By Rick Stanton
If you haven’t read the article on the front page of NW Thursday (Jan. 10) in The Seattle Times, titled “Hate-crime charges in attack on lesbians,” please look it up online and read it.
And if it doesn’t piss you off, you’re either numb to what has been/is happening to our values or you’re a knuckle-dragging Neanderthal and probably part of the problem.
Intolerance is a moral crime. But here’s the deal: alcohol makes it worse. And alcohol at sporting events is completely out of hand. This is hard to imagine, given that a six-pack at most stadiums is around $72. But the way around that cost is to get hammered somewhere else before the game.
On July 28, 2012, my pal Steve Hicks and I went to Safeco Field, in large part to witness the installation of Randy Johnson and Dan Wilson into the Mariners’ Hall of Fame.
As the pre-game ceremonies unfolded, there were four large guys about six rows behind us who were yelling profanities, spilling beer on people in front of them and, in general, being total @$$ho&%#.
I went up to get security, as no one else seemed to have the stones to do so. They said they were aware of the problem. Well then do something about it!
A couple minutes later, the cops came and escorted them out to the tune of some more profanity, as all four pointed at me and threatened me with bodily harm. Another Mariners family experience. How did those morons get into the park in the first place?
Years before this incident, my then-nephew (divorce changes relationships) had purchased two Seahawks tickets at a church auction for the last game of the season. And, as a Christmas present to Uncle Rick, he took me to the game with him.
The seats were pretty good, and we settled in to watch the game. We weren’t there five minutes when, several rows behind us, a bunch of drunks were making life uncomfortable for everyone within 50 yards of them.
Let’s establish something here: I spent God knows how many years of my life on various baseball and softball teams. I’ve heard words most of you haven’t and I’ve used a few of them, as well. I’m not a prude, as many will attest. But a public display of drunkenness at the expense of others is not OK.
I got up and went back to the drunks and said, “Look, I know you guys are having a great time, but I’m with a 12-year-old kid down there, and I’m really uncomfortable with what he’s hearing.” I was told to go (insert obvious word here) myself.
My attempts to get security or the cops to do something about the problem led nowhere. Long story short, we left the game 10 minutes into the first quarter. And the irony of the tickets having been purchased as a gift at a church auction was not lost on me.
When Husky Stadium re-opened with the game against Boise State, my Husky-alum wife and I went and were excited to be a part of the event. Imagine our chagrin when the guy sitting next to us showed up (with his teen-aged son) so drunk I couldn’t understand a thing he said when he tried to introduce himself.
The Dawgs scored early and first, and when the guy tried to high-five his son, he missed, fell over the seats in front of him and knocked out his front teeth on the landing.
They took him out on a stretcher. Who knows what happened to the kid, other than utter embarrassment and probably being scarred for life. Good role model, Dad.
I don’t go to live sporting events much anymore. I’m too old to put up with the stupidity, and too old to get into fights .
Seahawks games are the worst. Emasculated men who get their asses kicked by their bosses and everyone else in their lives six days a week show up for games hours before kickoff, and by the beginning of the game, they think they’re middle linebackers.
Fun for everyone, right? Read the article cited at the outset and ask yourself, “Why is it like this?”
One answer may be that booze equals profits and profits are more important than basic civility and public safety (these morons drive cars after games, too, folks). And apparently anyone not in favor of letting them behave badly can go (insert obvious word here) themselves.