Corey Larkins has seen his share of unruly behavior at sporting events.

Tennessee's senior defensive back vividly recalls fans at LSU's Death Valley throwing glass liquor bottles at the Vols four years ago.

During his recruiting visit at an Auburn-Alabama game, he says "all of the sudden a beer bottle came out of nowhere" from the stands and shattered on a hand-held television camera.

"There's some crazy people out there,'' Larkins said. "There's no telling what they'll do for the team they love."

It's not just the crazy people we'll remember from the brawl that erupted during Friday night's Indiana Pacers-Detroit Pistons NBA game. One of the most powerful images was a TV picture of a frightened young boy crying in the stands as another young person tried to comfort him.

When families have to start worrying about their safety and security at games, that's when you know it's serious.

Many of UT's football players watched the NBA brawl unfold while tuned to ESPN at the team hotel in Nashville on the eve of the game with Vanderbilt. Nine people were injured after Pacers' hothead Ron Artest charged into the stands in reaction to a fan throwing a drink in his face.

"He (Artest) is a punk but at the same time he got hit by a beer can,'' Tennessee offensive lineman Rob Smith said. "What was that fan thinking? He ought to be arrested. If I knew who it was, I'd do the same thing and go right after him. I mean, that's low.

"If you attack me, I'm going to come right back at you."

Most of us could empathize with Smith's gut reaction.

In hindsight, it's easy to piously say that turning the other cheek is the wisest course of action. In the heat of the moment, though, how many of us could honestly say what we would do if a drink were thrown in our face?

If you scream and make obscene gestures at someone who cuts you off in the traffic, are you simply going to turn away if you get hit by a bottle, cup or some other object?

To think what happened in Detroit couldn't happen in Knoxville, or anywhere else, is naive. This sort of thing isn't new. What's new is that such scenes are replayed 24 hours a day on ESPN and other news channels.

CNN didn't exist when a Kentucky fan threw a lit cigarette that landed on Tennessee star forward Bernard King when the Vols played at Kentucky in the mid-1970s.

Fox News didn't exist when Vanderbilt fans fired dozens of oranges at UT basketball coach Ray Mears and his team in the late 1960s and early 70s. Most of the oranges splattered on the floor at Memorial Gym, but some were frozen as hard as rocks and could have been lethal.

Not to imply that Tennessee is always a sanctuary of exemplary behavior.

Who can forget the shower of liquor bottles, soft drink bottles, cups and batteries in the north end zone at Neyland Stadium after an official ruled Florida's Jabar Gaffney made a controversial game-winning touchdown catch against the Vols in 2000?

There will be increased danger of confrontations between fans and players as teams continue to move more seats closer to the action, particularly with high-price courtside sections in basketball. At Vanderbilt Stadium, UT's bench was located just in front of the first row of the stands, so close that fans could literally reach down and touch the players.

Several Vols said there were verbal taunts, but dismissed that as part of the game. It has been suggested by some that more security could prevent explosive situations such as the one that developed in the Pacers-Pistons game.

Ultimately, Larkins said it's up to the athlete to show self-restraint.

"Even though they throw beer or something at you, you could end up doing some jail time if something serious happens,'' he said. "You have to restrain yourself unless the fan was coming to do physical harm to you."

UT running back Gerald Riggs admitted that's sometimes difficult to do.

"Anybody who says it's easy to walk away would be lying,'' he said.

"But you have to do that. You have to look at the bigger picture."

The one with a wide-angle lens big enough to see that frightened youngster in the stands.

Gary Lundy may be reached at 865-342-6274.