Seems like a pretty fair response to me....Liqour control is a joke. The way undercovers conduct business around town is borderline criminal. There should be much more public outcry over how state funds are used for a task force that oversteps their boundaries.

Can someone FOIA the records for liquor control stats for Athens vs. Kent, Akron, Columbus, Oxford, Bowling Green, etc.? Would love to see if the same efforts were applied everywhere else or if Athens is profiled because it is "easy money".

So, I called the athletics department today to see what they had to say. I got a call about 30 minutes ago. Essentially it's business as usual except for what has been noted above by the member of the ticket office. If you're tailgating on your own, just be responsible and play the game and go the cup route. It's not like everyone does know what you have in that cup anyway. It reminds me of this old Arlo Guthrie song when he asks of Santa Claus - "what's in the pipe that's he's smoking?" The first 5 minutes are pretty good comedy routine, the last 3 minutes are the song. I'd listen to it all.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKwv3YrL4U0

Dammit Alan, I was hoping someone younger with more energy would take the bait. Now you inspired me to do it. Instead of FOIA, I looked at the state liquor control site for stats. Guys, hold on to your beers, this is seriously wrong.

Guess which city in Ohio has the most citations from the Ohio Investigative Unit for alcohol-related offenses so far this year?

Athens.

By a mile.

These Under 21 offenses include: Under 21 Knowingly Consume Beer; Consume Intoxicating Liquor, Order Intoxicating Liquor; Possess Beer; Possess Intoxicating Liquor; Purchase Beer; Purchase Intoxicating Liquor; Share in Cost of Beer; Under the Influence in a Public Place

Here's the list of the top 10 Ohio cities (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cities_in_Ohio), their populations and their citations for alcohol offenses by the Ohio Investigative Unit:

1. Columbus (787,033) -- 135 citations (1 per every 5,829 citizens)
2. Cleveland (396,815) -- 139 citations (1:2,660)
3. Cincinnati (296,943) -- 102 citations (1:2,911)
4. Toledo (287,208) -- 22 citations (1:13,055)
5. Akron (199,110) -- 93 citations (1:2,140)
6. Dayton (141,527) -- 16 citations (1:8,845)
7. Parma (81,601) -- 2 citations (1:40,800)
8. Canton (73,007) -- 5 citations (1:14,601)
9. Youngstown (66,982) -- 4 citations (1:16,745)
10. Lorain (64,097) -- 1 citation (1:64,097)

So Ohio's top 10 cities comprise 2,394,323 people and total 519 alcohol citations for a ratio of 1:4,613

The City of Athens (not county) so far this year has...

...341 citations

For a ratio of 1:70 cited in that city.

Other key stats:
-Athens is the #1 cited city in the state
-Athens has 2.5 times the citations of either Columbus and Cleveland
-Athens has more than 200 citations than the next highest city cited -- Cleveland (139 vs. 341)
-If you combine the citations of 8 of the top 10 most populated cities in Ohio, they have 96 LESS citations combined than the city of Athens
-There are listing by counties, but there is NO listing for Butler county (no citations in OXFORD?)
-All Ohio MAC college towns combined: 148 citations vs. Athens' 341
-Athens averages more than 38 citations a month. Cleveland, Columbus or Cincinnati? Less than 15.

And the report I ran is from 1/1/14 through 9/18/2014 -- this doesn't even count Halloween, folks.

Profile much?

Source: http://www.dps.ohio.gov/LFSWebReports/Display_Report.aspx
or http://www.dps.ohio.gov/LFSWebReports/

Edit: A quick look at full-year 2013 stats shows Athens with 510 citations. Cleveland with 86 and Cincinnati with 60.

Now come on Pete, I've only done that twice in 10 years and both times they were germane to the conversation.

Everything I've heard is this was strong-armed by OUPD and APD - which were responding to pressures from liquor control. Athletics fought tooth and nail for the status quo and HATES the new set-up. It's far from a money grab...with all of the rules in place on who can serve alcohol, I've been told athletics will see exactly $0.00 from alcohol sales in Peden or Tailgreat Park. It's all being sold by local non-profit groups that get to keep all the proceeds.

Yes, well, when you beat your chest about being party central...

So at $5.00 a beer how much is a keg? I expect this will be the last year we rent a tent. 75 alcoholics x $5.00 beer = too expensive

I'm sorry friends but anyone professing shock or dismay at:

a high number of alcohol infraction citations in Athens,

a University doing the responsible thing by indicating support for state laws,

an Athletic Department trying something new to:

--- appease its supporters,

--- raise funds,

a "corporate" entity disappointed at losing its ability to capitalize on a sporting event to make money and attract attention,

the true relevance of Arlo Guthrie to Bobcat Sports

just isn't living in the real world.

Follow Pete's advice. Keep your head down and behave responsibly. No one wants to harsh your vibe, man.

Has there been much drunken, stupid behavior at the tailgating?

Mostly, I'd like to see those stats just for home football game days.

That bust was so odious and reeked of bullying.

Which is true, the university gets profits on beer or not?