behave badly.
Sadly, that trend may have started in Pittsburgh. There was widespread destruction downtown after the Pirates won the 1971 World Series – in Baltimore.
It wasn’t a spontaneous celebration that spilled from the ballpark the way it did in 1960. It was premeditated criminal activity and it was wrong. Ever been so happy you had to turn a car over? It makes no sense.
Pitt and West Virginia are going to play football this Saturday afternoon. Police in Oakland and Morgantown are working to secure their neighborhoods and there will be extra officers on duty in the vicinity of Heinz Field as well.
Those plans are in place in case of a victory. Because if the team wins, you get so euphoric that you need to start a bonfire.
How twisted have things become that a win turns into an excuse for destruction?
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You know how Bill Cowher always says there’s a very thin line between winning and losing in the NFL?
He’s right.
The Cincinnati Bengals are 1-10 but they came within a couple of plays of beating the Steelers on Sunday.
Most of the Bengals’ recent games have gone that way. If they make those critical plays instead of missing them – and that usually means upgrading personnel at a spot or two – they’re around .500 and, like almost everyone else in the AFC, in the hunt for a playoff spot.
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The Pirates got first baseman Randall Simon from the Detroit Tigers in an effort to punch up an offense that could use the help.
Simon had a good year for a bad Detroit Tigers team last year and was expendable because the Tigers had other first basemen and designated hitter candidates. His salary was also due to take a jump because of arbitration eligibility.
The Pirates gave up left-handed pitcher Adrian Burnside, and the Tigers will pick two other minor leaguers from a list the teams have already agreed upon.
Kevin Young has one year left on his killer of a contract. He’ll either be Simon’s platoon partner or late-inning defensive replacement. There is also a possibility the Pirates might release Young and eat the last year of his contract.
This isn’t the kind of deal that’s going to create a buzz around baseball but it helps the Pirates improve over what they had last year.
Without the money to go out and get big-time free agents (read; Jim Thome), that’s what the Pirates have to do until their farm system starts generating impact-type players on a more regular basis.
They made incremental improvements last year and that’s the course they have to stay.
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You can say this for the 2002 Steelers: They’ve put the drama back into the routine extra point kick.
John Mehno can be reached at: johnmehno@lycos.com