Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2003 | 9:19 a.m.
Ron Kantowski is a Las Vegas Sun sports writer. Reach him at [email protected] or (702) 259-4088.
If you had to characterize Friday's UNLV-Hawaii football game in three words, it would be "go, fight, win."
It's the second part of the equation that has UNLV officials concerned, as several fights broke out in the Sam Boyd Stadium stands during the second half of the Rebels' 33-22 victory against the Warriors.
A near-capacity crowd of 34,287 was on hand to watch UNLV and Hawaii resume their natural rivalry, but midway through the fourth quarter, the stadium was half-empty. Most fans had either gotten an early start for home or had punched themselves out by then.
That's a slight exaggeration, of course, as only three people were arrested. Yet from my seat in the press box, I watched four separate fights break out in different parts of the stadium.
Thankfully, the ESPN cameras stayed with the action on the field. But Bob Arum could have put a couple of cameras on the stands and sold it on pay-per-view for $39.95. Shane Mosley and Oscar De La Hoya had nothing on the fans who left the stadium in handcuffs.
All jokes aside, the football fisticuffs have become an all-too-regular occurrence at UNLV games when the visiting side brings a lot of fans.
"We absolutely have to address it," said Mike Hamrick, UNLV's new athletic director, about stadium security.
"My children were at the game, too. So just like every other parent, I have that issue. This has to be addressed. But how we address it ... at this point, I can't answer it.
"When I come in Monday morning, I make a list of issues that need to be addressed. This week, stadium security is the No. 1 on my list."
Hamrick said he would meet with Sam Boyd Stadium and campus police today to discuss what, if anything, can be done.
Stadium spokesman Joe Santiago said the Sam Boyd security force for the Hawaii game -- 20 Metro officers, 10 UNLV campus officers and 150 stadium ushers and security -- is standard for a crowd of 25,000-plus.
"We wouldn't do it any differently," Santiago said, adding that the security committee would attempt to identify problem areas within the stadium and concentrate security personnel in those areas for future games.
"Sometimes you can't control what a guy is going to do after he's had a couple of beers at a game."
UNLV police Lt. Jeff Green said alcohol played a significant role in Friday's arrests. "Most, if not all, of our arrests are (alcohol related)," he said.
One of the persons detained was wearing a No. 2 UNLV jersey -- the number that Jason Thomas made famous -- or infamous, depending on which part of his Rebels career you followed. Another guy I saw being led away looked like George Chuvalo, he had so much blood streaming down his face.
When this problem arose last year, I suggested that UNLV should reconsider where it seats visiting fans. The way the stadium is set up now, the visitors' section is in the corner of the closed end of the stadium, adjacent to the rowdy end zone general admission stands.
With opposing fans seated within audible obscenity distance of the beer bash section, that corner of the stadium is like tapping a keg of dynamite, at least when the visiting team travels well.
That's where the first fight broke out Friday. Two more erupted in or near the UNLV student section, where a large group of UNLV students hailing from Hawaii decided to wear green and cheer for their native sons.
I understand the mixed emotions. I know guys from Illinois who go to school at Indiana and cheer for the Illini when it comes to Assembly Hall. But they usually don't do it blatantly in the middle of the IU student body, either.
In that this year's game with Nevada-Reno is on the road (riot gear and nunchucks optional), crowd control will probably be an issue just once more, when BYU comes to town Oct. 25.
Thankfully, Cougars fans have a different boiling point than others around the Mountain West, probably because 7-Up doesn't ignite as easily as Budweiser.
Still, with about 12,000 of them expected to be part of a capacity crowd, I sure hope somebody in the end zone doesn't bring a banner that says "LaVell Edwards Wears Army Boots."
I mean, even BYU fans have their limits.
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