Will sent this to me in May…it’s been sitting at the top of my “stuff to get to” line in what has been a busy spring and summer. Anyways, an interesting discussion…
Shannon –
Something happened at the Mets/Giants game last night that really bothered me, and I wanted to share it with you.
I was sitting in the fifth row of section 313, in the obnoxiously named Excelsior section. In the bottom of the 8th with the score tied 6-6, a young fan in a Reyes jersey two rows in front of me stood up and started clapping. He wasn’t drunk, or obnoxious. He was just excited.
I stood up as well, and began clapping. Moments later, the usher walked down the steps and told the fan in the jersey to sit down, which he did without incident.
The usher didn’t admonish me, maybe because there was nobody sitting behind me in the sparsely populated section. But if he had, I would not have sat down. This is not the Philharmonic. It’s a baseball game. And I’d think the team would be happy that people still care enough to stand up and cheer.
Not long after, I heard the fan talking to his buddies. “This stadium is like a funeral,” he said. He was right.
Sounds like a case of the old “down in front.” I’m probably the wrong person to ask since I’m a curmudgeon and wish we could all sit down at concerts…but a tie game, late in the game, I can see it. Get a cheer started.
Now if this fan were getting up every time RA Dickey got ahead in the count I’d be president of the Sit Down Club.
Sounds to me like the usher handled it well. Thoughts?
its true. it is like a funeral. there is no excitement at the stadium these days. when i go to ball games no one is into it. people are on their phones all the time. it’s a shame for us baseball fans to see it. all though i’ve been a fan since 1999 , so i don’t know what it was like during the 60’s, 70 ‘s or even 90’s. but the energy and excitement of the fans from those video clips gives me the chills . thats excitement. know these days that stupid song “everybody clap their hands” has to get a crowd pumped up. but what can you do? nothing.
I have no problem with the people who stand up with 2 strikes or in a big situation. It’s the people who sit forward and block views I have a problem with. Sit back, relax, and get out of everyone’s way!
What drives me crazy is that their is no stadium etiquette anymore. Wait to the at bat is over before you walk to or from your seats. I get so tired missing parts of an inning with people walking through then they stop to watch the big play and block your view.
Sit Down!…..Of course there are times when you stand….rally…key pitch of the inning etc, but I do not like that everybody stands all the time when there are two strikes on the batter!
It never bothers me though because I always sit in a fromt row of a section!
8th inning tie game is the perfect time to stand up to get something going. People don’t care about someone they can’t see. It’s when someone actually stands up and starts pumping a fist in the air that I’ve seen sections get going. Once one section is loud, the ones next to it start to perk up too, and before you know it you’ve gone from one lone idiot to hundreds of them getting out of their seats and imploring their team to do something good.
It’s what we had the last few days in DC. It’s what I haven’t seen in my few trips to Citi. Loud fans willing to get up and rally the faithful without the aid of a PA system, and who didn’t quiet down when it did like the fans literally just did on the 1-1 pitch to Duda in the 2nd.
There are appropriate times to stand and many more times to remain seated. (I’m 6’4, so even with 2 strikes on out #27, I sort of squat or remain seated). Consider the people behind of you. Nobody paid $13 to get over the bridge, $19 to park and an average ticket price of $26.90 to stare at the back of your gravy-stained Agbayani jersey. However, if you’re on your feet trying to will your pitcher through the final strike of a bases loaded jam, the miserable old bastard usher can piss off.
“I’m probably the wrong person to ask since I’m a curmudgeon and wish we could all sit down at concerts…”
Back in the day, Frank Zappa would tell everybody to sit down and everybody in back would yell all the yahoos in front to sit. Serious business for sure.
“Nobody paid $13 to get over the bridge, $19 to park and an average ticket price of $26.90 to stare at the back of your gravy-stained Agbayani jersey.”
True, but I might pay that to stare at Button-Man’s jersey with its 109 pieces of flair.
The idiots that can’t wait until between innings to go get their food bug me more than people who want to stand up to cheer. That said, while there are times that it’s appropriate to be on your feet, most of the time you should be sitting down so they people behind you can see.