Holy cow – I know I am digressing from the Mets (but I assume y’all are local-area sports fans) and long-time readers know my problem with obstructed views – take a look at this article in the Post about obstructed views in the new football stadium. Â You have to see the picture to believe it.
My head is going to explode. Â When you get done with the Post and want to focus on Citi Field here’s a collection of obstructed views at Citi Field for you to take a look at. And videos. Of course obstructed views are a Mets tradition that dates back to 1962.
For newer readers, I take Mets EVP David Howard to task for the quote he gave in 2009:
The way we characterize “obstructed†is if you have an obstruction, something in front of you — a beam, a pillar, something that’s blocking your view. That’s not the case here. It is a function of the geometry of the building. And it is a conscious decision that we made along with the designers and the architects, that we wanted people to be lower and closer to the field, and have great views, and great views of the action. By doing that in fair territory, you are going to have situations where you are going to lose certain blind spots in the deep outfield of those sections. That is something we understood to be a factor. It is true in every new ballpark that has seating in the outfield …â€
And I maintain that the plexiglass/staircase issues are not geometry. Â It’s one thing not to see the corner of the outfield, it’s another when a railing blocks your view of the batter and pitcher. Â I still await the day Mr. Howard revises that quote.
On twitter yesterday I recieved this @metspolice from @nybd:
Dave Howard said they always planned a Mets HOF in 2010 on Mets Weekly your thoughts?
I will take Mr. Howard at face value. Â I will also trust that Mr. Howard said something like that on Mets Weekly which I haven’t seen. Â Assuming all that is correct, I do wonder why Mr. Howard chose to take a pounding in 2009 about “Mets history” rather than tell us a museum was coming.
Around this time last year, Mr. Howard told Mike Francesca:
We’re extraordinarily proud of our history … We’re still sort of doing the refinement here. We’ll have appropriate … oh, uh, we’ll roll out additional elements … we’ll recognize that, celebrate that … “
So perhaps the museum was on his mind and he chose not to share. Â Regardless, we have it now and it’s a great thing.
Another quote I enjoy is this one about Old-Timer’s Day:
“It wasn’t popular, it wasn’t effective, fans weren’t responding and it wasn’t selling very many tickets,†Howard says. “The fans spoke volumes. It’s a very expensive promotion and it wasn’t producing the sales and marketing results we wanted for that investment.â€
That’s a shame. Â Fans, if you want to see more old-timer’s day type events, so they Mets can see a return on investment, be sure to support that Hall of Fame game on August 1st. Â I have my tickets.
For more quotes from Mr. Howard, check out this article on Mets Today from about a year ago.
