paige3girl
June-30th-2008, 12:21 PM
I have sent this to the nationals. I am also sending to a few contacts I have at the O's. I will let you know if I hear a response. And before the Nats fans jump down my throat please note that I am not asking for anything from the organization, this does nothing to change my view of the organization and I will probably go to the stadium again. However, I think it need to be known that there were some flagrant missteps by the stadium and they need to be correct. My experience with my Father was both embarrasing and saddening...
To Whom It May Concern:
I am writing to share my experience at Nationals Park on Sunday, June 29. I would like to preface this letter by saying that this was not my first experience to the stadium and I would like to believe that this is not norm because I did have a nice outing prior to Sunday. As a Father’s Day gift, my brother and I purchased tickets for our families so that my dad could see the new stadium and of course see the budding rivalry between the Orioles and the Nationals as we are a divided family. I am sorry to say, that due to the lack of security and alcohol control this outing at Nationals Stadium will probably be the last game my 65 year-old father, a former professional baseball player, will attend.
My family of five arrived to section 102, row DD around 1:00 PM prior to the start of the game. Immediately, I noticed a particularly rowdy group of about 6 people screaming and yelling, I chalked this up to the excitement of heading out to the ballpark until one woman started smoking. I waited for an usher to come down to ask her to stop unfortunately that did not happen. As the game started, the group became larger upwards of 20-30 people between four rows. We quickly learned, not through inquiry, they were a group from Spotsylvania who had organized a bus trip for the game. It was clear the bus ride up was an enjoyable one for the group. As the early innings progressed, individuals were bringing down 6 beers at a time (it is my understanding that the limit is 2 per person at any professional sporting event.) And as you know, section 102, Row DD is backed up to a beer vendor so we watched the beer men sell individuals in this group as many beers as they could carry. The group also continued to smoke and despite many complaints from fans it was not until the bottom of the second that the first usher made an appearance. I wish I could say that this was the worst of it but I would like to bullet a few of the glaring debaucheries that not only my family but multiple families were forced to witness not exclusive of 11 innings of cursing, making out and coming in and out of the aisles for beer runs during play:
3rd Inning: A woman in her late 40’s sitting in Row CC begins to vomit. She vomited at least 4 times in her seat before someone outside this group got the usher. The woman would not leave her seat and the usher walked away. Finally, after vomiting again, she got up herself and went under the MASN tent (also situated behind row DD.) At this point, paramedics came to tend to the overly intoxicated individual. The usher came back and threw some paper towels on the ground in front of the chair to cover some of the vomit but did not clean the vomit off the actual seat.
4th Inning: Usher warns group second time about smoking.
5th Inning: Drunk group member jumps over row of seats landing on another member of the group causing arguments amongst themselves, during play. Usher brings girl who was hurt a wet washcloth.
7th Inning Stretch: Woman in group goes down to the front of the section and yells to section that she is going to streak then proceeds to turn around and spit sunflower seeds into the Orioles bullpen.
Bottom of the 8th Inning: Member goes up and comes back with 4 more beers. (Beer sales should have been suspended at that point.)
10th Inning: A new usher comes down after seeing another member of the group smoking. When asked to put out her cigarette, the girl said she was not smoking. After about three minutes of arguing, the usher came into the center of the row and found multiple butts under the seats. The girl said it was not her. At this point, a 10 year-old boy sitting with his family sitting in front of this unruly group jumps up out of his seat and yells to the usher “Maam! She was smoking!” Usher calls security. Supervisor comes down speaks to group and leaves. Everyone in the group laughs and one girl yells, at the top of the lungs, “Let’s break out the blunts now!”
11th Inning: Young man from the group stuck a camera down his pants and takes a picture of his genitals, shows the girls in his group and jokingly asks everyone around (including children) if they would like to see yelling, “it’s bigger in film.” Usher comes down, man says he didn’t really take a picture despite the fact that others saw the photo, so the usher leaves.
My question to you, why was not one person from this group ejected from the game for causing a disruptive atmosphere? Also, why was alcohol served to these clearly intoxicated individuals? Our safety was compromised and our day at the ballpark was ruined because of one disrespectful group.
I would like to add, I am a season ticket holder to both the Orioles and the Redskins and have traveled to stadiums across the country to see both teams. I have been to Fenway, Yankee Stadium, Braves Stadium, Foxboro, Giants Stadium, Dallas just to name a few. In any other venue this group would have been ushered out by the third inning. However, for the fans in section 102 on Sunday we had to endure 11 innings of cursing, vomiting, crude behavior and one of the worst cases of public intoxication I have seen in my 25+ years of going to sporting events. I would urge you to speak with the Ushers in sections 101 to 103, the promotional crew from MASN and the beer vendor position at the top of the stairs behind 102 there was obviously a clear breakdown of control and communication for this to occur for 11 innings when the group finally left because they had to get back on their bus.
