Ban beer inside of Mackay

Each year, the subject of beer sales at Mackay Stadium comes up for discussion, and each year the University of Nevada opts to continue selling despite the problems that come with it.

Ban it. Show some guts Nevada and ban it. This is one time where I say losing $75,000 in revenue isn't a bad thing.

It's been proven time and again in Reno that people take drinking beer to the extreme, spoiling the experience of attending a college football game for people around them. The vulgarity and fights that always seem to accompany alcohol consumption need to stop - now.

Before I started covering the Pack, I had football season tickets for a year. There were times when I thought I was at Candlestick Park or Kezar Stadium judging by the fan behavior around me. I work hard for my money, and don't like to see it wasted because people don't know or don't care when they have consumed too much beer.

A couple of beers is fine during a game, but not after you've been drinking alcohol for two or three hours prior to the game. The university isn't trying to ban beer outside the stadium, just inside the stadium.

I'd go one step beyond that and ban it at Peccole Park. I sit in the press box and watch people consume 5 or 6 beers in nine innings. Just think how bad it will be this year when the Pack plays double-headers.

A colleague in the office here at the Appeal disagrees with the possible ban. He said that the actions of a few shouldn't affect those that don't abuse alcohol. It's a good point - to a degree. And, he suggested harsher penalties for offending fans.

What about 911? The behavior of a few has radically changed the entire world of airport security. Restrictions abound. I know it's for our own safety, but if not for the actions of a few, we would probably never have had the worries we do now in terms of air travel.

Why can't people just attend a sporting event without drinking beer? What's wrong with a couple of sodas instead?

You start to wonder whether fans/people are going to the stadium to watch the product on the field or to get soused and escape from whatever day-to-day problems they might have.

I go to games to watch and cheer for my favorite teams, and not just to consume alcohol. I've never been drunk or never acted badly at an athletic event, pro or college.

•••

It's Senior Night for the Nevada women's basketball team, and the team, coaching staff and fans will bid farewell to Mikail Price, Andrea Sitton, Sabrina Keys, Jessica Cox and Coty Feest.

It's been a big season for the Pack, which is 18-10 entering tonight's game against Fresno State. The Pack needs one more victory to tie the school's single-season record for wins and two to reach 20 wins for the first time in school history.

Price, who started 22 games this season, enters the game with a 9.4 scoring average. Keys, who has been bothered by injuries during her Nevada career, is averaging 4.1 points and 2.9 rebounds per game. Feest, a former Reno High star, is averaging 1.4 points and 0.3 rebounds in 16 games. Sitton has played in 20 games thus far, averaging 0.6 points and 0.7 rebounds per outing. Cox, a walk-on, has appeared in just three games this season.