Blue White Illustrated

he atmosphere of college football is changing, and not for the better. Maybe it's because the culture in America has changed with more in- your-face and screw-you attitudes in our everyday living. Or maybe it's just me and others of my generation who were raised in the 1940s and '50s to be courteous to others, to avoid foul language and to be good sports in the games we play by showing respect for our opponents. We also were taught to believe in loy- alty and that cheating, no matter how small, was a sign of weakness in charac- ter and would come back to hurt you. Now, we weren't living in an idyllic and impossible never-never land where life is just one Disney World. We lived through the air raid sirens and deaths of close relatives during World War II and the threat of nuclear annihilation in the 1950s, and we vividly remember the rightful and just civil rights marches and the not-so-justified riots of the '60s. So, what does all this have to do with today's college football? There haven't been any riots yet, but I wouldn't bet on the future. There cer- tainly have been fights in the grand- stands and disturbances in the parking lots outside of the stadiums. We might not have seen many in and around Beaver Stadium yet, but don't bet on that, either. I had a taste of it at the Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium. Yes, alcohol played a role in the fight, but that wasn't the rea- son for all the cursing before and throughout the game by the younger Penn State and Boston College fans all around us. I sometimes utter the f-word myself in private when my temper gets the best of me, but some people seem to use it incessantly. We were sitting in the highest section of Yankee Stadium, in the corner of the end zone where home plate is located when the field is configured for base- ball, and nine rows from the last row at the top. The view was fine, not much different from the vantage point that my wife, Carole, and I enjoy from our seats in the upper deck of Beaver Stadi- um's south end zone. We also had a good view of the Jumbotron above the center field grandstand. The fight broke out two rows directly in front of us and, unfortunately, it oc- curred at the most crucial point in the game. Boston College's kicker had just missed the extra point in overtime, and Penn State was facing second-and-15 at the 30-yard line after a false start penalty. The action was in the center field end zone, and I always use binocu- lars to get a closer look. As Penn State huddled, an older man wearing a Boston College hat and jersey got up in the middle of the row and for some reason started making his way to- ward the steps near the exit. Six or so people were slowly rising as he passed them when suddenly all hell broke loose, with fists flying between the BC guy and a Penn State fan. Others were hollering and swinging their arms around and seemed to be trying to break up the fight as a woman in a police uni- form (but not from the NYPD) ran up to see what she could do. All this was occurring while Penn State was running plays on the field in the distance. But we couldn't see any- thing except for the jerks in front of us. By the time everything settled down, with both of the Muhammad Ali wannabes escorted out, the only two plays I barely saw were Kyle Carter's touchdown reception and Sam Ficken's winning extra point. OK, you say, that might have been typical of a major league baseball or pro football game, but it wouldn't happen without the alcohol. I'm not so sure. My oldest daughter, Vicki, and her husband, Jeff, experienced an unsettling personal incident at Beaver Stadium during the Ohio State game in October that may have been fueled by too much alcohol in the many boozy hours of tail- gating that preceded the 8 p.m. kickoff. Vicki and Jeff live in Florida and picked that weekend to visit. They had not been in Beaver Stadium since the Notre Dame game of 2007, which was special for Jeff because he was raised an Irish fan on his lakeside home not far from South Bend. That game kicked off at 6 p.m., and Jeff had no problems even though he was decked out in his Notre Dame garb. So, I bought two Ohio State tickets on the 40-yard line in the East Section for $100 apiece from a good friend. The seats were the ninth and 10th inside a row. I didn't learn until after the game that Vicki and Jeff (wearing a Penn State hat) left at halftime after being harassed and called names by three rude couples in Penn State clothing. Their offense? Go- ing in and out of that row near the start of the game and during the first half. Vicki and Jeff should have summoned an usher, but they figured that would cause even more trouble for them the rest of the game and it might be worse when the game ended. I tried to find out who had those spe- cific tickets at the end of the row, but the athletic department wouldn't tell me if they were season-ticket holders, and my friend didn't know. If that had been me and my son Scott, who also was at the game, I'm not sure there wouldn't have been a major confrontation with those dolts. Isolated cases at Beaver and Yankee In the stands and on the field, civility is on the decline T

• Cover