Florida State held walk-through at public park, did not want pictures taken
Florida State plays Louisville on Thursday night in Louisville, so the Seminoles held their Wednesday walk-through at a public park.
As Adam Himmelsbach of the Louisville Courier-Journal was on a run Wednesday, he was approached by a parks employee who told him that the Seminoles were practicing not far from where he was running. So Himmelsbach went over to watch. After he was told to step back on the sidewalk by a security guard -- yes, in a public park -- he went to take a picture.
Then I took out my phone to take a picture, and two FSU staff members started freaking out.
"No pictures!"
"Put that away!"
I calmly told them that this was a public park, and that anyone can take pictures at a public park. They told me they had reserved the field. I said that I wasn't trying to use the field they had reserved. I was just taking a picture of it.
Himmelsbach then said FSU staffers noticed people further away taking pictures and they chased over toward them screaming for no pictures.
2 FSU staffers yelled & sprinted at someone who snapped pics of the walkthrough in public park http://t.co/1xV5NIg70C pic.twitter.com/JghS77ay8K
— Adam Himmelsbach (@AdamHimmelsbach) October 29, 2014
Yes, we repeat, in a public park. Apparently Florida State likes to control things it has no jurisdiction over on road trips. (And yes, the park was near a Joe's Crab Shack, but we'll spare you any tired jokes about Jameis Winston's citation.)
The article goes into more detail, including Himmelsbach's encounter with two members of the county sheriff's office who were near the practice and said that while Florida State had the right to ask for no photography, people taking pictures had the right not to listen.
We get why FSU would not want people taking pictures of its walkthrough. However, when you practice on public land, which apparently happens regularly, you lose all right to privacy from people who have just as many rights to be there. And anyway, what's so secretive about a walk through? It's apparently not sensitive enough to be held at an empty high school field or a gymnasium somewhere.
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Nick Bromberg is the assistant editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
