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Tuesday, December 18, 2001

Don't be so smug, Pittsburgh, about the problems they had in Cleveland Sunday.

A lot of Steelers fans are just as sick and demented as the losers who must have made NFL officials regret the day they decided to bring pro football back to Cleveland.

Sorry, there are sick and demented fans in every city.

"If we had won this way down in Jacksonville, I would expect this to happen," Browns President Carmen Policy said.

As it turned out, that was the only sane thing Policy said in the ugly aftermath of the Browns' controversial, 15-10 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars.

That doesn't mean it's not incredibly sad.

Too often, even outrageous fan violence -- such as what they had in Cleveland -- is tolerated, even justified with a "Fans will be fans" rationale, as if that somehow makes it OK for criminals to throw thousands and thousands of plastic beer bottles and assorted other dangerous objects on the playing field.

That's what that fool, Policy, did after many of his fans turned what had been a great day at Cleveland Stadium into a life-and-death situation for players, officials and other fans.

"I am not criticizing the fans at all because I don't think it's appropriate," Policy told The Cleveland Plain Dealer. "I think a lot has happened. The fans' hearts have been ripped out ...

"I like the fact that our fans cared."

Does that sound like a madman's invitation to riot at the next game or what?

"I think everyone controlled themselves, considering they spent 60 minutes out in cold weather," Browns owner Al Lerner said.

Are you thinking what I'm thinking?

That the fans weren't the only sick and demented people at Cleveland Stadium Sunday?

Policy took the "Fans will be fans" spin to a new, almost unbelievable low by saying, "Those are plastic bottles, and I don't think they carry much of a wallop."

Only someone whose wife was sitting safely in the owners' box could say something so stupid.

On the field, events told a different story. Browns Coach Butch Davis had a knee injured when he avoided a beer bottle. He made sure he found Jaguars Coach Tom Coughlin after the game, telling him, "I'll go in with you. Maybe they won't throw anything." Said Jaguars wide receiver Jimmy Smith, "We feared for our lives."

So much for post-Sept. 11 perspective.

The picture in the Post-Gazette yesterday of the game officials running off the field, ducking to avoid the flying debris, was worth a thousand words. Take a good look at it. Tell me it doesn't make you sick to your stomach.

It doesn't matter that the NFL's instant-replay system inexcusably abandoned the Browns with the game on the line. Nor does it matter that referee Terry McAulay did an awful job explaining the situation to the fans.

There never is justification for throwing objects on the field.

Someone needs to tell Policy, by the way, that many of those plastic bottles were filled with beer, hard as it is to believe that so many drunks would part with a full bottle merely for the thrill of hurling a potentially murderous weapon.

It has to stop.

Sooner or later, this tolerance of fan violence has to stop.

Someone has to lead a crusade against the sale of alcoholic beverages at sporting events. Cutting off sales at halftime or after the third quarter no longer is enough. Fans, in general, are angrier than ever. They are paying more for tickets and demanding more from their teams. Ask Kordell Stewart about that some time. Too many of those fans can't control themselves when that anger is mixed with 10 or 12 beers.

It's safe to say Lerner and Policy probably won't be the ones to lead that fight.

Actually, it's hard to imagine any team owner leading it, so greedy are they in their pursuit of "revenue streams."

It probably will take someone on the field getting hit in the head with a beer bottle from the upper deck and dying to make the owners consider such a drastic step.

Death in the stands hasn't made it happen. Added security was needed at San Diego's Qualcomm Stadium Saturday for the Chargers-Oakland Raiders game. Last year, a Raiders fan stabbed a Chargers fan and killed him after the game there.

What a horrible weekend this was for the NFL.

What a horrible weekend it was for fans everywhere.

Cleveland and San Diego might be in the news today. Don't kid yourselves into thinking it couldn't be Pittsburgh tomorrow.

Ron Cook can be reached at rcook@post-gazette.com.