Friday, April 11, 2008

One More Complaint

(and then I'll write something positive about the stadium, I promise!)

If your row is goddamn empty, you DO NOT NEED TO SIT IN YOUR EXACT SEATS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here's a picture. X is a person. * is my fat ass. 0 is an empty seat.

This is what I walked in to last night.

0000000XX00000XX0**0X00000000

Two people walk in and where do they have to sit? Yep. Right there next to me and my friend. So we slid down up against the sweaty people to our right, so the hotdog-eating princess can squeeze her ass in next to me. It's an empty goddamn section!

(Oh, love the standing room around the field, but, please, for the love of Kearns, get some of those railing counters like they have in Philly -- the kind Nats park has at the beer pen area near the scoreboard. It's hard balancing your chili nachos on a railing!!!)

  • More complaints and suggestions in the comments here.

    • posted by Chris Needham at 10:57 AM

    26 Comments:

    • They screwed up big time with the tiny seats. No need to squeeze in as many people as possible when your stadium is half empty each game. How about actually making the customers comfortable so that going to the ballpark is enjoyable?

      By Anonymous Anonymous, at 4/11/2008 11:55 AM  

    • Anon-
      would you expect anything less from an ownership group that seems completely uninterested in doing ANYTHING for it's fan base?? (unless you count re-assuring us that we'll be good at some point in the next 3-5 years.)
      Everything from tickets to beers is overpriced. Even the promo schedule sucks.
      Chris says Lerners are CHEAP! I agree, and would add GREEDY to that. They must have had money to buy the team in the first place, but I don't see much being given back to the fans on or off the field.

      By Blogger Rob B, at 4/11/2008 12:27 PM  

    • Well, to be fair, the Lerners are also incredibly intelligent. They realize that the only thing that fans really care about is the curly W.

      Were the Nats winning right now, these minor indignities would likely be shrugged off by a happy fanbase, whereas our lack of performance would make even gilded toilet seats and cheap beer appear insufficient.

      That doesn't make their thrift right, or even good, but you have to admit, baseball owners are always in a no-win situation when their team doesn't win.

      By Blogger Michael Taylor, at 4/11/2008 12:43 PM  

    • well said

      By Anonymous Anonymous, at 4/11/2008 12:47 PM  

    • Good lord, Anon, people will bitch about anything. The seats in the stadium don't have any less legroom than any other stadium I've been in, and I'm tall enough that I would notice were it an issue. There's lots of nitpicks we can be making while the kinks are worked out. Legroom ain't one of them.

      By Blogger Unknown, at 4/11/2008 12:55 PM  

    • I agree that it would make sense that people spread out in largely-empty rows, but it sounds like you were in your seat(s) and some people came in and sat in their seats which happened to be right next to yours. Why should they have to be the ones to move, just because you got there first? Couldn't y'all negotiate it out? The unwritten rules of using the urinal in the mens room don't necessarily apply in the stands, since for one reason women are involved there.

      And boy, if your ass is so fat that it requires not one but two asterisks, shouldn't you not be being so hard on poor Dmitri?

      Finally, those stand-up table things in the concourse were something I thought Stan promised us in all the talking-up he did for the stadium. They actually have several rows of them installed out in the CF plaza / scoreboard area in the place where the batter's eye box seats were originally supposed to be. Could it be that these tables in the concourses are part of the 5% of the stadium that's not finished yet? If not, they should be. Someone with a pipeline to Stan (e.g. Nats320) ought to raise this question.

      By Blogger An Briosca Mor, at 4/11/2008 12:59 PM  

    • ABM,

      He discussed a companion at the game. I believe the insinuation from his diagram was that he and his companion sat next to each other.

      If you have any further questions on interpreting simple charts (with, albeit, misleading "keys"), please let me know.

      By Blogger OleShu, at 4/11/2008 1:08 PM  

    • Someone with a pipeline to Stan (e.g. Nats320) ought to raise this question.

      Kasten is very very good at responding to inquiries from anyone.

      stan DOT kasten AT nationals DOT com

      By Blogger Brian, at 4/11/2008 1:08 PM  

    • And boy, if your ass is so fat that it requires not one but two asterisks, shouldn't you not be being so hard on poor Dmitri?

      He kids about that, trust me. Needham ain't no Dmitri in size.

      By Anonymous Anonymous, at 4/11/2008 1:32 PM  

    • All I know is that my seats are very tight and uncomfortable. They are substantially worse than my seats at RFK.

