and was struck by the falling goal post being torn down by student body.
Nice read
http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20031022/1024772.asp
Injured fan follows suit, blames others
10/22/2003
By BOB DICESARE
Injured?
Andrew Bourne was. He joined the on-field celebration following Ball State's 2001 football victory over unbeaten Toledo. Fans climbed on the goal posts. The goal posts were toppled. Bourne, a student, was struck by the plummeting wreckage and paralyzed in the legs, relegated to a wheelchair.
Bourne responded as would most any American in our litigation-laden society. He concluded, or was led to conclude, that responsibility for this mishap most assuredly rests with someone else. So earlier this month, he filed suit against Marty Gilman, Inc., of Bozrah, Conn., alleging the company lacked the foresight to manufacture goal posts capable of withstanding the misguided antics of knuckleheads such as himself.
Bourne warrants sympathy. He walked into the stadium but couldn't walk out. He'll probably never walk again. He wasn't climbing on the goal posts. He was merely on the field, somewhere he shouldn't have been, celebrating a win. It was an awful twist of fate, a matter of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
However, I would submit, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, that there are fundamental survival rules that should be followed by those hopeful of attaining old age and arriving unscathed:
Look both ways before crossing the street.
Obey signs that read: Warning! High voltage.
Don't root for the Red Sox while standing in the Yankees bullpen.
And know that venturing onto a football field with fans intent on causing havoc could lead to bodily injury, minor or severe.
"This student is trying to blame someone else for his irresponsible behavior," Neil Gilman, president of Marty Gilman, Inc., said in a company statement. "It's unprecedented to blame a company for tearing down and vandalizing goals posts."
Unprecedented? What took so long? In America, the lawsuit reigns.
"There are all kinds of technological and economical options out there for (Gilman)," Scott Montross, Bourne's attorney, said after the lawsuit was filed. "All we want for them to do is build goal posts that don't snap and don't come crashing down on people."
This, of course, is bunk. What Montross wants is a juicy settlement for his client so he can take his cut.
Steel goal posts, a more durable option than the aluminum type then used at Ball State, have existed for years. Indestructible they are not. Kansas State has a set, manufactured by a company other than Gilman. One of them was toppled during the celebration that followed a victory over Nebraska in 2000.
"It took them about an hour and 15 minutes to get it down," Jeff Steele, assistant athletics director for event management at K-State, told the Associated Press last year. "They were rocking the crossbar. They took TV cables and threw them over the goal posts. They were looking for anything they could find to rope it."
No one was injured. But what if someone had been? Is blame assigned to the manufacturer or the nitwits on the field? At what point is the individual responsible for his actions?
"A goal post is designed to support itself," Gilman said. "It's not a jungle gym. We never made any claims it would support a student. We're not going to settle or compromise. It's a matter of principle here."
That it is. If Bourne remains in the stands, where he's supposed to be, he doesn't get hurt. Once good judgment fails him, then sorry, he's out there on his own. You don't stick your hand in the lion's cage and then blame the lion when you've been bitten.
The way it's all gone is enough to make you wonder:
You're driving down the highway.
You're momentarily distracted by the face of a personal injury attorney plastered on a billboard.
You can't hit the brakes in time.
You rear-end the car in front of you.
Who is to blame?
You?
Or the guy you were looking at?
Nice read
http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20031022/1024772.asp
Injured fan follows suit, blames others
10/22/2003
By BOB DICESARE
Injured?
Andrew Bourne was. He joined the on-field celebration following Ball State's 2001 football victory over unbeaten Toledo. Fans climbed on the goal posts. The goal posts were toppled. Bourne, a student, was struck by the plummeting wreckage and paralyzed in the legs, relegated to a wheelchair.
Bourne responded as would most any American in our litigation-laden society. He concluded, or was led to conclude, that responsibility for this mishap most assuredly rests with someone else. So earlier this month, he filed suit against Marty Gilman, Inc., of Bozrah, Conn., alleging the company lacked the foresight to manufacture goal posts capable of withstanding the misguided antics of knuckleheads such as himself.
Bourne warrants sympathy. He walked into the stadium but couldn't walk out. He'll probably never walk again. He wasn't climbing on the goal posts. He was merely on the field, somewhere he shouldn't have been, celebrating a win. It was an awful twist of fate, a matter of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
However, I would submit, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, that there are fundamental survival rules that should be followed by those hopeful of attaining old age and arriving unscathed:
Look both ways before crossing the street.
Obey signs that read: Warning! High voltage.
Don't root for the Red Sox while standing in the Yankees bullpen.
And know that venturing onto a football field with fans intent on causing havoc could lead to bodily injury, minor or severe.
"This student is trying to blame someone else for his irresponsible behavior," Neil Gilman, president of Marty Gilman, Inc., said in a company statement. "It's unprecedented to blame a company for tearing down and vandalizing goals posts."
Unprecedented? What took so long? In America, the lawsuit reigns.
"There are all kinds of technological and economical options out there for (Gilman)," Scott Montross, Bourne's attorney, said after the lawsuit was filed. "All we want for them to do is build goal posts that don't snap and don't come crashing down on people."
This, of course, is bunk. What Montross wants is a juicy settlement for his client so he can take his cut.
Steel goal posts, a more durable option than the aluminum type then used at Ball State, have existed for years. Indestructible they are not. Kansas State has a set, manufactured by a company other than Gilman. One of them was toppled during the celebration that followed a victory over Nebraska in 2000.
"It took them about an hour and 15 minutes to get it down," Jeff Steele, assistant athletics director for event management at K-State, told the Associated Press last year. "They were rocking the crossbar. They took TV cables and threw them over the goal posts. They were looking for anything they could find to rope it."
No one was injured. But what if someone had been? Is blame assigned to the manufacturer or the nitwits on the field? At what point is the individual responsible for his actions?
"A goal post is designed to support itself," Gilman said. "It's not a jungle gym. We never made any claims it would support a student. We're not going to settle or compromise. It's a matter of principle here."
That it is. If Bourne remains in the stands, where he's supposed to be, he doesn't get hurt. Once good judgment fails him, then sorry, he's out there on his own. You don't stick your hand in the lion's cage and then blame the lion when you've been bitten.
The way it's all gone is enough to make you wonder:
You're driving down the highway.
You're momentarily distracted by the face of a personal injury attorney plastered on a billboard.
You can't hit the brakes in time.
You rear-end the car in front of you.
Who is to blame?
You?
Or the guy you were looking at?
