On Mon, 13 Feb 1995, Jeffrey T. Anbinder wrote:
 
> Here's the problem:  What's to stop me from going to Bright Arena at
> Harvard next year and throwing something on the ice every few minutes, to
> get penalties called against Harvard?  Not that I'm going to do it, but
> here's the sticky point - what rule in the book allows the officials to
> assume that it was a Cornell fan that threw the foreign object?  If it was
> a Harvard fan, there was nothing that either the Cornell team or the
> Cornell fans could have done to stop it, and although I'm fairly confident
> that it was probably just some idiot sophomore who didn't get there until
> after play had started, it *could* have been a Harvard fan.  Gentlemen,
> start your rulebooks.
 
I don't have the rule book, but I'm going to assume that the home team is
penalized because they are responsible for the actions of their
spectators.  Whether the fans are rooting for the home team or not, they
have paid (in most cases) the host school and that school is responsible
for presenting a safe playing environment.  In addition to fielding a
team and selling tickets, the host school will need some quality event
management and security to ensure that no fans, regardless of school
loyalty, disrupt play.  Giving the penalty to the home team forces the
host school to maintain order.  If a spectator throws something in the
field of play, there should be some predetermined actions to have them
either removed or cited.
 
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* Robb Dunn                         University of Michigan *
* Project Administrator                   Sport Facilities *
*                                      Research Laboratory *
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* [log in to unmask]            Cal '93, Michigan '94 and '97 *
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