Done.

_________________
You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

I usually stand on the concourse but shit is getting tight so tonight Im in my seat. Ive had to show my ticket five times. Thats someting they should consider when theyre lamenting the lack of attendance. Its a fucking ballgame. Iwasnt trying to access a high level meeting at the Pentagon.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

Mark Gonzales ‏@MDGonzales
Plenty of seats still available at the Cell http://twitter.com/MDGonzales/status/24 ... 05/photo/1

no shit. back in the day you could sit anywhere, wander around, get a BJ, nobody gave a fuck what you were doing. and attendance was just as bad!

_________________
Reality is your friend, not your enemy. -- Seacrest

That's fucking ridiculous. They should be kissing your ass as a paying supporter of the ballclub.

The Uncle Jerry Mafia.

What a joke.

Bill Veeck must be rolling over in his grave.

Sox fans are different. Thats all there is to it. We support our team but not always from the park. And the fact that a World Series was won of late may contribute to the lack of attendance. Kind of like Atlanta when the Braves made it every year. The fans got bored. I know the Sox dont make it every year but I think fans are waiting for something special. Outside of a few win streaks, this team has essentially done better than average in a terrible division. We'd be in 3rd or 4th place in the east. If the Sox were 30 games over .500 and had three or four studs similar to the Phillies of a couple of years ago, then the attendance would be better. They are a watered down team in a watered down league. Especially to the fan thats not quite a diehard but more than a casual fan. Kenny knows the divisional competition isnt that good so he doesnt have to go out there and build a power house. I like this team but there is not one single player that I'm confident in. A player that I'm so glad the Sox have. This team is pretty boring. A boring team may win it this year. Most of them are.

That might make more sense if the Sox weren't .700 against the East.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

_________________
Good people drink good beer - Hunter S. Thompson

<º)))><

Waiting for the time when I can finally say
That this has all been wonderful, but now I'm on my way

I'm trying to help Boyer and Uncle Jerry here with some real feedback from a fan perspective. Last night was my 28th game this season and tonight will be 29. They could probably get me to buy all 81 if they were more friendly. It's easy for me to see why a guy who doesn't care as much as I do would think it was a pain in the ass to go very much.

I come in the park and I'm asked for my ticket (1). I also sometimes have a douchebag off-duty cop go over me with a wand. That would be fine if it really did anything, but it's just for show. My cellphone set the thing ringing last night and the guy just said, "go ahead". It could have been a pistol in my pocket. So it's just a waste of time, money, manpower, and ultimately another annoyance for the fan.

I hit the 100 Level and I'm asked for my ticket again (2). The entrance to the 100 level is carefully guarded by ushers and/or off-duty cops. It's as if allowing one of the bums from steerage to hobnob with the uppercrust would bring the park crashing down.

I go to Section 160 where I have had seats for the last five years. I am asked for my ticket once again (3).

I sit down in my seat in the first row. Another usher asks to see my ticket before the game starts (4).

In the fifth inning- THE FIFTH INNING!- an usher comes down and asks to see my ticket (5).

In between innings off-duty cops come out onto the field and stare down the fans with their icy glares. Don't you dare be a Ligue. I'm sure DisneyWorld has far better and much more highly trained security than the Sox with their bunch of off-duty cops working for a company owned by a dirty disgraced former alderman. But you never see them. They're not a constant presence making you feel like this must be one of the most dangerous places in the Western Hemisphere.

Thousands of empty seats and they wonder why.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

JORR - you must look like a fucking degenerate!

_________________
Reality is your friend, not your enemy. -- Seacrest

I know. How could a bum like me possibly be down here in this awesome front row bleacher seat?

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

JORR That is something.

Is that a normal night at the ball park for you, or was last night the exception?

_________________
"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

I usually never sit in the seats. My crew stands up on the leftfield concourse most of the time. But these Detroit games being what they are, I wanted to really pay attention.

