Temperatures reached 100 degrees Saturday during Baylor’s first home football game.
The stadium was filled with Baylor fans, despite the heat, and they weren’t disappointed as Baylor beat Wofford College 69-3. The day was reminiscent of last year’s first football home game in more than one way.
Something many attendees will recall from last year’s game is the water bottle policy. Bottles of water were not allowed into the stadium. Sixty-five people were treated for heat-related problems that day.
While the policy on water bottles was changed this year, it was still problematic.
Fans entering the gates of Floyd Casey Stadium heard the message that “personal water bottles” would be allowed into the stadium that day. The message went on to explain that the policy would apply not only to the game against Wofford, but also at the game against the University at Buffalo on Saturday.
The phrase “personal water bottles” can easily be misinterpreted from what the policy makers at Floyd Casey Stadium meant.
The word “personal” could mean that a person can bring in whatever container they usually drink water from. It could be a disposable, plastic water bottle or a reusable water bottle.
The problem occurred when only one of these options was allowed into the stadium.
The disposable water bottles were allowed without question.
The reusable water bottles, however, were not allowed.
Attendees were left with the choice of throwing their reusable water bottles away, returning them to their car or leaving them on the sidewalk outside the stadium. It was merely a hassle for those attendees who returned their water bottles to their cars. For those without cars, the options were to toss them or leave them.
It’s true that not all of the attendees who threw away or left their water bottles lost money on them.
Some of the personal water bottles were purchased and some of them were given out at events such as Line Camp or Late Night. Either way, attendees threw away their own property in order to gain access to the game.
This policy might make sense if the disposable, plastic water bottles were only allowed in the stadium unopened. This was not the case.
Half-empty plastic bottles were allowed into the stadium unopposed. To further the ridiculousness of the policy, some of the event staff even stopped students from taking empty reusable water bottles into the stadium.
Not allowing empty reusable bottles into the stadium is wasteful when understanding that once in the stadium, no illegal liquid could fill the bottles.
While the attempt to keep out alcoholic beverages is admirable and needed, this is not the way to ensure its success.
The plastic water bottles could have been filled with something that only looked like water and no one would have been able to tell the difference.
The potential health hazards should also be considered. People who only brought their reusable bottles may have been left waterless in the 100-degree weather. It’s possible that they didn’t have money to purchase water from concessions, which in turn would leave them without hydration.
It’s understandable that a policy for what kind of containers are allowed into the stadium is necessary. The phrasing of the policy should be improved and clarified so there is no way it could be misinterpreted.
If opened, plastic water bottles are allowed, then personal reusable bottles should be as well.
This policy didn’t work at the first home game and it should be improved upon come Saturday’s game.
