Nobody likes a sermon, especially one on proper behavior. Such homilies are even less welcome when the congregation is made up of sports fans. Fans don't like hearing them, and I certainly don't like giving them.
But it seems that there's a trend running through collegiate sports lately. More and more often, fans are engaging in behavior that is less civil and more abusive, even dangerous. Look at what happened after Ohio State defeated Michigan in football last fall. Or after Minnesota's victory in the NCAA men's hockey championships. In both cases, celebrations turned into riots, changing what ought to have been terrific moments for those schools into an embarrassment for university officials and a nightmare for many of the people present.
In the wake of such events, I and the chief executives of the other Big Ten universities' alumni associations have decided to work together to try to help reduce unsportsmanlike fan behavior.
We realize, of course, that disturbances are caused by only a small number of fans, and that not all of those fans are alumni or current students. And we realize, too, that there's a limit to what we can accomplish. Riots and mob action are province of police and security personnel, not alumni associations.