Thwarting Hooligans

All sports fans know about the power of crowds, particularly when a good chant gets going. At the University of Maryland, they actually banned the Pep Band from playing Gary Glitter's "Rock and Roll Pt. II" because some enterprising students added "We're gonna beat the Hell outta you" and "You Suck!" to the usual "Hey!" What can I say....my Alma Mater might not be MIT or Harvard, but we sure do know how to make those Dookies feel bad!

At any rate, via WMMNA, some Dutch scientists have devised a system to foil such dastardly chants in Football stadiums (that's PROPER football). The PA system in these stadiums would be used to create artificial echoes, making it difficult for a large crowd to coordinate chanting, thus theoretically reducing group anger and perhaps reduce rioting.



Of course, "firms", as these hooligan groups are often known, might just get a bit MORE testy in such circumstances! (BTW - that is indeed a picture of Elijah Wood, who is starring in a film about Holliganism)