      K - it may not be a big deal to you, because perhaps your section is configured differently and more spacious, or perhaps I'm just bigger, but in my shoes this is not gratuitous bitching - it makes the stadium experience really unpleasant. I'd much rather make a positive post and say everything is great - but it just isn't. (And it DOES seem worse than other stadiums, which don't bother me)

      People shouldn't have to want the urinal rule - the seats ought to be comfortable enough for everyone to sit in their seat and not be uncomfortable.

      By Anonymous Anonymous, at 4/11/2008 1:34 PM  

    • To clarify, my tight-ass comment was referring to the dugout box seats, the ones I had on opening night.

      The ones up in my nosebleeds in the 300s were fine, even if Ms. Chilidog (Even I don't eat two!) was almost on my lap.

      By Blogger Chris Needham, at 4/11/2008 1:36 PM  

    • (And also to clarify, we weren't in my exact seats. We walked in, there was nobody there, so we enforced the urinal rule. The people who came in later wanted their exact seats, which is technically fine, but given an empty row, just feckin' sit anywhere!!!)

      By Blogger Chris Needham, at 4/11/2008 1:38 PM  

    • I can certainly understand why obsesity is such a problem in America having been at the game yesterday and observing the two couples next to met get up FOUR TIMES during the game and return with hot dogs, french fries, chicken tenders, and nachos.

      I swear, I wanted to page emergency for a nurse with a stethoscope to give these folks an impromptu checkup.

      By Anonymous Anonymous, at 4/11/2008 2:32 PM  

    • This comment has been removed by the author.

      By Blogger NatsNation, at 4/11/2008 2:51 PM  

    • Hey Chris! I see you are finally returning to your most entertaining form. Your blog is now back in line with it's header = bitter rantings. :)

      By Blogger NatsNation, at 4/11/2008 2:57 PM  

    • Anon, I'll accept the fact that we've had different experiences, but I just don't see the problem. I don't think it's an issue of what section I'm in, because I've been to four of the five games and have quite unintentionally wound up one game each in the 100s, 200s, 300s and 400s. And I'm 6'3", so I'd notice. I haven't felt cramped once. It feels like the normal amount of space that one would expect at a normal stadium.

      By Blogger Unknown, at 4/11/2008 3:05 PM  

    • As far as irritants go, besides fans who won't spread out on a slow night, how about those who just have to get in and out while a man's at bat?

      Unless there's an emergency, that's either clueless or rude.

      I can't judge or police individual fans' behavior, but I wish the PA would say something about it before the game. And maybe once or twice a week during the game, too.

      By Anonymous Anonymous, at 4/11/2008 3:25 PM  

    • Section 205, seats 1 and 2 in all rows have to look through plexiglass to see the game. I know hockey fans actually pay extra to look through glass and enjoy the bloody mangling of a toothhless russian's face in real HD, but the mezzanine level of baseball stadium? I can't imagine a pull hitter getting that far ahead of a pitch to shoot it into the upper deck. Wait, is Ron Gant alive/avaialable? He has all the Bowden intangibles.

      By Blogger flippin, at 4/11/2008 3:31 PM  

    • I went Monday night and I am going this evening too. My overall impression of the stadium was positive and I thought the seats were OK in size.

      My biggest complaint aside from the cheapest beer being $7.50 was the whole diamond club set up. I hate that you can not walk behind home plate or around the whole stadium anywhere close to the field without a ticket.

      Are any other parks set up like this? I can not think of any off hand.

      I understand the need to maximize profit but entering the stadium from behind home plate is one of the greatest views in a baseball field. Unless you come up with 150-300 dollars a seat or sneak in, no fans will ever see that view.

      Maybe this is dumb but I like to walk around stadiums and check out the field. I can only do this from the main concourse food area, which is not close to the action at all.

      However, I do love the Red Loft bar area and the food options.

      By Blogger Mac G, at 4/11/2008 3:43 PM  

    • If you have any further questions on interpreting simple charts (with, albeit, misleading "keys"), please let me know.

      I just have one question for you, OleShu. If Chris says this:

      X is a person. * is my fat ass. 0 is an empty seat.

      and then draws a diagram of a row with two of those "my fat ass" icons in it, why should I assume that his friend is also a fat ass? Wouldn't the charitable assumption be that his friend is a person, rather than a fat ass?

      Okay, I guess there's more than one question there. So let me sum it all up in one for you: Don't you think it's hard enough for a third-rate snarkmeister/troller like myself to make a lame attempt at a funny off of a half-assed setup line thrown out by Chris, without literalistic nitpickers like you stepping all over it? Give a guy a break, man! (Besides, if you think Chris is going to pay you for stepping up in his defense, you're probably sadly mistaken.)

