No one ever said controlling a stadium crowd is an easy job. You knew this and so did I — even before Monday’s column and then hearing out the Aloha Stadium Authority board members and stadium manager Scott Chan this week, in the wake of the bloody fight in the stands during Saturday’s UH football game.

Chan, his staff and board members say measures have already been in place to stop fights at the stadium, and contend that they are working. They say this was isolated and unavoidable and was quelled as quickly as possible. Not everyone agrees, but we’ll get to that later.

"I can truly say I’m pleased (with the overall record)," said Chan, who added that he by no means condones violence like what occurred Saturday. "The last time we had a serious altercation was maybe three or four years ago."

People who work at the stadium and some on the board suggested a follow-up with something positive about what’s happening there. Consider it done: The management, staff and board put a lot of effort into trying to make for pleasant and safe experiences for stadium guests.

But the question remains: Would that experience be better for all concerned with less — or no — alcohol sold in the stadium or allowed in the parking lot? This was asked six years ago by Lt. Gov. Duke Aiona, and he was pretty much shouted down.

As it stands now, alcohol is usually sold until the end of the third quarter. Sometimes sales are cut off earlier at the discretion of stadium management or the concessionaire, Centerplate. Stadium Authority chairman Kevin Chong Kee said that arrangement is by contract.

"(Any change) has to be not just the board, but the concessionaire has to agree," Chong Kee said. "We agreed to stop after the third quarter."

STADIUM OFFICIALS say Saturday’s fight was not alcohol-related, and Chan said, "It wasn’t what it appeared to be. (It was) a minor altercation quickly taken care of."

But a fan who was sitting near the fight, Blake Tolentino, repeated Thursday what he told me earlier: A guy throwing a beer into the face of another led to the punches. I think that is "alcohol-related," by any definition. The fight went long enough to severely bloody three people’s faces, and to spill over to hurt others who weren’t involved. That doesn’t sound minor. And it — as well as a fight from 2009 — didn’t look minor in the footage KHON aired Thursday, either.

One of those injured Saturday was Tammy Monico, the mother of UH football player Jordan Monico and wife of former UH baseball star Mario Monico. Mario said Tammy’s OK now, but she suffered headaches Saturday night after she "got hit in the head by one of the guy’s feet."

"I’ve seen fights like that, but that was the most violent," Mario Monico said. "It went at least a couple of minutes. There was one guy with a broken nose and eye injuries and there easily could’ve been guys getting more seriously hurt. They were falling into the other section. I jumped in between and pulled two guys apart."

HERE’S ANOTHER bone of contention: What do you consider a "fight?" I continue to hear and read anecdotes about unpleasant exchanges in the stands that don’t always involve fists or security and police reports, but do lead to people not returning to the stadium. Season-ticket holder Shannon Wood still goes to the games, but after arguments and having a beer thrown in her hair last year she felt compelled to change her ticket to another, more expensive, part of the stadium.

Tolentino, 20, is a mechanical engineering student at UH who has attended games regularly the past three years and doesn’t drink.

"I think alcohol sales should definitely be cut back," he said. "When you have this many people in close proximity it can be dangerous. Alcohol clouds judgment and in some people makes them more aggressive and can lead to more incidents like this."

The stadium management and board promises continued vigilance, and incoming chairperson Nelson Oyadomari spoke of "heightened awareness" on Thursday. I’m confident they’ll continue to work hard to attempt to control the crowd.

That job could be made easier with less alcohol flowing. But turning off the tap also means turning off a big source of revenue for the stadium, and that seems to be a move the board does not want to make.

"Currently we are still serving alcohol," Oyadomari said. "I think the situation has improved a lot. From the inside we don’t feel it’s an issue."