Etiquette at a sporting event?

[gingi79]

Just wanted some opinions and feedback about something I noticed at the Mets Marlins game tonight.

I'm a very patient person when it comes to kids. I understand young ones need to get up and stretch and want to go to the bathroom or get a souvenir or food on their own time table, without concern of the actual events playing out on the field. Seeing a dad and his daughter wearing a huge ice cream covered smile walking up the aisle and blocking my view for a few seconds makes me happy, knowing this is a memory they will enjoy as all too rare Daddy-Daughter time for years to come. However.....

When did it become ok for people to get up, walk about the stands with no purpose, stand around aisles and steps, blocking the view of literally dozens of people from seeing the action of the game? Is this really accepted and tolerated behavior from people in their 20s, 30s and 40s now at MLB games?

To wit: At ALL Canadian sporting events (ESPECIALLY) Hockey, there are ushers who block people from walking to their seats while the game is going on. Then during whistles, they rush to their seats to avoid blocking the other spectators from seeing the game! I did not see a single usher at the game tonight. Enormous behinds jabbering on their cell phones, grown people taking "selfies" during an at bat, mid aisle with the player batting in the background obscuring the batter for at least 3 pitches to get the perfect shot and people with no purpose or destination meadering like drunk cows, I saw plenty of.

(Full disclosure, these aimless idiots cost me a ball tonight. I was blocked from seeing the batter, caught the ball late, it bounced off a sign, my glove and the floor before another fan grabbed it. He was waiting 50 seasons for it, so I felt less cheated but still....watch the game or piss off!)

So am I just being a bitter cranky old man or are people at your ballpark in their selfish little bubble and there for seemingly everything but the actual game?

[godwulf]

At Chase Field, they had the ushers holding people up with those signs during at bats for a few years, but they've been gone for quite a while, and I wish they'd return. Now the ushers just hide in the tunnels and don't see anything that's happening in the seats. Last Saturday, the idiots sitting next to me were up and down for food at least a half dozen times during the game, and always seemed to come back right at an important moment on the field.

Short of bringing the ushers back with their signs, there's not a lot that can be done about that, I guess, but I have gotten pretty vocal about people just standing around blocking others' views. "Down in front!", "You can't stand there!", "You're going to have to move!", "Hey, do you mind?" - all with appropriate hand gestures - I'm usually the first one to say those things, even if its someone else and not me being blocked. Yeah, I'm sure some folks do see me as the grumpy old guy. Whatever.

It's probably not about "etiquette" so much, but on Opening Day the two twenty-somethings behind me spent the entire game talking about their jobs and business - and I mean continuously, with scarcely a breath between words. Several times I came very close to turning around and asking simply, "Why are you here?"

It's not so much a problem during the regular season, but during the Fall League, where crowds are smaller, entire gangs of young kids run screaming around the ballpark, standing in people's way - most of them focused on beating thirty other kids to the next foul ball hit into the seats, but other than that ignoring the game completely. Meanwhile, the four adults who brought eight children sit drinking their beers, laughing at one another's little jokes and taking no responsibility whatsoever for the kids' behavior. If I were in charge of that ballpark, they'd get one warning and then be out on the street.

[gingi79]

Thanks Jeff, I'm glad I'm not alone in noticing this trend. I'm rather laid back and liberal by nature but I was always taught to be mindful of the world around me. It just saddens me so many people seem so unwilling to consider other people around them and even ignore requests to get out of the way of other fans view of the game at a ballpark.

[coxfan]

At my favorite three stadia, (Braves, Chalotte Knights, South Carolina Gamecocks) they have extensive walk-around corridors with good field views that are behind stands and aisles. Although I'm 66, I walk several miles daily, and I've never sat in my seat at a gamecocks' game in my seven seasons of season tickets. I also don't block views, as I walk the corridor throughout the game and that blocks no seats.

A number of other walkers do as I do, and many who have seats come up to stand in the corridor for a while. Hundreds prefer to pick a spot in the walking corridor and stand the whole game. Nobody complains because the layout is designed for that. The corridor is spacious and blocks no views.

The same is true at Turner Field and Knights stadium. The gamecocks' football stadium has spacious ramps that afford the same function for us walkers and standers. We'd can stand and walk around the whole game without blocking anybody.

So the best solution is for new stadia to have these walking corridors. For those that don't there will be aggravation so for everybody, unfortunately.

[godwulf]

I wish I could just walk around during a game, cf, but I've got a hip that will just about get me from the car to my seat. Anyway, I don't think it's necessary to cede the seats and stands to the legions of the perpetually self-absorbed - the photo-takers and the people who think it's cute how their kids want to spend the game dancing in the aisles and jumping from seat to seat.

Your mentioning Charlotte reminded me that a few years ago another forum member, Mike ('OaklandA'sFan'), was in Charlotte on business, and was good enough to pick up a signed Conor Jackson jersey for me that was being auctioned at one of the games he attended. It was Conor's next-to-last stop in pro ball before he retired.

[flota89]

I completely agree with the OP. These are some of the reasons I love the in-game hockey experience ... you can usually watch the action without interruption. I love baseball, but I rarely attend a game where someone doesn't rudely block my view. I really enjoy the people standing up on their cellphones during the game, waving at someone in the upper deck :rolleyes:. If you can't go to a game without leaving your seat 15 times during the action, maybe there are better ways be entertained.

[coxfan]

Since the gamecocks' stadium has a great walking corridor, the staff is quicker than they might otherwise be to chase distractions out of the aisles, etc. into the corridor. The Braves' spring training stadium also has a good corridor, and it, plus the gamecocks' stadium, also have a grass berm where it's accepted for kids to romp.

The Charlotte Knights' new stadium ( opened last year) is really great. It's across the street from the Panthers stadium, and it's walking corridor is fully wrap-around. You can see the game from all angles. Even the outfield seats are very close to the field.