I just wanted to stop by and say hello. I was at home in bed watching the finish and turned off the tube just as everyone started rushing the floor. The ensuing barrage of ill will is regrettable, and I won't be a part of it. But I would like to raise a voice in defense of rushing the field, or court, by simply pointing out that the reason its no longer safe is not the practice itself. Some things, like riding a barrel over Niagra Falls, are inherently dangerous. Running onto the field? Well I'm old enough to remember when it was a fun,cool, and by no means dangerous thing to do. It is not that painful for me to confess that, as a young boy in Columbus, Georgia I was raised an Auburn fan. Among my fondest childhood memories are those fall afternoons when my family would take the short ride to what was then Cliff Hare Stadium, then consisting only of unconnected bleachers on each side of the field. Almost without exception, win or lose, the fans, and certainly all kids in attendance, would crowd behind the end zone on the locker room side of the stadium as the clock ticked to zero. Whether it was the Chattanooga Mocasins or the Florida Gators, we'd run onto the field to mix and mingle with the players. The big thrill then was to get a player to give you his chin strap. I still have several of them in the attic of my parent's home in Columbus. It was like a carnival. There was never any suggestion of ugliness. You could get your picture taken with the players, right there on the gridiron. I will forever remember the Gator faithful tearing down the goalposts in Jacksonville in 1984 after breaking the drought against Georgia with a resounding 27-0 triumph. A painful, but epic moment in the series. I was back in Auburn as a Georgia alum in 1986 when in the midst of Pat Dye's domination of the SEC Georgia improbably upset Auburn. Georgia fans rushed the field. I was one of them. I still have a picture of me with John Brantley (a UGA linebacker)that was to be run in the Athens Observer at the time it was taken, but later pulled because of the ensuing controversy over the hoses and such. We were leaving one era of college sports and entering into another. We can then fast forward to the truly dangerous scene in Athens a few years back when Georgia ended the steak by beating Tennessee. And then a bit more to last night. To me the most trivial debate imaginable is over whether MW "brought it on himself" by needlessly walking right into the students or whether he was well and truly mugged as some have said on the DV, and the actual truth may never be known. Over on the DV, even UGA fans who were there can't agree on what they saw. All I know is I wasn't there, so I sure as hell don't know. For any Georgia student, event official, or administrator who by negligence or intent in fact helped to cause the unpleasantries, I apologize. But the ugly truth is that when TV gives college students all day to drink before kickoff, and when passion spills over to hatred, its no longer safe to do things like I could do as a child in Auburn. And thats a real shame. The colleges who profit mightily from this passion and hatred would do well to recognize this, and from their largesse extracted from folks like you and me, they had best put whatever security is needed in place. Rushing the court/field. What a great and colorful scene(from a distance). Just like college sports generally. Its only when you look at it up close that what is great and colorful as a whole is shown too often in some of its constituent parts to be ugly and demeaning. Also just like college sports. This is the price of a decline in civility. So let's soldier on. Lets work to make it better. I for one believe that it can be better. The leadership must come, first and foremost, from coaches and players. In fact, I think the pendulum has finally begun to swing back in the right direction. I sure hope it has. Hope everyone is well. Would love an update on O&B. Email is bdillard@huntermaclean.com. He remains in our prayers.