A Dim Silver Lining: Le Stade's Security Measures Worked

Amidst the mind-numbing carnage that enveloped Paris, one glimmer of positivity was evident.

It could have been worse.

Three religious-extremist terror mongers cloaked in bomb-laden suicide vests failed to enter Le Stade de France -- the national sports stadium -- because they couldn't get past the checkpoints.

What's reassuring is the security personnel who stopped him didn't do anything sports fans attending events in the Western world haven't seen before.

Similar protocol deployed at concerts and similar events is nowhere near as consistent.

Soccer venues in Europe had to learn the hard way, of course, as a result of self-inflicted fan violence back in the 1980s, with two of the most notorious incidents involving Liverpool. The Heysel Stadium disaster, where 39 fans died in riots, and the Hillsborough disaster, which caused 96 fatalities, underscored the need for better infrastructure and all-seater stadiums:

Soccer still has other issues, but stadium security isn't one of them.

As well, the tools to foster security are becoming more clever, such as this non-lethal device:

Of course, the systems are only as good as the personnel who manage them.

It's tough to perform a monotonous enforcement task hour after hour, so full marks to those who perform them diligenty, like those in the Stade de France security detail.

They did their job. And they saved lives. Many lives.