police protest: -The Outcome

This post has generated a lot of discussion. The incident happened Saturday 11/20/99. After the fight, the Conference Playoff Commissioner used the half time score to advance the team which was ahead before the police ended the game. The full Conference Commission intervened and handed down the following:

Although the game was 18-0 at half time (#2 seed vs. #7 seed...#2 seed leading at half..,) and the fight broke out between parents (the stands for both sides were on the SAME side of the field, in close proximity to the players...probably not a good playoff site in retrospect..) BOTH TEAMS were disqualified from the playoffs and fail to advance. It could not be decisivly determined by the police which fans actually STARTED the trash talking, (although eyewitnesses claim the #2 seed parents initiated the problem...) which ended in violence, so the Conference acted on BOTH teams to send a zero tolerance message. The kids are the losers in all this, as the outcome wasn't decided on the field of play.
One of the teams involved was undefeated, and seeded #2 in the tournament. Our team is seeded #1, and we were looking forward to handing them their 1st loss in the Super Bowl. Because of a bunch of out-of-control jerks, their kids suffer.

However, I for one feel a bit safer now. At least we won't have to rent kevlar vests for our kids now that the offending parents are no longer around to cause more trouble.