I will be going to the Brewers - Rockies game today and again on Thursday. The games are yet to be played but there are a couple of things I already know:
- Television requirements will extend the games at least thirty minutes longer than necessary.
- Stadium fans will endure sensory overload as Miller Park provides them racing lights around the edge of the upper deck containing sanguine messages about the Brewers interspersed with mind bending commercials.
- The sound system will be even more offensive. The blaring stadium music and needless reminders about upcoming promotions will ruin one of the most enjoyable parts of the game. Fans will not be bale to discuss each pitch, each at bat, and the nuances of the game without difficulty. The excessive noise, and that is what it is - noise - will make the game less enjoyable.
Despite the best efforts of the owners of professional major league baseball teams to ruin the game and turn the ball park into a three ring circus, regardless of the outcome, we will enjoy the game.
They are getting close, but to date, no matter how hard they try, these promoters of chaos and deafness have not quite destroyed the game. That is a testament to the enduring quality of baseball.
If I wanted to go a melded college football game,a Las Vegas magic show, a monster truck rally, a NASCAR race, and a rock concert, I would not be at a baseball game.
Two words: Wrigley. Field.
Watching a baseball game at Miller Park is like watching it at a shopping mall. It is a testament to the excessive avarice of Bud Selig - a force most evil. He is a bigger threat to the American way of life than Al Qaeda.
Posted by: Michael Basford | June 09, 2009 at 11:16 AM
you're old Paul... What Noise?
Posted by: cousin with twins | June 09, 2009 at 11:17 AM
Paul, your hyperbole makes you sound like a grumpy old man. Grab a beer and enjoy the games.
Posted by: Jared | June 09, 2009 at 11:43 AM
So use earplugs!
Posted by: An old friend | June 09, 2009 at 12:16 PM
Two words: Madison Muskies
Posted by: R.J. | June 09, 2009 at 01:13 PM
Wrigley Field SUCKS. What an absolute awful place to watch a baseball game. AWFUL!!! And not because the Cubbies play there, Miller Park is just a much nicer park, period. That said, these days, baseball games are for people who don't like baseball. For those that say it's ssssssoooooooo boooooring. Their trying to wake these people up between innings so they'll come back next time because it wasn't 'that bad'
Posted by: buckyblue | June 09, 2009 at 01:41 PM
It is a "pasttime" and a game. When it becomes a true sport instead of entertainment then there will be fewer games and every game would carry some weight. What we have currently are grown men scratching their &@||$ rather than getting their butt up to a plate or mound and doing something. Standing around contemplating whether you are ready to play or not is not what this and many other sports fans watch sports for. Hey baseball! Get yourself out of the last century and make it something worth watching!! Step up and move this crap along!
Posted by: Buck | June 09, 2009 at 02:25 PM
Michael Basford is right. Wrigley is, in a lot of ways, a dump, but it is still a pretty pristine place to watch a major league baseball game. There's nothing like a Wednesday afternoon game at Wrigley in the middle of a hot July.
These days, although I still hope and pray they will right the ship, what ruins the Wrigley experience isn't the park but the ineptitude of the Cubs themselves!
Posted by: Brad Clark | June 11, 2009 at 09:06 AM
When the home town wins, we don't care about the other stuff.
Posted by: James Rowen | June 11, 2009 at 05:07 PM