O's Ushers Need Rebuilding As Well
by Rexx on Sep 24, 2008 1:22 PM EDT
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PrintMy son and his friend went to the near-empty O's game on Monday evening. They had premium box seats behind home plate. Due to the incredibly interesting play of the Orioles, they walked around the concourse of the stadium and ended up in the center field area. They decided to check out the view from the center field bleachers. According to both of them, they took a seat in the middle of the section, without a single fans within 10 rows of them. Nevertheless, the rude, obnoxious and thoughtless usher still had the gall to come up to them and insist they leave the section unless they had tickets. They tried to explain to him that they had seats behind home plate and all they wanted to do was check out the view from there. However, without hesitation, they were told to leave immediately.
I know, some will say he was just doing his job. However, look at the empty seats and the fact they weren't sitting in the front row or taking someone else's seats. C'mon, now is the time that the Orioles need to be really nice to their fans. The play on the field isn't going to keep them coming back, and the behavior of the ushers are the worst I've seen in my travels around the league. Perhaps Andy McPhail can get some of the free agent ushers to come here from New York or Boston!?
What a joke of an organization, from top to bottom.
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In their defense, with the $1 tickets the ushers have probably been told to check tickets regularly and make sure that guys aren’t paying a buck to lower level. In past years, the guys who work at the Yard are pretty lax about it, towards me at least, but I have heard my fair share of horror stories from friends. In the situation that you described, I do think that it’s ridiculous and unnecessary.
My best game plan is to sit on the bench and call out specific instructions like 'C'mon Boog,' 'Get ahold of one, Frank,' or 'Let's go, Brooks.' -Earl Weaver
they are pretty bad
Earlier this season I got free tickets at the very top of the stadium. My friends and I were the only ones in our section and the usher made us sit at the very top. She wouldn’t even let us move down later in the game when no one else showed up. Also I wanted to try and get autographs before one game. There were a ton of people waiting for them, but when I went down I was told by an usher that batting practice was over and I couldn’t go down (yet he wasn’t telling the other people it was time to leave). I’ve seen some good usher, but alot of them take their jobs way to seriously.
Some ushers are horrible, some are great
I went to a game a few weeks ago vs Oakland, the 2nd game of the double header (first of which had gotten rained out). There was nobody at the stadium. It was totally empty. We had $1 tickets but we sat behind the O’s dugout, about halfway back. There was no one else in our row or the row in front of us or behind us. At about the third inning, the usher brought down a family of four who crazily enough had tickets for the exact four seat we were sitting in. As soon as we realized we slid over the end of the row, but he kicked us out of the entire section, despite the fact that the entire section was pretty much empty. So we moved over one section and had no problems. The usher in that section came to seat some people, saw that there were people in their seats, and said, “No problem! Plenty of seats to go around.” and sat the people about three rows in front of them.
This year has actually been better than last year from my experience. I heard a rumor that there was a big usher meeting where they were told to dial it down, but I guess some of them are just so drunk with power that they won’t let go.
My favorite usher is in left field on the first level. He high fives everyone in O’s gear and cheers and such. I was at a game vs. the Yankees earlier in the year where there was a fair amount of arguing going on between fans and instead of calling security and getting people tossed the way a lot of ushers would, he took care of it himself and didn’t threaten to throw anyone out. He was quite a good peace negotiator.
[Guthrie's] president of my heart. ~PhilR8
In their defense...
I have heard stories about people that are watching the game on TV, see people sitting in their seats, and then call to complain (yea, I know hard to believe anyone would do that). So I can’t really blame the ushers in the really good seats for asking you to move. But there is no reason for one to do that in an empty section of the upper deck.
Do you have a source for that meeting?
anywhere that I could read an account of it? It would be very interesting.
1933 was a bad year
by Senatorrosewater on Sep 25, 2008 3:08 PM EDT up reply actions
I can't remember where I heard that
that’s why I said rumor.
[Guthrie's] president of my heart. ~PhilR8
Most of the ushers are top folks
but these other assholes should just be happy that someone is there
"This world extends way beyond this little field of dreams we're dancing in and I want to see that world"
It's all about not being greedy as a fan
Every time I move down, I never go to the “orange” seats, ie the ones with pads and cup holders. I just don’t try. I always try the lower reserve, and it’s all about looking casual.
I completely understand how much money the Orioles lose due to fans moving down. I personally cost the team about $80 the other night in ticket sales by moving from section 308 to 47 in between games of the doubleheader. But really, after the 7th inning stetch at least, I think the scoreboard itself should read “COME ON DOWN” …
The stock market will never recover, our armies will never again be #1, and our children will drink filthy water for the rest of their lives - HST
I dunno, I at least try for some padded seats
Maybe not behind home plate, but somewhere down the line.
Twice I’ve been able to move down to seats right behind home plate. Once was earlier this season, although I forget the exact game. My friend and I just walked down the aisle and picked some seats right down near the backstop. It was halfway through the game and we just acted like we belonged there.
Another time was a few years ago, during the O’s-Yankees game that was played before Hurricane Isabel. I think the game was ultimately called around the fifth inning, but it was an awesome game to go to. I think Moose was on the mound for the yanks. The inner harbor was like a ghost town; I think it might have been a matter of hours before the hurricane was going to arrive, so I guess they wanted to try and get the game in beforehand. Maybe a thousand fans had shown up – it was as dead as I had ever seen it. It was awesome. We just settled right behind the backstop and no one cared.
wait...
how does it cost the team anything by you moving to an unoccupied seat?
"When people ask me what my motivation is, I have a simple answer: Money."
--Jerry Reed, on acting
by j.q. higgins on Sep 29, 2008 12:30 PM EDT up reply actions
I see
I see the point. The idea is that it costs the team because you’re not paying value for the seat you sneak into. But, in a lot of cases, I’d argue that the seat you’re sliding into is already paid for by a season ticket holder who just didn’t show up or who failed to sell the tickets on StubHub before the game.
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