Vandalism Requires Increased Security

The Plague Foots the Bill for Enthusiastic Fans

Yeah what he said: Oberlin fans show what they think of the opposing team at the ice rink. (photo by Pauline Shapiro)

It's Saturday night and it's about that time. As you near the ice rink on the north end of campus all you hear is the exuberant cheering and pounding of the glass from the hundreds of fans packed inside anticipating a night of rowdy hockey.

If you have ever been to a hockey game, you know that the fans explode with every hit and lose control when a fight breaks out, on the ice. If you have ever been to an Oberlin hockey game, you know its utter madness all the time.

The OC hockey rink could appropriately be dubbed "the Pit" for its close resemblance to a mosh pit. Fans both lose control and use it as a release, much of the time not thinking, just doing.

In response to the not thinking, just doing attitude of the fans, the Lorain County Hockey Association is mandating security for every home Plague hockey game for the rest of the season. As part of a 10 year lease expiring in 2002, rink management has been turned over to the LHCA under the management of Rick McDaniel and four other seasonal managers.

"At each game we have experienced a percentage of the student spectators whose conduct goes way beyond what is acceptable as fervent support for the [Oberlin College] team," McDaniel said.

McDaniel cited vandalism, aggressive physical conduct towards visiting teams and their fans and repeated violations of rink rules against alcoholic beverages on the premises as the reason for security.

The vandalism and excessive cheering include the tossing of trash cans and glass bottles onto the ice during a game last year and the excessive pounding and climbing on the glass with the intent of grabbing players as they skate by.

"LHCA has to make sure the rink facilities and the association's liability for rink activities is protected. The requirement for security staffing at OC games is necessary to provide that protection," McDaniel said.

Is this just fan support or do these actions require security?

"I don't know of any other OC sport, varsity or club, that generates crowds of that size and promotes such enthusiasm among the students, but maybe 10-15 percent of the students have engaged in unacceptable conduct and that's enough to require some sort of security presence," McDaniel said.

"Its great that the fans are supporting the team... I don't want security there because they have turned fans away at the door," junior Plague captain Kert Heinecke said.

"There's definitely a certain style of cheering involved with hockey games," Assistant Recreation Director Eric Lahetta said. "Enthusiasm is great but you can't ignore vandalism," Heinecke added.

"The presence of security is a good thing because when it gets that rowdy, someone could get hurt, especially when fans stop thinking," first-year fan Nick DiSanza said.

Because of the fans' rowdy nature, security is required for the rest of the season, which also means that the hockey team is required to cover security costs during the games.

The security guards required are off-duty guards, including a supervisor. Because they are off-duty, all money they make is considered overtime. The expected cost to cover one game is $200, or $800 for the final four games, far more than is in the club budget.

The Student Finance Committee stepped in when petitioned by the hockey team to cover security costs for the rest of the season.

The security presence will change a few things. "The intent of security is to keep things from getting out of control," sophomore Plague member Yoav Tal said. This means a stricter enforcement of the alcohol ban and toned down cheering by the fans.

"The idea of having security present is to keep people from getting hurt and make sure they respect the facilities they have," Lahetta said.

Security or not, there's no doubt that the rink will be rockin' this Saturday night at 10 when the Plague play Baldwin Wallace.