George Ferguson Column: It's time for schools to be punished for fan behavior

Not long ago, I called a select few fans at this year’s Cat-Griz game in Missoula idiots. I called them that because of the way they were behaving in the stands during the game, even though the players on the field, in a game nicknamed the Brawl of the Wild, were showing about 10,000 times more class than those few fans were.

I just felt the word idiots was appropriate, and I still do.

But I want those one-percenters, as I like to the very few in the Montana and Montana State fan bases, to know one thing — you’re not alone. There’s fans just like you scattered all over the college football and basketball landscape, and we saw one of them on national television just last weekend.

When Ohio State beat Michigan in overtime last Saturday, fans were allowed to storm the field. That’s nothing new. In fact, it’s a time-honored tradition, and while schools have pretty much put a stop to fans tearing down expensive goal posts, fans storming the field hasn’t gone away.

Now, in and of itself, storming the field isn’t something I have much of a problem with. In my younger days as a Montana Grizzly fan, I admit, I’ve done it. I’ve even helped tear down a goal post. No, I’m not trying to be the “fun police” here and suggest that fans shouldn’t be able to celebrate a big win in a jubilant manner. That’s not it at all.

But when fans cross the line, like one did last Saturday in the Shoe, it’s time someone be held accountable for it, and not just the idiot who stepped over that line.

The fan in the Michigan/Ohio State game I’m referring to is the one who tried to pick a fight, or at least get in the face of Michigan star and Heisman trophy candidate Jabrill Pepper.

First off, the fan was some small, nonathletic looking dude who was going after one of the fiercest defensive players in all of college football. That automatically makes that Buckeye fan an idiot. Secondly, the fan was an idiot because all that does is put a black eye on an otherwise spectacular new chapter in one of the best rivalry games in all of college sports.

Now, Peppers, by shoving the fan, and pretty violently I might add, put a black eye on it himself by reacting the way he did. But, that begs the question, when is enough, enough?

We see this kind of thing all the time, and ironically, it’s only after a win. We even witnessed it at the 2015 Montana/North Dakota State game in Missoula, when, an idiot Griz fan was caught on video repeatedly going after an NDSU wide receiver after the Griz shocked the then four-time national champion Bison. Seriously? Just celebrate the win with your team, and leave the other guys alone. It’s so stupid, and it’s time to do something about this.

Of course, the first solution for many to curb this kind of classless behavior is to remove alcohol from the equation. But I don’t buy that. Talk to fans of Cat-Griz, Michigan/Ohio State or Miami/Florida State even when there’s no alcohol in the vicinity, and tensions still run high. The rivalry fuels that tension, not the booze. Of course, do football fans take pregame drinking to the extreme on occasion? Yes, absolutely. But again, that’s a small percentage of fans, and when the majority of fans every Saturday can enjoy a great college football tradition like tailgating, without breaking the law, there’s no reason to take that away from them.

Many would also argue that college football players are held to a higher standard, and they should just turn the other cheek in those instances. I don’t completely disagree with that theory, but, what does that teach society? It sets a pretty bad precedent in my opinion, one that says: pay money to attend a football game, and say and do whatever you want because the guy you’re saying it too has too much at stake to do anything about it.

Yeah, that’s not a real good lesson in class or sportsmanship.

No, my solution to curb the few idiots who pull stunts like the Buckeye fan did last week is to, at the very least, hold the host school accountable. If something like what happened last Saturday in Columbus, if it’s in your stadium, then it’s your fault and you will be punished for it.

In other words, if an Ohio State fan crosses that line, in Ohio Stadium, on the campus of Ohio State University, then, not just the fan, but Ohio State needs to pay the price. I don’t know what the penalties should be, but there should be one. That much I know. After all, the NCAA punishes schools all over the country for a lot of things that are a lot less egregious than fans causing trouble, as was the case last Saturday. If the NCAA can drop the hammer on a school for football players getting free cookies and hotdogs from boosters, or for a booster allowing a football player to use their washing machine, then the same NCAA surely can find a way to punish a school for this type of fan behavior.

Again, I’m not trying to take away anyone’s fun. That’s what college football Saturday’s are. They’re fun. But it’s time to get this sort of stuff under control. Because, if someone doesn’t get it under control, the number of idiots aren’t going to fall into the one-percent category much longer. The idiot brigade is going to grow and get worse. And it won’t be long before something really bad happens following the next great college football rivalry game.

And I don’t want to see that day come.