Leading off today: All eyes in Section 5 football will be on Rochester Community Sports Complex -- formerly known as PAETEC Park, Marina Auto Stadium, Sahlen's Stadium, Rochester Rhinos Stadium, and Capelli Sport Stadium in its mere 19-year history, but I digress -- next Friday night. That's where Pittsford and University Prep will battle in Class AA football.
Both teams are good, but it's not the matchup that will have Rochester watching. Rather, there's a disturbing and undeniable trend developing that is roughly one more incident away from turning UPrep, a charter school located in the city, into a Section 5 pariah.
On Sept. 7, the Rochester Police Department had to swarm outside Fauver Stadium when University of Rochester campus security officers were overwhelmed by an unruly crowd as UPrep played host to Long Island powerhouse St. Anthony's. Last night, there was chaos on the street in front of Aquinas Institute after the host school beat UPrep, 21-2.
It's hardly a new development, and it's the sort of unsocial behavior by "fans" that has caused some observers to start referring to the school as UPerp. It also is presumably causing athletic directors and school superintendents across the area to question whether they want to continue scheduling games with UPrep.
Interestingly, we (as in this blog) discussed the same issue five years ago when unruly behavior put another quasi-independent RCSD school in the spotlight. On Sept. 13, 2019, police made five arrests outside East High as officers were pelted with rocks and bottles after responding to break up fights involving 200 people following a game.
Police had to use pepper balls and pepper spray at that incident, which came nearly a year to the day after another East High game -- at what is now Rochester Community Sports Complex -- was suspended due to fighting in the stands that resulted in three arrests.
Following that earlier incident, then-Mayor Lovely Warren ordered the police department to work directly with the school district to plan security for school events. That was already long overdue in 2018, and now the directive has either been forgotten or rendered useless by a new administration (Malik Evans is now mayor).
I don't know what ribbon-cutting ceremonies Evans -- derisively referred to as "Ma-weak" by his growing assemblage of critics -- has on his schedule this Monday, but Job 1 for him **must** be pulling a team together to assure UPrep officials and police are on the same page to coordinate safety on Friday night. Otherwise, I'd think Pittsford's superintendent would have to insist on a noon kickoff on Saturday or scrap the game entirely.
The football is on your hash mark, Mayor Evans. Fumble it at your own peril.
