After a couple unfortunate incidents this weekend there have been some talks about fan safety at MLB games. Both Friday in Detroit and Sunday in Chicago a fan was seriously injured by a foul ball. Foul balls have been going into the crowd for over a hundred years but only recently have we started seeing so many fan injuries. What used to be ultra rare is becoming all too common. Warnings are printed on each ticket and there are signs posted throughout the parks but clearly more needs to be done to protect the fans.
I was disappointed, though not surprised, the hear a lack of compassion from a lot of callers on sports talk radio shows today concerning this topic. There is a very simple proposal of extending the netting that protects the fans behind home plate further down the lines to protect more fans. It seems downright logical, right? However there are plenty of meatheads out there that have overreacted and are acting like this would ruin their experience at the park.
The most common argument I'm hearing against the nets is that fans should just pay attention to the game. There are a couple things wrong with this. The ball could be traveling off the bat at 100 miles per hour. Even if people were paying attention to literally every pitch it could be difficult for someone to get out of the way of something traveling so fast. These are just ordinary fans, not professional athletes. It's going to be dangerous if even I am paying attention. You would think if one goes to a baseball game they would want to pay attention to the action, but let's be honest. No one pays attention to every pitch. Pardon me for looking down to dip my pretzel in some cheese, or turn my head to have a conversation to the person next to me. Or even if I'm guilty of the biggest taboo of them all, forgive me for looking at my phone during the game. There's nothing quite like people criticizing others for looking at their phone so much by tweeting those criticisms from their own phones. My point is no matter how much someone may be into the game they are simply not going to be focused on every single pitch, and they shouldn't have to be.
People are complaining that extended netting will ruin their visibility but it has never been a problem for the fans behind the plate. Not to mention it will only affect a small percentage of fans anyway, the ones that need the protection. Fans in the upper deck or beyond the first several rows in the lower deck wouldn't be affected at all. The clear view would be ideal but I'll sacrifice it just a bit to know my family and I are safe.
Owners and stadium architects are always trying to do things for a more fan friendly experience. Back in the old cookie cutter stadium days the seats were so much further away from the action. Look at all space between the foul lines and the seats from older stadiums. These days the fans are right on top of the field. I think a little net is a small price to pay to get to sit closer than you ever could before, not to mention knowing you and your family are safe. Does a little kid have to be killed at a game before the obvious necessary change is made? The only real problem with this topic is that it even is a topic. Since the call in shows opened the discussion plenty of people have to argue against it simply because it's a change. If the owners just extended the nets without asking anybody or telling anybody about it nobody would have given it a second thought. Let's not make everything into an unnecessary debate. Just do the right thing and protect the fans. Attending a baseball game should be fun, not a risk.
I was disappointed, though not surprised, the hear a lack of compassion from a lot of callers on sports talk radio shows today concerning this topic. There is a very simple proposal of extending the netting that protects the fans behind home plate further down the lines to protect more fans. It seems downright logical, right? However there are plenty of meatheads out there that have overreacted and are acting like this would ruin their experience at the park.
The most common argument I'm hearing against the nets is that fans should just pay attention to the game. There are a couple things wrong with this. The ball could be traveling off the bat at 100 miles per hour. Even if people were paying attention to literally every pitch it could be difficult for someone to get out of the way of something traveling so fast. These are just ordinary fans, not professional athletes. It's going to be dangerous if even I am paying attention. You would think if one goes to a baseball game they would want to pay attention to the action, but let's be honest. No one pays attention to every pitch. Pardon me for looking down to dip my pretzel in some cheese, or turn my head to have a conversation to the person next to me. Or even if I'm guilty of the biggest taboo of them all, forgive me for looking at my phone during the game. There's nothing quite like people criticizing others for looking at their phone so much by tweeting those criticisms from their own phones. My point is no matter how much someone may be into the game they are simply not going to be focused on every single pitch, and they shouldn't have to be.
People are complaining that extended netting will ruin their visibility but it has never been a problem for the fans behind the plate. Not to mention it will only affect a small percentage of fans anyway, the ones that need the protection. Fans in the upper deck or beyond the first several rows in the lower deck wouldn't be affected at all. The clear view would be ideal but I'll sacrifice it just a bit to know my family and I are safe.
Owners and stadium architects are always trying to do things for a more fan friendly experience. Back in the old cookie cutter stadium days the seats were so much further away from the action. Look at all space between the foul lines and the seats from older stadiums. These days the fans are right on top of the field. I think a little net is a small price to pay to get to sit closer than you ever could before, not to mention knowing you and your family are safe. Does a little kid have to be killed at a game before the obvious necessary change is made? The only real problem with this topic is that it even is a topic. Since the call in shows opened the discussion plenty of people have to argue against it simply because it's a change. If the owners just extended the nets without asking anybody or telling anybody about it nobody would have given it a second thought. Let's not make everything into an unnecessary debate. Just do the right thing and protect the fans. Attending a baseball game should be fun, not a risk.