I think the reason the guy asked in the fifth inning was because he had to move a couple people out of the front row across the aisle from me because a couple Detroit guys actually had the seats, so the usher decided to hassle everyone in the front row on both sides of the aisle.

I've never had a problem telling a guy to get the fuck out of my seat. True, some morons can't read the ticket.

Guarding the 100 level so people with 500 level tickets can't get down there is normal. I think that's a bad idea too. You've got an empty fucking ballpark. Let people go where they want within reason. If a guy sits six rows closer in an empty section, don't fuck with him. Just tell him that if the real ticketholder comes he has to move. Actually, he doesn't really even need to be told that. Most people aren't assholes. But if you start out treating them as if they are assholes, they'll show you they can be.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

They just don't go, like me.

_________________
Reality is your friend, not your enemy. -- Seacrest

That's ridiculous. Especially because you are a season ticket holder. You'd think the Ushers would maybe have seen you before.

But dont fucking ask me for my ticket in the 5th inning. That will not go well for you Mr. usher.


Some would say, that White Sox fans made their own bed by running on the field so many times during the Ligue year. (Not just Ligue, it happened in at least 4 separate games that year, including one game where 4 people got on the field)

Im not sure Id say that.


Perhaps, in trying to promote how safe the park is (to contrast Jay Marrioti's opinion) they went waaaay over board ("Look at all these cops we have working here!!!")



Anyway, baseball just isnt what it used to be. They have priced themselves into the same level of football and basketball. Its just a sporting event. Baseball used to mean more, at least to some people, but it cant claim that anymore. Its just another TV show with a live studio audience and the sport and its fans are far worse off for it.

You start arguing with an usher and one of those renegade off-duty cops (or ex-cops) will be on you in 10 seconds or less.
Those guys have a look in their eye like when a starving man sees a prime rib roast.

_________________
Reality is your friend, not your enemy. -- Seacrest

Well if that happened I wouldnt care if I were kicked out

That's exactly why you hear so much whining about the attendance. In the 70s the Cubs didn't even open the grandstand on many days. I never heard anyone mention it. Of course, Laurence Holmes didn't have five hours to fill back then either. But the newspapers certainly weren't obsessing about it.

By any historic measure, the White Sox are pulling huge numbers even when you consider the fact they are 24th in baseball or whatever it is. But MLB has put itself in the position with it's operating expenses, i.e. salaries, where all the focus has to be on the big ticket customers. The margin for error is slimmer than ever.

The Sox should have huge walk-up tonight. But they won't. Five or ten bucks for a ticket might be a spur-of-the-moment thing. Forty is a commitment.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

Now we are beginning to see the light! Nor would you care if you ever came back!

_________________
Reality is your friend, not your enemy. -- Seacrest

Not to mention the whole idea of taking a family to the game.


Im not sure who summed it up here but they were right in saying its just a bad entertainment investment.


If I take my 6 year old to a game at Wrigley Im likely spending 80-100$ on the day.


There are seemingly limitless options better than that. Almost every other thing for little kids is reasonably priced.

I could take that 100$ and take her to: A museum, a movie, a play, an amusement park, and finish the night with Nickelodeon on Ice and Id still be well under 100$


Bad investment for me and bad non investment (kids) for them


In 20 years when the World Series is getting worse ratings than NASCAR, they will wonder why

A friend of mine has two aisle seats in the third row of Section 147. Two or three times each year, he will give me his pair when he can't use them, so my brother and I go. If it is the third inning, and nobody is sitting in the first row, we will move up TWO ROWS, to sit in the front row. If it is late in the game, and the people in those seats leave, we will move up. At least half of the time, an usher will bother us, and tell us to go back to our seats.

Feel free to drop $20 on two beers, but don't move up two rows to sit in an empty seat.

_________________
Good people drink good beer - Hunter S. Thompson

<º)))><

Waiting for the time when I can finally say
That this has all been wonderful, but now I'm on my way