Sweet Justice.

According to CNN.com...

"Saddam and seven other of his regime's officials, whose trial by special tribunal is scheduled to begin Wednesday, are charged with scores of reprisal killings and tortures in the Tigris River town after the incident on July 8, 1982."

"What a day, what a day, for an auto da fe!"

So how's about them Hoos? The first game I go to, and we beat a nationally ranked team, and the geniuses in the engineering department can't even tear down a stinkin' goalpost. If this were MSU, that thing would've been down in sixty seconds flat.

Let's add this to the good-luck-controlling-drunken-undergrads file. I found this in my UVa inbox this morning. (My new aspiring-Latin-teacher-EDLF-345-friend Carter Smiley was one of the poor cheerleaders caught in the unrush. Fortunately, she was wily enough to avoid injury.)

Dear Virginia Athletics Fan:

Saturday was a great day for college football, both nationally and here in Charlottesville as our Cavaliers earned a win against the No. 4 ranked team in the country, Florida State University. More than 63,000 fans gathered at the Carl Smith Center and watched a resourceful U.Va. football team beat the previously unbeaten Seminoles. All our fans deserve a great deal of credit for helping to create an enthusiastic atmosphere in Scott Stadium in support of our team as a national television audience watched from all over the country.

The euphoria of the hometown fans was short-lived as the game clock ran out, however. A number of fans took it upon themselves to storm the field as the game ended. An evening that should have ended in celebration and fun turned into a night of misfortune for a number of fans, mostly students. About a dozen students ended up being taken to the emergency room. It is important for me to address the Athletics Department's priorities in administering post-game safety measures.

I am relieved to know that injuries sustained by fans after the game ended were not life-threatening. It must be stated there is no role for fans who enter the field of play before, during, or after games. The field of play is for those people who, by virtue of their hard work, have earned the right to be on the field (the players, coaches, game officials, and game/event staff). It is our primary role to protect those who are supposed to be on the field. Equally important is our priority to provide a safe environment for fans to attend events; this priority is much more challenging, and in some cases impossible, when fans disregard the rules and attempt to go places they do not belong. When our fans overstep their role and attempt to enter the field of play, ensuring the safety of every player, coach, official, event staff representative, and fan is impossible.

Many of us witnessed a dangerous situation unfold on the hillside after Saturday's dramatic finish. Some fans intended to go on the field. Others were merely in the wrong place at the wrong time and were caught up in a crush of humanity. This was all unnecessary, and it was no fun for those who were injured or witnessed it. As I talked to many of the injured fans who ended up in the emergency room, each spoke of being afraid of having no control over the rush of people moving chaotically toward the field from the hillside. Among the fans who watched the game from the hillside were younger fans who easily could have been seriously injured in the post-game frenzy.

The spontaneous eruption of enthusiasm and support in the stands is what makes our fans, especially our students, so special. I ask for your continued support for all of our teams. We cannot, however, allow another situation to occur as it did on Saturday night. The injuries and the fear experienced by so many are not worth the brief thrill that might have come from being in a restricted area on the field.

The Department of Athletics cannot solve this situation alone. First, we welcome the level of enthusiasm for each game that was in the stands on Saturday night. Second, we need for celebrations to occur in the stands and other places where it is appropriate. The field, however, is not a place for fans to celebrate.

Thank you for contributing to our team's great on-the-field triumph on Saturday night. We welcome your continued support by giving a winning effort in the stands in the future.

Craig Littlepage
Director of Athletics