MU hopes to keep fans in stands

The days of rushing the goal posts at Faurot Field will never be the same. Not that anyone would expect that kind of behavior on Saturday when MU opens its season against a Division I-AA opponent.

Collapsible aluminum goal posts were installed last week in preparation for Saturday’s season opener against Murray State University. MU purchased the goal posts, which are hinged at the base and can be lowered to the ground, for $8,500.

MU set up a task force to consider ways to minimize rowdiness and keep fans off the field after the Tigers defeated Nebraska last year and fans pulled down the traditional goal posts, carried them away and cut them into pieces for souvenirs.

Neil Gilman, president of Connecticut-based Gilman Gear, said the posts his firm sold to MU are effective at reducing post-game chaos and are in use at 35 universities. The University of Kansas bought collapsible posts from Gilman in 2003, after a home field win against MU led to goal post ruin.

“The thought is that if (the goal posts) are already down, it will discourage fans from running onto the field,” Gilman said. “They would lower the goal posts at the end of the game to head off any fans from flowing onto the field to try to rip them down.”

MU upgraded the basic model, which starts at $6,900, by adding a bright yellow powder coating as well as a customized insert for the sleeve that goes into the ground below the posts. To lower each post, a team unscrews two bolts and then uses poles that latch onto the crossbar to bring the entire apparatus to the ground.

Mark Alnutt, MU’s associate athletic director for administration, said five or six event staff are assigned to each goal. In dry runs earlier this week, the uprights were lowered in 15 seconds.

The athletic department plans to lower the new posts immediately after every home game — regardless of the opponent.

“I don’t see a threat this weekend,” Alnutt said. “I think the threat’s kind of reserved for highly ranked teams, like Oklahoma, or a rival like KU.”

MU will host both of those teams at its last two home games Oct. 28 and Nov. 25.

Bob Burda, assistant commissioner of communications for the Big 12 conference, said he supports the installation of collapsible posts because they lessen the potential for injury that exists when traditional posts are torn down by fans. He said the Big 12 was alerted to MU’s decision.

MU police Capt. Brian Weimer said game ushers will continue the practice of lining up to prevent fans from entering the playing field after the game.

“It’s a hard and fast thing — you are trespassing as soon as you enter the field,” he said. “The goal behind the strict enforcement is safety; if those goal posts come down, they could injure a large number of people.”

At last year’s Nebraska game, 21 people were arrested for first-degree trespassing in the midst of the post-game revelry.

Bob Stanley, the assistant athletic director for facilities, seems confident that the collapsible posts might prove to be an effective alternative.

“I have learned in the course of this business that you can’t worry,” Stanley said. “All you can do is do your best to be prepared. Those goal posts are going to come down every game, and that’s just how it’s going to be.”