It was revealed last week that 30 of the hundreds (or thousands) of Mizzou fans that rushed the field after the Oklahoma game were arrested for trespassing. Of course the response to all of this has been: Are you serious? Mizzou released a statement from Chancellor Brady Deaton announcing that they will not pursue the charges against the folks who were arrested.
The news release explained that all the moves were made with safety in mind. It also included this note:
Fans violating our rules were warned that they faced arrest and subsequent sanctions.
Can anyone actually take something like that seriously when your team just beat the No. 1 team in the country on national TV? If Mizzou AD Mike Alden seemingly can't take it seriously, how can you? Here's what he said to the Kansas City Star this week:
"Better to let people enjoy that moment," Alden said moments after Missouri’s 36-27 victory late Saturday night over Oklahoma, the team formerly known as No. 1 in the BCS rankings. "It’s a generational type of victory.
"It’s an historic moment. You sense the emotion. You know what’s going to be happening. Your staff is ready to go. But you just let them come on."
To me the implication from that is 'Yeah it's illegal but this is also a huge game so go for it.'
On top of all this, Mizzou was found to be selling photos of the fans "illegally" rushing the field. It was all a mistake though, they say (except that Mizzou went through nearly the exact same thing with the photos seven years ago after the Nebraska game).