Out Of Control

This needs to be said, and it needs to be repeated, and Maryland and the
Atlantic Coast Conference need to get the message loud and clear: Maryland fans
are a a disgrace and their violent behavior needs to be stopped, and stopped
immediately.

Last year, as you remember, fans went after Nate James' dad.  Bad
enough, but as we said at the time, a marine can take care of himself. 
Last night, however, Mrs. Boozer, Mrs. Williams, and Mrs. Harper (Duhon's mom)
were all assaulted by fans throwing objects, and Mrs. Boozer was hit in the face
with a bottle and required immediate medical attention.

This is so far beyond unacceptable it's not funny.

Last year the answer from Deborah Yow was weak, and this year Mrs. Boozer paid
the price, and she could have paid the price with her vision or even her life.
Mr. Boozer was certainly angry. He went into the press room to tell them that
his wife had been injured and said, according to the N&O (scroll down), "I went to school here, she went to school here. They should never treat fans like that. And Carlos thought about coming here, but going to Duke was the best thing he did."

Not that this matters much, but the idiots in Cole probably made sure that
the next Boozer, who is expected to be quite talented as well, will never go to
Maryland.

The University of Maryland is really playing with fire by allowing fans to be
so out of control.  Last year, as you saw with Sergeant James, the
conditions for a riot were clearly present, and they were lucky to avoid
that.  But they don't seem to be getting the message. So what to do?

Well if no one can be prosecuted - and it's very tough to track the
trajectory of a bottle in a crowd and building that size - there's always civil
action. We're not saying it should be the Boozers, but someone who gets
assaulted in Cole Field House ought to file suit and ask for a huge amount of
money.  We're not big fans of lawsuits, as you may remember, but the right
to sue is there for a reason and is valid.  If Maryland is unwilling to
take responsibility for a vicious home crowd, then perhaps the threat of a major
financial loss will do the trick.  Our guess is that a high profile suit
would alarm Maryland and it would be in their best interest to settle out of
court quickly.  And it could be easily settled: take concrete steps to
control the morons who attend your games. Arrest the hooligans. Control the
thugs.  

Before something really bad happens.

In the meantime, if you want to express your displeasure about the continuing lack of control in Cole, we would suggest writing to Maryland Athletic Director Deborah Yow and to Maryland's President, C. D. Mote. As always, we urge you to be courteous and temperate in your remarks.