      By Blogger An Briosca Mor, at 4/11/2008 4:00 PM  

    • I think I get where we're differing. You resist my inclination to blame Selig and the Conspiracy of 29 because it lets Kasten and the Lerners off the hook. (And on the substance you think I'm overstating the case--fair enough.)

      Don't get me wrong--I don't have any love for the Lerners. Tyson's Corner is about my vision of hell. The new stadium is a giant ugly concrete shopping mall as far as I'm concerned. The DY money was idiotic. I want Clint's head on a pike. I don't understand why I can buy a Nats cap for a teddy bear but not for my kid at the game. The $611 million is truly outrageous blackmail that will hurt the city in real ways for years. And I agree that we are a big market that, like the Mets, Yanks, Sox, etc., can play in the FA market AND spend big market money on player development.

      But reading the blogs and the Post, etc., I think there's a general lack of understanding of how we got to where we are. The level of honest outrage at MLB that should exist out there is absent. We're talking about Enron-level fraud here, not just bad baseball decisions. People should be PISSED about what MLB did to us--not just dismantling the Expos, but using their monopoly power to deny the city a team for 34 years.

      And I don't think it's fair to call for Kasten's head till he's had 3-4 years to produce. I think it's stupid to suggest that 10-20 (or 100) million in FA spending this year would have made any difference at all now. Unless you figure out how to pry ARod and Posada from the Yanks, there's just a lot of Odalis and LoDuca out there in the FA market, other than in the OF, and I'd rather give Pena, Milledge, and Duke the ABs then block them with Andruw Jones, who will never be a part of our first WS winner.

      BL I think we can walk and chew gum at the same time--we can hold Kasten accountable AND understand that the primary reason why we suck NOW is the Monopolist League Baseball and that no fans in MLB history have ever been screwed to the extent that DC fans have been screwed for the last 2 score. And that it's been Bud and our 29 opponents conspiring the screw us.

      By Blogger Steven, at 4/11/2008 9:32 PM  

    • All complaining aside for the momment (I'll toss my hat in the with the Lerner bashing)... Where do you find the chilli nachos? I've been looking - to no avail...

      By Anonymous Anonymous, at 4/11/2008 10:33 PM  

    • I was at the game thursday night, and since words can't express how disgusted I am with this teams on-field performance as of late, I'll just bitch about some other things.

      1. The media way overblew the state of the neighborhood that the new park is in. Everything I read made it same like I was headed for certain death if I walked from Capitol South to the ballpark. In reality, it was an EASY walk through a pleasant neighborhood and then a quick stroll down new jeresy. I'd let my girlfriend walk that alone late at night.

      2. I was in section 142(where my partial plan tix are) and we had perhaps the most obnoxious fans ever. Despite all the empty seats, a group of 5 decided they needed to surround us in a semi-circle while they blathered about anything but baseball. Throw in some boston fans who inexplicably wore ortiz jeresies to watch the nats and marlins, and I was ready to kill.

      3. WE NEED MORE THAN 1 PLACE TO SMOKE! I have to walk all the way down the 1st baseline to hit a jack??? It takes 2 innings to do so! let me at least smoke in the open corridors near the centerfield gate. jesus. what kind of anti-american crap is that??

      after watching the nats waste Chico's finest outing tonight, Im cranky.

      By Anonymous Anonymous, at 4/11/2008 10:40 PM  

    • Where you "let" your girlfriend walk is your own business I guess, but you're right the neighborhood is fine. In fact, you'd have a hard time buying a house or condo over there without a 6-figure income.

      By Blogger Steven, at 4/11/2008 10:55 PM  

    • I hate that you can not walk behind home plate or around the whole stadium anywhere close to the field without a ticket. Are any other parks set up like this?

      The tank that the Marlins call home for the next several years is like that. The a-hole ushers refuse you admittance to any lower bowl section for which you do not present a valid ticket. There is no exposed walkway in the seating bowl itself, only the concourse takes you around the monstrosity.

      And this place is like a square version of RFK, not Nats Park, PNC, Petco, et al. In short, a pit.

      By Blogger Bote Man, at 4/11/2008 11:10 PM  

    • KUT KEARNS!!!1!1! 2 for 3 with a BB just isn't good enough for this team - maybe a marginal 5th outfielder at best.

      By Anonymous Anonymous, at 4/11/2008 11:42 PM  

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