In a message dated Thu, 22 Feb 2001 5:52:02 PM Eastern Standard Time,
[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
<< What "stands?" They are called "sits" at Hughes Stadium. Try standing and cheering
like in Europe and see what it gets ya!!! >>
I, for one, made a point of going to one of the head cops after the meet and thanking
him for enhancing the viewing experience. Anybody who keeps asses glued to the seats
WHEN NECESSARY gets into the GH Hall Of Fame.
Don't get me wrong; i find absolutely no fault with leaping to your feet and jumping
up and down when something truly exciting is going on. I do it myself, and it's one
reason i don't sit in pressboxes unless I have to (the unwritten rule of "no cheering
in the pressbox"). But when the moment is passed, get your ass down.
And I think the police were pretty good at recognizing what was a seminal moment in a
race and not saying anything. What I saw them do--yeah!--was go after the yahoos who
feel to compelled every time somebody runs by them. And I don't just mean if it's your
teammate or your kid, i mean everybody, every time.
Or the jerk who stands up, turns around and talks to the people in the row behind him
for minutes at a time, during a competition.
Or the guy in the front row who decides to stand up even though he has an unobstructed
view, forcing everybody in every row behind him to stand on a whim.
Obviously, policing this is an inexact science, but I thought the Sacto police did an
excellent job of it. If they erred to much on the sitting side, that would be my
preference.
As for the "cheering like in Europe" part, my take after 30 years of European meets is
their manners in this department are far ahead of ours. (They had to do something to
make up for the metric measuring :-)
gh
ps--while I'm yapping at people who make viewing a meet tough, i think they ought to
outlaw any camera lens that's longer than the dick of the guy using it. (I've long
suspected there's an inverse corrolation in this department, by the way)
Now I don't mean to get off on a rant, but ever sit next to this asshole at a meet?
His telephoto obscures the track on whichever side of you he sits; he's wearing a vest
with 222 pockets that he continually needs to get into, meaning you get elbowed every
10-15 minutes, and when you try to use the aisle, you invariably raise his ire becuase
it's your fault you kicked the post he's got his camera resting on. I always wish i
had my portable x-ray machine with me so i could give him a quick roentgen shot,
fogging all his film.
But that's just me; maybe I'm wrong!
