Today, Fiesta Island becomes an island unto itself. No other place like it in the world. The Over-The-Line Tournament begins this morning, and forget imitations. It's impossible to duplicate. And if you want to have a beer, which is supposed to be a no-no on our city beaches, you can have one there. Legally.
Somehow, I smell hypocrisy in the bottom of our stein. And I won't be alone.
“Of course,” says City Councilwoman Donna Frye, whose district includes Fiesta Island. “Some people will say that. I'm sure some people will get real angry about it.”
But she sees no problem in this case. Booze at OTL is all right with her.
“I'm in favor of it,” she says. “It's a special event with special criteria.”
I can't disagree. It is a special event, and if ever an event had special criteria, it's OTL, which only wants to be what it is. But I'm one of those what's-good-for-one-should-be-good-for-allguys. If the law says you can drink on the beach, fine. If it says you can't, fine, even if it doesn't make much sense. It's still the law. But the gray areas bother me.
Now, I'm neither politician, attorney nor law officer, but I know, be you native or visitor, you can't legally sip a brew on the beach now that City Hall has instituted its one-year trial ban of alcohol on the city's shores.
Not so fast. You can do so with a “special events permit,” as OTL organizers have, and booze is allowed in a particular spot. Good for the Old Mission Beach Athletic Club, which has sponsored its pet event for 55 years.
And yet I don't know what makes OMBAC or any other group seeking such a permit any better than a few friends who want to get together, have a drink and watch the sunset without getting pinched by a booze-sniffing gendarme.
Nothing says San Diego more than OTL. The annual tournament is one of the best things we do. I'm a huge fan, always have been. As kids, we played the game in Balboa Park. I remember watching the tournament at South Mission before it got too big for what britches it hadn't pulled down and moved on to Fiesta Island.
But, other than the event's scope, little has changed since OMBAC cracked a tall one over OTL's hull and launched it during Eisenhower's first term. Political correctness be damned. Many of its team names are beyond creatively raunchy. It is superbly run. It's fun. It's hilarious. It's serious. Charities benefit. The Boy Scouts have exclusive rights to aluminum can recovery, and there wouldn't be many cans to recover if all you were allowed to bring on that island were soda pop.
To even think of OTL without beer is like imagining the zoo without animals. It's hard to remember there being real trouble during the tournament, which long has catered to the serious and not-so-serious players and serious and not-so-serious drinkers.
“This is not a lifting-of-the-booze ban,” Frye says. “The City Council did not have to approve it. I attended a meeting, along with (fellow Council member) Kevin Faulconer, OMBAC, special events (the city's special events department) and somebody from the ABC (state alcohol beverage control). It never was our intention to limit alcohol at special events.”
Just what constitutes a “special event”? Go to the city's Web site.
To qualify for a permit, criteria must be met. You must have liquor liability insurance. There can't be cover charges. The event must be private (not open to the general public). Alcohol must be consumed in a “beer garden.”
Well, OTL does not charge admission, but it most certainly is open to the general public, and the public can bring its own suds. The beer garden? The permit application states that the largest it should be is 1,600 square feet (maximum capacity 106). According to OMBAC's Web site, which outlines areas in which alcohol can be consumed legally, this looks like the world's largest beer garden. Areas for imbibing on the island include the entire playing area and two parking lots.
In other words, it's OTL, as usual, which is good. It's also getting special treatment.
“I love Over-The-Line,” Frye says. “I don't ever recall picking up a newspaper or watching TV and seeing a riot on Fiesta Island. It speaks well for the organization.”
Yes it does. Sure, there have been exceptions, but how many riots have we actually seen on our beaches? Has the city stopped the drinking in Qualcomm Stadium's parking lot before Chargers games?
It can't really be enforced anyway. Besides, if you want a legal drink, all you have to do is walk into the nearest pub and have one. Did the booze ban contribute to the beach attendance dropoff over Fourth of July weekend?
I don't drink anymore. But Prohibition, which didn't work out, is over. This is a bad law. People will find a way to drink on a beach, which should be their right, anyway.
Me, I hope OTL goes on for another thousand years and I hope the Boy Scouts are still around to pick up the beer cans in 3008.
Hopefully, most of the hypocrisy will have been poured into the sand by then.
Nick Canepa: (619) 293-1397; nick.canepa@uniontrib.com
