Will “Zero Tolerance” Policy at Kinnick Take Fun Out of Home Games?

By Chris Earl, Anchor/Reporter

The Kinnick Society lot immediately west of Kinnick Stadium is filled with fans prior to the Hawkeye's game against Northwestern on Saturday, September 27, 2008 in Iowa City. The Kinnick Society lot has been voted Best of the Best places to tailgate and Where you find fans who know the most. (Cliff Jette/The Gazette)

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By Aaron Hepker

Story Created: Sep 3, 2010 at 10:22 PM CST

Story Updated: Sep 3, 2010 at 10:25 PM CST

IOWA CITY, Iowa – When thousands of people show up at Kinnick Stadium for a Hawkeye home football game, the word ‘no’ is easy to spot.

No Parking on Game Day.

No Re-Entry.

This is part of maintaining order but will the new push to enforce alcohol regulations take out the fun of going to a home game at Kinnick?

“If you are not doing anything illegal, you’ve got nothing to worry about,” said Johnson County Sheriff Lonny Pulkrabek.

This comes amid the university’s “Think Before You Drink” campaign. University of Iowa police said, last month, the emphasis will be on making sure people who are drinking before and after games are of legal age, limiting the times for tailgating around Kinnick Stadium, watching for open containers and preventing public urination.

Add in Iowa City’s 21-only ordinance for bar admittance and home football games could have a very different feel this fall.

Saturday’s home opener against Eastern Illinois is at 11 a.m. kickoff. Assuming a three-and-a-half hour game, common in major college football, that would mean an end time of 2:30 p.m. Under the new regulations, the UI will cut off drinking in school parking ramps and lots at about 3:30 with all tailagting activities over by 4:30.

Yet the Hawkeyes come into the 2010 season, one of the most anticipated in program history, with a high ranking. Four of the Hawkeyes’ six home games still have an unannounced start time. If Iowa keeps winning and maintaining a national profile, those start times could be at 2:30 or 7:00 to accomodate television broadcasts.

Pulkrabek said later starts usually lead to more incidents.

“The 2:30 and the night games, the 7:00 starts, lead to more people spending the day tailgating, even at 8 or 9 in the morning and those are when we traditionally have a lot of problems,” said Pulkrabek.

Amid the Friday afternoon “kicking back” on the night before the season opener, thousands of UI students gathered their beverages of choice for the weekend festivities.

Thomas Pietrini, 22, a senior, said he’s ready for the later starts once the season gets underway.

“That’s better with the night games in there to get everyone excited,” said Pietrini.

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