Bottom line: Fans ought to be in the stands

There are plenty of scenes of fan celebrations that have been fun to see over the years.

I still have a picture from 1980 with future NBA all-star and Celtics coach Doc Rivers with a disgusted look and his hands on his hips as a horde of York fans behind him are reveling in an upset of top-ranked and undefeated Proviso East.

Just a few weeks ago, I saw Wheeling students joyously rushing the field after the football team clinched its first football playoff berth in 11 years and a share of a Mid-Suburban East title.

But what a bunch of us saw Saturday night was unfortunately unforgettable enough to make me wonder if it's time to put an end to such fandemonium. Or at least severely restrict postgame fan access to fields and courts.

As one would expect, there has been a lot of "we did-they did, we said-they said" the last few days in the aftermath of Fremd's playoff football quarterfinal at Glenbard North.

People from each side have differing viewpoints and feelings on what happened before and after the postgame incident occurred.

Regardless of what reasons were given, the clear fact is the group of Glenbard North students that ended up by the Fremd football team's stands and bench area never should have been there.

But now, the focus should turn to what needs to be done to prevent similar confrontations from occurring again.

The easiest solution is to not allow fans on the field or court at all after games. While it's impossible to eliminate all the potential for trouble between opposing fans -- short of banning them from events altogether -- this reduces those risks significantly.

And from what I've seen, a lot of schools already adhere to this policy. At the state football finals in Champaign, no fans are allowed on the field after games.

Then there is restricting access so players can have postgame celebrations with their classmates. That would also require establishing some parameters such as making sure the other team is off the field or floor before any fans enter. If it means they have to wait awhile, so be it.

The IHSA does this at the boys basketball state tournaments, waiting until the awards ceremonies are complete before allowing fans of the winning team on the court.

And there is simply no reason one group of fans should be allowed to get near the opposing fans, players or coaches -- especially after an emotion-filled game such as Saturday's at Glenbard North.

If nothing else, the potential liability issues of an uncontrolled postgame celebration resulting in an injury should be reason enough for schools to re-evaluate their policies for athletic events.

As one coach said earlier this week, when it comes to football, sometimes it's easy to forget these kids are in full equipment with helmets. Some pretty big, strong kids carrying a high emotional fuel level this time of year.

A few Fremd people I've known for awhile said afterward what happened was kids being kids. And not to condone misbehavior, but kids do push boundaries and test limits to see how far they can go.

It's up to the adults to draw the lines not to be crossed to prevent scenes such as Saturday night's from being seen again.