AT THE HOG PEN: This year, those coolers will be searched. Homeland Security, see?

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  • AT THE HOG PEN: This year, those coolers will be searched. Homeland Security, see?

The Hogosphere has been buzzing with the news, first reported in the UA newspaper, that searches will be conducted on all bags and coolers taken to baseball games at the Baum Stadium on the UA campus in Fayetteville.

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UA officials are quoted as saying this is not about unruly fans who’ve been known to pack some alcoholic beverages into the Hog Pen area at the stadium. No, it is to follow guidance of the Homeland Security Administration.

From the Traveler:

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The stadium will now conduct searches on all bags and coolers that are entering the stadium, using the same procedure that is used at Bud Walton Arena and the football stadium, Trainor said.

This policy reflects the UA’s ongoing commitment to recommendations from the Department of Homeland Security. Bags are not permitted except those bags required for child care or medical conditions, and purses no larger than 14 inches long, 10 inches wide and 10 inches deep. All purses allowed into the stadium will be searched.

I’ve asked just out of curiosity for copies of HSA guidance on such matters. I had no idea efforts to protect the homeland had moved beyond nekkid airport images to ice chest searches. But, sure, I guess you could pack a cooler with plastic explosives or a small nuclear device to cart into a sporting event. Indeed, you can envision limitless nightmare scenarios for just about any setting with just about any object. I think it might be time, for example, for churches to put some limits on ladies’ handbag size. Or at least search the biggest totes in the narthex. You need only attend a committee meeting of the God, Guns and Fetuses Arkansas General Assembly to understand all of the things we have to fear and how many laws and extra precautions are needed to combat the imagined assaults lurking in every church, school and barroom.

Still, I think I’m with Sporting Life Arkansas in citing a past warning by Chris Bahn after some heckling of opposing players by fans. An opposing player flipped a bird in return. Wrote Bahn for Arkansas Business in 2011:

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Consider a March 18 item from KFSM 5NEWS Sports in which Mike Irwin writes that a Delaware State outfielder endured racial slurs from Razorback fans. It got so bad that the player complained and got an apology the next day from Arkansas officials, including Coach Dave Van Horn.

Isolated, abhorrent incident? Perhaps.

But the more apologies and suspensions given out stemming from actions inside the Hog Pen, the harder it is for the folks in charge to look away. Suddenly, it becomes a lot easier to get restrictive. Would it be unreasonable for the school to begin restricting alcohol consumption and beef up security in the outfield after two public incidents?

Or check coolers.

UPDATE: Kevin Trainor at the UA has given me the complete rundown on the background on cooler checks. It follows:

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