[ OUR OPINION ]
Colleges must not
tolerate football brawlsA splendid Sheraton Hawaii Bowl between two high-powered offenses ended with an unfortunate exclamation point. Players from both football teams engaged in a 10-minute riot that kept ESPN glued to the field even after a prolonged thriller that included three overtimes leading to a 54-48 Hawaii victory. Coaches and officials need to take action to prevent further repetition of such game-ending turbulence.
THE ISSUE
Players from the universities of Hawaii and Houston rumbled following the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl.
The melee resembled the rumble that followed the Hawaii Warriors' 20-19 defeat of the University of Cincinnati last year, but with a big difference. After that incident, officials from each school blamed the other. UH Coach June Jones said that brawl "wasn't our fault," although videotapes showed a UH player wielding crutches as a weapon. Cincinnati's coach would not concede that his players threw the first punch, although that seemed to have been the case.
After the Christmas Day game between Hawaii and the University of Houston, both sides said they would review videotapes to determine how emotions escalated to violence. Houston Chronicle columnist Fran Blinebury observed that it was hard to say which side started it, noting that "there were punches thrown by players from both sides." Players and coaches said the members of the two teams had been cordial in the days preceding the game.
"There's no excuse," said Hawaii athletic director Herman Frazier. He said he intends to "go back and look at the film and try to find out what happened." Houston Coach Art Briles said he likewise would "look at the tapes, evaluate it and go from there. We're going to see what got it going and who kept it going." Briles and Frazier were seen embracing later.
According to Hawaii player Kelvin Millhouse, taunting during the game contributed to the tension. "They were talking with us, messing with us the whole game," he said. "I don't think they liked us," adding -- tellingly -- "I don't think we liked them very much either."
Jones blamed the game officials for "not taking control of some of the taunting and some of the other things that were going on" during the game. But coaches should be responsible for ingraining their players with the old sticks-and-stones adage.
Fortunately, the free-for-all was surpassed by the excitement of the game itself and the good feelings with which the visitors probably returned to Texas. Dale Maggard, Houston's athletic director, said -- albeit before the game -- that the players had enjoyed the trip, as did the 200 to 300 fans who followed them from Houston.
"I think the people who could make the trip will spread the word to others in the University of Houston community that it was a great time," Maggard told columnist Millhouse. Add to that the national exposure of Hawaii's warmth in the dead of winter, and the comparison between positive aspects of the event and the ugly spectacle at the end wasn't even close.
