But there I go, blabbing about parking and traffic again. I’m really here to try and explain the bugaboo I’ve always had with the Dodger Stadium experience: why huge numbers of fans routinely show up in the 3rd and 4th innings and leave after the 6th and 7th.
Avoiding traffic? I don’t buy it. Nearly every one of the 17 ballparks I’ve been to have their share of entering and exiting gridlock. Length of the drive? Sorry. People trek to St. Louis Cardinals games from as far away as Arkansas, and I never see those stands emptying out before the stretch inning. As I see it—and I’ve been seeing the evidence around me for over 25 years—many Dodger fans come late and leave early because willfully or not, they are disengaged from the game. Unless it’s a final weekend or postseason contest with something at stake, these fans do not treat the game as a dramatic event but as a social one, like going to a big family picnic or a real cool party where you arrive fashionably late or leave early before the beer runs out. The game is merely the thing going on the background you look up to cheer and boo once in a while. I would never think of showing up late to a play or leaving a movie early, but if I was just in the mood to catch a few scenes, maybe I would.
...I don’t mean to be overly critical of my local fan base, just observational. This is still a free country, and people can attend ballgames for whatever darn reason they want. I have no plans to ever stop going to Dodger Stadium. I have my secret street route that always gets me there on time, and I’ll never tire of the magnificent view of palms, eucalyptus trees, and purple San Gabriel Mountains beyond.
Just don’t bat a beach ball in my direction, because there’s a good chance I’ll pop it.
Repoz
Posted: September 02, 2012 at 08:53 AM |
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1. Bob T Posted: September 02, 2012 at 01:47 PM (#4225084)That said, I must say this about Dodger fans: Listening to Vin Scully in the car probably is almost as good as being there. Almost.
Silent YouTube clip
BECAUSE MOST PEOPLE WERE STILL AT THE STADIUM.
You can't listen to Vin Scully in your car on the way home. He's off the radio after the third.
I've taken public transit to Staples Center and it's not all that great. The stop nearest Staples is outdoors with little cover on it. There is one train line that stops there (the Blue Line) and, unless you are heading to Long Beach or other parts south, you have to ride it one stop north to 7th/Metro and then transfer to the Red, Purple, or Expo line. And if you want to take the Gold Line to Pasadena, you then have to ride two more stops on the Red Line to Union Station, where you can transfer to the Gold Line.
There are no extra trains run for any event at Staples.
I went to a Jets game a couple of years ago, great seats near 50-yd line. More than a dozen season ticketholders got up with around 6-7 minutes left in a close game - as they apparently always do.
The ones I noticed beforehand seemed engaged in the game until then, but when it's time it's time, I guess. And these are only eight real games all season. My theory would be that these guys get as much out of the tailgating as they do the game itself. At least, that's the best I can do so far...
As long as you are not bothering the people near you, you should be able to watch as much or as little of a sporting event as you want. You paid money to get in (most of the time). It's your choice about how to spend your time.
I hope that guy got the other light fixed before he got a ticket!
But there are worse ways to miss an all-time iconic moment. Frank Sinatra was at the 1951 Branca/Thomson playoff, and missed the winning home run. Two seconds before Thomson swung, Jackie Gleason vomited all over Sinatra's shoes.
At the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, during the 100 meter dash folks got up to leave after 70 meters.
I didn't watch Game 4 of the 2004 ALCS and missed Dave Roberts's steal and David Ortiz's home run. I went to the Patriots - Seahawk game with friends but they wouldn't let us in. A friend got tix from a lawyer he knew that had season tickets to Gillette Stadium. Turns out he gave his tickets to a state police cadet for the previous Pats home game. The cadet put them on e-bay. The Patriots cancelled his season tickets and sold the seats to someone else. We had no idea about this until we tried to get into the stadium.
My friends and I rode back to Connecticut. I got home and went to sleep really early. It was a crummy day and the last thing I wanted to do was see the Red Sox get swept by the Yankees.
I don't think any Red Sox fan - or anti-Yankees fan - had any great imperative to watch Game 4 or 5 (until after the World Series, of course).
Game 6, maybe, and Game 7 - well, at that point, fun even just to enjoy the pre-game no matter who won. That was cage-rattling of the highest order. Then the circus led off with its best entertainment..
the leave-early stuff is exaggerated. the fans stay if the game is even marginally competitive.
It doesn't disprove your point, but the Expo Line stops at Pico. I was walking up Figueroa a few days ago and noticed there were more Blue Line trains than I expected. That's when I remembered the new one existed.
I don't know how exaggerated it is -- a lot of people definitely leave early, even if the game is competitive.
It's 9:30, and still in the sixth. It's a weekday, and you have kids with you. Promotion night, Kershaw pitching, 50K+ in the stands. You know the game is going to go until close to 10:30, and then it's ten minutes out to the car, and perhaps 30-40 more before you're even out of the lot. Then another half hour to get home to Canoga Park or wherever. So, close to midnight. You know the choice a lot of people make.
The point of the article is right: the Dodger Stadium parking lot is a cluster****, and it always has been. The writer talks about building a Metro spur line that would take you right to the stadium -- sure, either that or provide free jetpacks with every ticket, I'm not sure what would cost less. My trick was always to park on the street on Lookout Drive or before the Elysian Park entrance and walk in, which in the old days meant walking alongside the cars entering (there are walkways now, but I have heard poor reviews), or bushwhacking your way up the hill. Parking on the Chinatown side and starting the evening there is a fun way to do a Dodger game, but walking 20 minutes through downtownish LA is exactly the sort of thing most Dodger fans are unlikely to do. They could make the walk in to the ballpark from the outside easier, that's for sure. They already provide a cheap shuttle from Union Station. Of course, if the game is running late, you might have to leave early to catch the last train!
For Giants and Jets games, you have to. The population of the entire stadium parks in a single garage with two entrances. It takes 90 minutes to exit from the top level when all the cars are trying to leave at the same time. (Not sure if the situation was improved any with the new stadium.)
What about all the open air lots?
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