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Wednesday, January 31, 2001
Maryland upset with fan behavior
Associated Press
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COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- Maryland may ban the student tradition
of tossing rolled-up newspapers onto the basketball court after the
mothers of several Duke players were injured by flying debris last
weekend.
Athletic director Debbie Yow is deciding what crowd-control
initiatives to impose at Cole Field House for Sunday's game against
Clemson.
Last Saturday, fans threw water bottles, plastic cups, coins and
ice at the Duke bench after the Blue Devils came from 10 points
behind with less than a minute left in regulation to beat the Terps
98-96 in overtime.
The mothers of Duke players Carlos Boozer, Jason Williams and
Chris Duhon were hit by debris.
Maryland president C.D. Mote Jr. apologized to Duke, which has
been a magnet for such incidents in recent years.
Yow said the school may ban the newspaper toss as a result.
Traditionally, students sitting behind and to the right of the
visiting bench mock that team by holding up newspapers while their
players are introduced.
When the introductions are over, students roll the newspaper
pages into balls and throw them at the team.
Yow said a postgame videotape shows about 100 students throwing
debris toward Duke players for about 50 seconds.
"It was an embarrassment to all who value civility and love
this great institution. This behavior cannot and will not be
tolerated," she said.
Yow said ice and batteries have been wrapped in some tossed
newspapers.
Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski has not brought his family to Cole
Field House for a number of years, largely because of the abuse by
Maryland fans.
"The worst thing you can do is throw objects," he said.
Terps coach Gary Williams and Yow wrote open letters set to
appear in Wednesday's edition of The Diamondback campus newspaper.
Yow and Williams also criticized crowd chants and the wearing of
shirts with obscene Duke references.
Williams supports a zero-tolerance approach to ending the
tradition.
"I don't understand why our fans think they can throw anything
on the court, when it's not done anywhere else in the country," he
said.
"We've worked too hard to bring this basketball program up from
an embarrassing situation. I don't need idiots throwing stuff on
the court, to take something away from what we've tried to do
here."
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