Ziegler has another claim to fame. He can be seen being taken deep in Teixeira's ESPN highlight package.

As fun as they are to watch (I grew up in and around San Francisco), I really question the wisdom of the Blue Angels for both financial and public safety reasons. The entire team is over 100 personnel. The seven pilots (they rotate) are among the best aviators in the Navy and Marine Core, probably costing several million each to fully train over the full course of their careers. And the aircraft themselves cost around $50M each (they are in the process of transitioning out of the F-18A/B to the newer C/D variants), not to mention several million each in annual fuel and maintenance costs.

Plus, of the ~250 pilots in the ~60 years of operation, 26 have died (10% fatality rate), which seems to me to be an unacceptably high causality rate for a peacetime air demonstration. The fatality rate for non-experimental aircraft on training missions is a fraction of 10%. Furthermore, as the tragic events from a few weeks ago involving the crash of an F-18 (pilot survived, but four people including two children were killed) show, the crash can be devastating to those on the ground. The city of San Francisco talked about banning the Blue Angels for Fleet Week after the 2007 fatal crash, but public was opposed. Still, seems to me that its a major tragedy waiting to happen--and it costs tens of millions of dollars each year to operate.

One-Armed you put the dismal in your science. The Blue Angels are good public relations for the Navy and everybody loves them. It's fun to see them flying by during fleet week in the Bay Area and we (the pilots and the public) know and accept the risks of them performing. Only a bunch of miserable people who want to make everybody else miserable so the won't be alone ever mention stopping the Blue Angels from flying.

I think all that has to be said about the Blue Angels is that the people of San Francisco love having them around.

and it costs tens of millions of dollars each year to operate.


You say that as if tens of millions of dollars is a significant amount of money these days.

It's just a war whoop. Gotta keep us excited about the mens and machines that kill for us.

During Fleet Week '99, I think, in Chicago, the Blue Angels buzzed Wrigley Field. While most everyone was terrified, Santo was disgusted: "That's just ridiculous." Still makes me laugh.

After Zeigler's ride, he will be, in the immortal phrasing of Jerry Coleman, throwing up in the bullpen.

Isn't this prohibited under a dangerous sports clause in his contract...like skydiving and truck washing?

The fact that we can fly fighter jets over ballgames or let professional athletes fly in the jets is proof that we are the sweetest nation in the world. Especially considering the fact that we are at war.

Eh, they're fun. Sometimes it's nice to have things in life that don't serve any utility except as entertainment, even if it isn't necessarily the best idea.


And good for Ziegler.