Good article on the Disneyfication of ballparks.
I can understand the introduction of family sections. That makes sense to me. But eliminating the rowdy fans entirely? Nah. Sometimes we like to be drunken idiots.
Some of us grew up that way. I was used to sitting in the cheap seats until I got my first job in advertising. I often tell a story about when Mark Westlake worked for The Sporting News and gave me and my friends the four best seats in Yankee Stadium. They were so close you could reach out and touch the field. And I forgot just how close I was, to the point that when I heckled Derek Jeter for making a rare error, he shot me the dirtiest of looks.
The truth is, sometimes we like to sit away from the people with young children and the suited business executives taking clients out. We want to drink beer, yell like hell and carry on like neanderthals. Sometimes. That ability should be preserved and occasionally celebrated, not marginalized.
Posted by THespos at April 18, 2006 01:38 PM | TrackBackSpos,
You can sit in your favorite chair, eat your favorite snacks, drink your favorite beer,use your favorite bathroom, root for your favorite team while watching from your favorite big-screen tv and seeing all the replays at home. Home "celebration" of the "national pasttime" may be lacking in the smelling of the turf, the roaring of the crowd, the cracking of the ball off the bat, the driving in the traffic, the waiting on the lines; but it is a lot less expensive, sans of aggravation, and much safer. Don't get me wrong, I love being "at the ball park", but sitting near some out of control, drunk and rowdy fans is not something the average fan appreciates. A special section for the "celebrated neanderthals" could work. Sorry, I'm not with you on this one, son.......Dad
Dad - I'd even take a special section for rowdy carrying on. But it seems many of the ballparks want to make everything completely family-friendly. Regardless of whether it's right or wrong to heckle, drink beer or carry on like a crazed sports fan, some people don't like everything family-friendly all the time.
And you have to admit, it's funny to watch some of those guys in the upper decks acting like lunatics.
Posted by: Tom Hespos at April 19, 2006 06:13 PMTom,
Your old days of being a fan of the WWF may be the cause of this kind of mentality. It is all my fault for taking you to the Nasssau Coliseum. I should have sheltered you from "Hulkamania"...
Dad
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