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Protesting the Pirates… It WAS a good idea.

June 21st, 2007 Leave a comment Go to comments

*note: everything that Karen Price has written caused great pain in my head and eyes to bleed. This is your only warning.*

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/s_513583.html

Pittsburgh Pirate fans are pissed off. Pushing 15 years of finishing under .500, a disastrous MLB draft this year and on field play that is borderline summer beer league, a grass roots group of fans started a protest in that fans should protest the June 29th game vs the Washington Nationals.

As news spread on local TV more details started to come out and momentum picked up. This morning Karen Price reports the following (from the link above)

The protest will consist of a pregame rally and petition-signing on Federal Street from 5-7 p.m.

- OK this is starting out well…

During the game against the Washington Nationals, protesters will leave their seats after the third inning and will have the option of staying in the concourse until the fifth inning or leaving the ballpark.

- Stop, right there. WTF. Rewind… So you’re asking people to PAY for their seat, thus already giving the Pirates their money. Secondly, they have the “option” of staying until the 5th. So while waiting you’re probably going to BUY something to drink and maybe something to eat. Oh and you’re still watching the game live or watching the TV in the corridor.

Chomos, a 43-year-old business owner from Wexford, wants fans to wear green shirts, to symbolize money leaving the building.

- What if I paid with a credit card, do I dress in plastic? (thanks, dma) What if I paid with American Dollar Coins, do I dress in gold? What shade of green? You all really should match.

“The goal is to give upset fans, fed-up fans, an outlet to voice their opinion publicly for the first time in 14 years of losing baseball,” said Lucas, 25, of the North Hills.

- Your outlets are message boards and blogs. Stand by the stadium and do your protesting thing but for the love of God don’t give the team money and then go “ha ha we’re leaving!”. If you’re going to go through with his how about each of you hand me the money you’re going to pay for tickets and we’ll watch it on TV somewhere.

A Pirates spokesman said the team has no comment on the protest.

-That’s because everyone in the front office hasn’t stopped laughing long enough to compose themselves.

*sigh* this idea had so much potential…

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    • http://www.theaveragewhiteguy.com The Average White Guy

      Doug,

      My name is Jim. If you missed it, I did an interview with Sheldon Ingram on WTAE Channel 4 Action news last week. Sheldon apparently believes as you do that this is a ridiculous idea. While concluding the interview, Sheldon said the team had no comment on the protest.

      Well, that’s changed. Because of the interview I gave, the team started calling local media outlets and requesting any information they have about this scheduled protest. That was Thursday last week. On Friday last week, the team prepared and delivered statements to WPXI, KDKA, WTAE, WDVE, the Post Gazette, Tribune Review, and other media concerning the protest, although I don’t know what that statement was.

      We’ve confirmed more than 8,000 participants for the walk off. Whether or not you believe in what we’re doing or not, it should be an interesting evening on the North Shore.

      Jim
      -The Average White Guy
      http://www.theaveragewhiteguy.com

    • C.J. Jiuliante

      Jim,

      I think the idea of the walk-off is great and I hope it has the effect you are looking to accomplish. But I can see Doug’s point here. If the ultimate message you wish to send is a symbolic one of money leaving the ballpark, why pay the money to go into the ballpark in the first place? While the gesture is symbolic in nature and I’m sure it’s one that will not be lost entirely on Bob Nutting and Kevin McClatchy, the bottom line is that the fans have still have the money you (and everyone else) paid to get into that game. I think you can see the irony in this.

      Nevertheless, I hope it goes through. The current collective bargaining agreement worked for everyone in Major League Baseball with the exception of one group – the fans of teams whose owners use the system as a mechanism to line their pockets. I understand it’s a business, but this is also a business in a limited market where the customers have much different demands and expectations than they would at, say, a car dealership or restaurant. There exists a far greater emotional attachment to this business on the part of its customers than you’d find in just about any other industry.

      In any business, though, if customers feel as though they are being taken advantage of, they will find ways to voice their disapproval. As I said, I hope this works out.

      If not, I’d consider implementing Plan B as suggested on Mark Madden’s radio show this week…during a game when McClatchy is in attendance in his normal seat behind home plate, have everyone stand for an entire inning, turn towards McClatchy and give him the finger. Equally symbolic.

      Good luck.

    • admin

      Thanks for both of your comments guys!

      Jim, first off I want to say best of luck with your protest. I think it’s great that fans are standing up. Myself, I refuse to go to any more games. I have to go there for a work function but besides that I have no intention of attending a game. Suck because I love watching a game there (and usually attend 10-20 a year) but I can’t justify giving this franchise any more money. I believe completely in your views, I just feel that the method being used doesn’t really prove a point since the Pirates already see the money once you enter the park. I’ll sign the petitions and join in with spreading word but this one leaves me scratching my head.

      C.J., I like that idea of standing up in front of Kevin. Let me know when you wanna do I can make sure to record the game.