I know this was an extreme situation but it ruined a day at the ballpark for many area fans both Nationals and Orioles fans alike.
Congrats on your series win and thank you for listening to my concerns.
Sincerely,
To Whom It May Concern:
I am writing to share my experience at Nationals Park on Sunday, June 29. I would like to preface this letter by saying that this was not my first experience to the stadium and I would like to believe that this is not norm because I did have a nice outing prior to Sunday. As a Father’s Day gift, my brother and I purchased tickets for our families so that my dad could see the new stadium and of course see the budding rivalry between the Orioles and the Nationals as we are a divided family. I am sorry to say, that due to the lack of security and alcohol control this outing at Nationals Stadium will probably be the last game my 65 year-old father, a former professional baseball player, will attend.
My family of five arrived to section 102, row DD around 1:00 PM prior to the start of the game. Immediately, I noticed a particularly rowdy group of about 6 people screaming and yelling, I chalked this up to the excitement of heading out to the ballpark until one woman started smoking. I waited for an usher to come down to ask her to stop unfortunately that did not happen. As the game started, the group became larger upwards of 20-30 people between four rows. We quickly learned, not through inquiry, they were a group from Spotsylvania who had organized a bus trip for the game. It was clear the bus ride up was an enjoyable one for the group. As the early innings progressed, individuals were bringing down 6 beers at a time (it is my understanding that the limit is 2 per person at any professional sporting event.) And as you know, section 102, Row DD is backed up to a beer vendor so we watched the beer men sell individuals in this group as many beers as they could carry. The group also continued to smoke and despite many complaints from fans it was not until the bottom of the second that the first usher made an appearance. I wish I could say that this was the worst of it but I would like to bullet a few of the glaring debaucheries that not only my family but multiple families were forced to witness not exclusive of 11 innings of cursing, making out and coming in and out of the aisles for beer runs during play:
3rd Inning: A woman in her late 40’s sitting in Row CC begins to vomit. She vomited at least 4 times in her seat before someone outside this group got the usher. The woman would not leave her seat and the usher walked away. Finally, after vomiting again, she got up herself and went under the MASN tent (also situated behind row DD.) At this point, paramedics came to tend to the overly intoxicated individual. The usher came back and threw some paper towels on the ground in front of the chair to cover some of the vomit but did not clean the vomit off the actual seat.
4th Inning: Usher warns group second time about smoking.
5th Inning: Drunk group member jumps over row of seats landing on another member of the group causing arguments amongst themselves, during play. Usher brings girl who was hurt a wet washcloth.
7th Inning Stretch: Woman in group goes down to the front of the section and yells to section that she is going to streak then proceeds to turn around and spit sunflower seeds into the Orioles bullpen.
Bottom of the 8th Inning: Member goes up and comes back with 4 more beers. (Beer sales should have been suspended at that point.)
10th Inning: A new usher comes down after seeing another member of the group smoking. When asked to put out her cigarette, the girl said she was not smoking. After about three minutes of arguing, the usher came into the center of the row and found multiple butts under the seats. The girl said it was not her. At this point, a 10 year-old boy sitting with his family sitting in front of this unruly group jumps up out of his seat and yells to the usher “Maam! She was smoking!” Usher calls security. Supervisor comes down speaks to group and leaves. Everyone in the group laughs and one girl yells, at the top of the lungs, “Let’s break out the blunts now!”
11th Inning: Young man from the group stuck a camera down his pants and takes a picture of his genitals, shows the girls in his group and jokingly asks everyone around (including children) if they would like to see yelling, “it’s bigger in film.” Usher comes down, man says he didn’t really take a picture despite the fact that others saw the photo, so the usher leaves.
My question to you, why was not one person from this group ejected from the game for causing a disruptive atmosphere? Also, why was alcohol served to these clearly intoxicated individuals? Our safety was compromised and our day at the ballpark was ruined because of one disrespectful group.
I would like to add, I am a season ticket holder to both the Orioles and the Redskins and have traveled to stadiums across the country to see both teams. I have been to Fenway, Yankee Stadium, Braves Stadium, Foxboro, Giants Stadium, Dallas just to name a few. In any other venue this group would have been ushered out by the third inning. However, for the fans in section 102 on Sunday we had to endure 11 innings of cursing, vomiting, crude behavior and one of the worst cases of public intoxication I have seen in my 25+ years of going to sporting events. I would urge you to speak with the Ushers in sections 101 to 103, the promotional crew from MASN and the beer vendor position at the top of the stairs behind 102 there was obviously a clear breakdown of control and communication for this to occur for 11 innings when the group finally left because they had to get back on their bus.
I know this was an extreme situation but it ruined a day at the ballpark for many area fans both Nationals and Orioles fans alike.
Congrats on your series win and thank you for listening to my concerns.
Sincerely,