Is serving drinks to these guys a good idea?
According to Princeton Review, West Virginia University was the #4 party school in 2010. For some, a top five finish is very respectable. However, WVU’s athletic director, Oliver Luck, wants to be number one. In a vain attempt to reach the pinnacle of drunken debauchery, Mr. Luck proposes the introduction of beer sales at Mountaineer Field. His goal, among other things, is to increase concession stand sales and limit drinking before entering the stadium.
For those lucky few who have witnessed a game at West Virginia, you know exactly why this is a horrible idea. It’s already bad enough that there is absolute zero security at the stadium (it’s not uncommon to see fans sneak in fifths of liquor with relative ease), but adding fuel to this already uncontrollable fire is not a bright idea.
Fans have continuously complained, to no avail, about the exorbitant amount of alcohol that illegally finds its way into the stadium. The stadium is already littered with unruly fans, drunken idiotic behavior, fights, and overall general stupidity.
Luck’s position is that the sale of alcohol will curb excessive drinking. Fans won’t tailgate as much because drinks would be available inside the stadium. This theory is clearly wrong on so many levels. Simply put, college kids will not pay $6 to $10 a beer at a stadium when they know they can easily sneak in the hard stuff for free.
Luck needs to rethink this idea and listen to his alumni and fans. He is sending the wrong message to the West Virginia community by ignoring the obvious. Fans are petitioning, in fact begging, to boycott WVU football if alcohol is ultimately sold on game day.
If West Virginia really wants to make a difference, the school should put its time and energy in a more important ranking: from an academic standpoint, West Virginia is ranked a disappointing 176 nationally.
