I thought I hated Ohio State Before...

[Captain Kangaroo]

Who would have thought YSU would be the torch-bearer for tailgating?

I H-A-T-E OSU...f*ckers can't control their own fans so they try to ruin everyone elses' fun. Screw them.

OSU fights bill to allow alcohol at tailgate parties

05/02/04

Stephen Ohlemacher

Plain Dealer Bureau

Columbus

Lawmakers want to let tailgaters down a few beers outside football games without worrying about getting busted for violating the state's open-container law.

But don't look for Ohio State University to join the party.

The House State Government Committee voted, 11-1, last week to approve a bill over strong objections from OSU that would create a new liquor permit for universities and professional sports teams to establish tailgating areas outside football, baseball, basketball, hockey and soccer games.

Fans could bring their own al cohol as long as the area is enclosed by a fence, with security guards at each exit to make sure no one leaves with open containers. The area must be owned or leased by the schools or teams.

The full House could vote on the bill as early as this week.

"Wouldn't it be better to have this license and control the tailgating to show the students the correct use of alcoholic beverages?" said State Rep. Kenneth Carano, a Youngstown Democrat who sponsored the bill on behalf of Youngstown State University.

The bill is supported by the YSU police, Youngstown city police and the Mahoning County sheriff's office.

The bill is permissive, meaning universities and professional teams don't have to apply for the permits if they don't want to. But Ohio State lobbied hard against the measure, failing at the last minute to get it amended to exclude all schools but Youngstown State.

The bill, as passed by the committee, would apply to schools and teams with stadiums that seat at least 4,000 people.

Passage "will complicate the task of law-enforcement officers by adding another exception to the enforcement of the open-container law and will contribute to the kind of public drunkenness that we have worked so hard to reduce," OSU public safety Director Vernon Baisden told the House committee.

Ohio's open-container law bars people from drinking alcohol in public, even outside football games. But law-enforcement agencies across the state, at OSU and at Cleveland Browns games, largely looked the other way - until last season.

The city of Cleveland cracked down on drinkers outside Browns games last year - sort of. Some tailgaters in municipal lots were cited if they were caught drinking alcohol from its original containers. Discreet drinkers who used plastic cups were mostly spared, as long as they did not cause trouble.

OSU and Columbus police got even tougher on tailgaters after riots that erupted about 12 hours after the school's football team beat Michigan in November 2002, giving Ohio State a berth in the national championship.

OSU police handed out 466 warnings and "advisements" for alcohol-related offenses outside the first three home games last year, according to police records. OSU police cited drinkers outside the following game and issued 53 open-container citations outside the final five home games.

Columbus police issued 154 citations for open-container violations outside all the OSU home games last year, spokeswoman Sherry Mercurio said.

Baisden showed the House committee a nine-minute video of drunken revelers outside the 2002 Michigan game. There were scenes of people urinating, shouting profanities and, early the next morning, overturning cars. The video also showed serene scenes of families walking outside the stadium last year, after the university and Columbus police started enforcing the open-container law.

"Obviously, there was an effect," Baisden said. "There was a change."

The crackdown also has been a boon to the few remaining campus-area bars and to the growing number of groups that get temporary permits to serve beer at inflated prices in roped-off areas along Lane Avenue, about a block from Ohio Stadium.

Several law-enforcement agencies and groups that fight underage drinking also oppose the bill.

"Increased access to alcohol through open-container tailgating promotes high-risk drinking and sends a mixed message that alcohol consumption on a college campus is OK," said written testimony submitted to the committee by Ohio Parents for Drug Free Youth and the Ohio College Initiative to Reduce High Risk Drinking.

But lawmakers said they didn't see the connection between middle-aged alumni drinking beer before football games and 19-year-old students setting cars on fire 12 hours later.

Several lawmakers said problems with student drinking at OSU have been exacerbated since the university bulldozed most of the campus-area bars several years ago, eliminating controlled atmospheres in which students could drink.

"I think we've seen a prohibition effect," said State Rep. Dan Stewart, a Columbus Democrat. "They have no place to go."

Youngstown State asked for the bill after its student newspaper, The Jambar, ran a story in October about illegal drinking at a university-sponsored lot near the school's football stadium. The university banned alcohol from the lot for the season's last home game.

Sgt. John Beshara of the Mahoning County sheriff's office told the House committee there has never been a major incident in the 15 years he has patrolled the lot.

"Tailgating is a tradition at YSU and is far more than just some pleasurable activity to take part in before and after a game," YSU Police Chief John Gocala told the committee. "In Mahoning Valley, tailgating is an opportunity for a special kind of camaraderie and unity. I'm sure that this is true for many schools throughout the state of Ohio."

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:

sohlemacher@plaind.com, 1-800-228-8272

[Captain Kangaroo]

In a related story...

Two Ohio State players charged with robbery

05/02/04

Columbus- Two Ohio State football players were arrested and charged with robbery Saturday after a student accused the two of assaulting and robbing him, authorities said.

Coach Jim Tressel suspended the players, sophomores Louis Irizarry and Ira Guilford, indefinitely and said, "It appears likely they could lose their privilege to play for Ohio State in 2004."

Each was being held on one count of felony robbery at the Franklin County jail Saturday afternoon and likely would make court appearances Monday morning.

Ohio State student and Brecksville native Kenneth Whitwell, 20, reported that he was assaulted on campus at 3 a.m., according to police records.

Police briefly searched the area and arrested the two players.

No other details about the assault were available.

Guilford, 18, a 6-0, 190-pound tailback from Hoboken, N.J., played in five games last year, rushing for 68 yards on 28 carries. Irizarry, 19, a 6-5, 235-pound tight end from Youngstown, played in seven games, mostly on special teams.

"We are aware of the situation," Tressel said in a statement. "We view it as very serious. We are looking into it aggressively to learn more about the facts."

[Guest Notorious ZIP]

Not likely to happen at Akron.

I heard from a pretty good source that some major changes are coming to the ZIPSFEST area this year - moving to the lower lot and some major bands being at the event.