Looks like there actually IS a manners police
>> Wednesday
Fans at Cincinnati Bengals games can now report obnoxious fans to security by dialing 381-JERK. I'm not kidding.
My favorite parts of this article are the following.
Jeanie Dittrich of West Chester, a season ticket holder, said she was offended by drunken fans when she took her 12-year-old son, Austin, to a playoff game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. A woman kept spilling beer on her, and a man next to her son was swearing and helped start a fight. “We told him beforehand, ’You might see some drunk people, you might hear some ... swearing.’ But at the game, I thought, ‘Oh, my gosh, I’m going to mar my son for the rest of his life by having him come to this game,”’ she said.
Listen Jeanie. You took your son to a professional sporting event. If you wanted a place with no swearing and no booze, take him to a cemetary or school. He'll love that. And he probably was more emotionally devastated because the Bengals lost that game than because of anything he heard in the stands that day. Quit coddling your kid and let him enjoy a game up to his ankles in beer, blood, and peanut shells like the rest of us. I also love how there are the three dots in front of "swearing." I'm imagining this woman breaking down and crying recounting the horrors of Paul Brown Stadium during the interview.
Also: News flash Jeanie: Your son is 12. No one on this blog will describe me as a hardass, but by age 12, I was already cursing like a sailor and had been in a couple fights. If I, the token soccer writer on this blog had done that by 12, I can assure you your little angel is as well. He probably got a kick out of the atmopshere at the stadium.
Bedinghaus said the Bengals expect some prank calls.
“If you get 6,000 people calling this line — ’Hey, (Steelers quarterback) Ben Roethlisberger is a jerk’ — then it becomes less effective,” he said. “The thing to remember is we have caller ID on this line.”
OK, but people are going to be calling from cell phones. It's not like you can track anyone down and figure out what seat they're in. Be lucky they're saying Rothlisberger is a jerk and not telling you to ask for Amanda Hugginkizz.
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5 comments:
The woman's comments are so stereotypically old hen-ish that they seem scripted. I wonder if she's actually a cartoon character.
I was exactly twelve when I went to my first live Bears game, and for me, the most memorable part (besides being with my dad and all that sentimental-y stuff) was not the on field action itself, but the drunk dude behind us heckling Alonzo Spellman all game. I still remember some of the exact taunts. That stuff sticks with you.
I think the problem isn't too many rowdy fans; it's too many overprotective mothers taking their kids to their first games. Send them with that "bad" uncle in the family, and everyone will be happier for it.
One of my most memorable sports moments was a Brewers game at Old County Stadium where my brother and I sat behind two guys who were completely shitfaced. They taunted everyone. When it started to pour rain (causing a 30-40 minute delay) and everyone else ran for shelter, they began taunting the heavens and God Himself.
My brother and I were so entertained that we sat in the downpour the whole time because we didn't want to miss a single antic.
Also, my friends and I have got Ken Griffey Jr. to acknowledge our heckling TWICE. Once by flipping us off, and another time by hitting a home run and pointing at us as he jogged to first base.
Heckling is as much a tradition as anything else in sports.
My other favorite part of this article is that this woman is listed as a season-ticket holder. If that's the case, why would she be surprised at the atmosphere at the playoff game? Was it like a tennis match the previous games in her God-knows-how-expensive season ticket package?
Griffey definitely will acknowledge a heckler. The one time I had the awesome fortune of being invited to sit two rows behind the Cubs dugout, there were two drunk guys behind me being obnoxious all game. When Griffey was on third early in the game, they were heckling him for his earing.
Later in the game, he reached third again. When the guys started up the heckling, Griffey looked their way, smirked, and pointed proudly to his earing. 'Twas bad-ass.
If these clowns want to get their kids used to heckling/drunks at a ballgame, all they need to do is drop their kids off with me at will call during a weekend Brewers game whence I'm midway through a 30 of Icehouse. By the time the game's over, there won't be shit that'll faze these damn kids. Also, we'll sit in the family section and I'll teach them how to get a stadium vendor to ignore your fake ID by making small talk and offering a large tip.
Yellow Chair Sports: We care about the kids.
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