A remnant of Kansas University’s gridiron victory over its intrastate rival was evident earlier this week when a piece of a goalpost could be seen sticking out of the Kansas River near the Bowersock Dam.
KU senior Andy Garner said fans need to get used to the team’s winning ways.
“I think it’s ridiculous,” Garner said about the conduct of some fans after KU defeated Kansas State University on Nov. 18 at Memorial Stadium.
“People need to realize that once you defeat a team a certain amount of times – like twice in the last three years – it’s not really that big of an upset,” said Garner, of Liberal.
There are plenty of other fans who agree with Garner, said Jim Marchiony, KU associate athletic director. The university’s concern is that someone could get injured or killed while tearing off the metal goalposts, he said.
“The fact that a vast majority of the students stayed in the stands and booed the people tearing down the goalposts shows that the education and the urging has helped in some regard,” Marchiony said. “Obviously, it hasn’t fully sunk in with everybody and we hope it does before the start of next season.”
The K-State game was the only time KU fans carried off the goalposts this season. But during the 2005 football season, KU fans tore down the goalposts three times. One of those times occurred after the Jayhawks defeated Nebraska for the first time in 36 years. Garner said he could understand the jubilation after that game.
“That’s the type of game you tear them down for,” he said. “But next year, if we beat Nebraska at home, I don’t think they should be torn down.”
When the goalposts tumble, their pieces traditionally are carried off by a throng of students to Potter Lake where they are dumped into the water.
After the 2005 Nebraska game, a few students carried a long piece of the goalpost downtown and north on Massachusetts Street. The students were stopped by a police officer at Sixth and Massachusetts streets and ordered to put the post down. The students complied.
A set of two goalposts cost about $7,000, Marchiony said. KU grounds workers usually retrieve the broken goalposts from the lake. Workers planned to check the river to see if the piece could be retrieved, he said.
In previous years, there were attempts by KU workers to mechanically drop the goalposts to the ground before fans could get to them. Not anymore. The fans turned out to be too quick, Marchiony said. There was still a potential for damage and injury, he said.
Other universities face similar problems with postgame celebrations. When Ohio State defeated Michigan earlier this month, police officers formed a security ring around the goalposts, said Jim Lynch, Ohio State’s director of university relations.
“We probably had about 15,000 to 17,000 fans rush the field at the end of the game,” Lynch said. “We did have officers protecting the goalposts, and students and fans celebrated on the field but made no attempt to take down the goalposts.”
