Guess I'll pass... 
on season tickets--
Posted on 10/28/2009 11:24:29 AM PDT by meandog
No signs, no radio interviews, no criticism of team is allowed at FedEx Field.
(Excerpt) Read more at voices.washingtonpost.com ...
So if fans boo, will they be ejected...or shot?
“What, you’re not going to argue ‘private property rights?’”
Of course I would. But both conservatives and libertarians would, I imagine. Except for the issues arising out of who really owns the field if in fact it was built with public funds, which admittedly didn’t enter my mind, this is not a political issue. It’s not even a philosophical issue. It’s a matter of business ethics and business strategy, and for lack of a better term manners.
The public subsidy issue could split conservatives and libertarians. Private suspension of free speech? Not really.
“The difference being the team charges the public to come into its property thereby not exactly keeping it longer private property”
So if I invite someone to my house for dinner, I can’t throw him out if I don’t like what he says?
If you were charged him for the meal in your home (that was helped financed by him) and he told you it sucked, would you feel the same way?
I believe I made it clear that I realize the fans will do what they will. As for signs though, one man’s sign is another man’s blind-fold.
You mention that folks pay fees. Do you think those folks should have to look at the back of signs after paying those fees?
I take a very dim view of the public having to pay taxes, toll road fees, or bridge toll fees to finance these stadiums. If the stadiums are a good idea, they should pay for themselves. Otherwise they are a bad idea.
Well, I see it as suspension of free speech. I do not, however, see speech as being unbridled privilege (crowded theater, limits of decency, etc.). The team certainly has the right to banish signs infringing on other spectators' rights to enjoy the game; it has the right to remove obscene signs as well. But, to restrict ALL criticism of the team as well as one tiny sign wishing a hello to a soldier in Afghanistan; well, that is where I draw the line as a libertarian.
Heard about this on ESPN radio in Philly this morning. NO WAY would a Philadelphian accept this edict! :-)
Since it’s called the FED-EX field, maybe a call/email campaign to that company might help catch the ear of the Redskin ownership. What about complaints to the other corporate sponsors of the team & field. How about folks lining the perimeter, off the parking lot, with duct tape over their mouths, and HUGE signs. Or organize a boycott of a few games.
“If you were charged him for the meal in your home (that was helped financed by him) and he told you it sucked, would you feel the same way?”
It’d still be my house, and I’d still have the right to kick people out, I hope. Restaurants refuse service all the time, even though their guests pay.
Who built the stadium makes a difference. But I’m sure if the Redskins don’t own the field, they pay to control it during their events, and they ought to be able to reserve the right to refuse service to people who don’t abide by their wishes.
We have to be very, very careful with this extension of government authority/responsibility with government money. Protecting free speech seems fine, but what’s next, cutting Jason Campbell’s bonuses?
“Well, I see it as suspension of free speech.”
Mst conservatives and libertarians alike don’t believe in any such thing as a right to self-expression when it comes to private authority. It’s more a matter of propriety, respect, and, like I said, manners. To use the phrase “free speech,” I think, is out of line. That phrase is associated with politics, and this is not at heart a political issue.
“But, to restrict ALL criticism of the team as well as one tiny sign wishing a hello to a soldier in Afghanistan; well, that is where I draw the line as a libertarian.”
You may be drawing the line as a man, but as a libertarian? Either you’re expressing an opinion which could just as easily be made by a conservative, a liberal, or a libertine (that is, the propriety claim), or you’re saying the government should step in and restrict the team from regulating its fans’ speech, in which case you’re not being what I’d call a libertarian. Holding up signs at an NFL game isn’t exactly a unalienable right. It’s a privilege, and most all libertarians would see it that way.
Well, I suppose, I don't fit in your category of "most" then because I support freedom of expression in public settings--such as when Bubba Clinton came calling to deliver a speech at the Vietnam Memorial, Freepers at the Capitol back in '99 (I was there), the nutty and obnoxious Rev. Phelps, even the KKK in Stokie Ill., as well as manger scenes, 10 commandment proclamations, etc. You'll find me criticizing disrespect as out of place (even Joe Willson's "You Lie" truth) but stalwart in supporting a right to do it!
Because they discovered that only around seven percent of Football fans have actually attended an NFL game.
And that paltry number is going to drop even further as HD flat screen televisions continue to improve and become even more affordable.
At least Jones thoroughly grasps that owners are in a quandary and need to give fans every possible incentive to attend NFL games.
This simply gives 'Skins fans one more reason to stay the hell away from FedEx Field.
One Sunday afternoon, a guy walks into a bar with his pet dog. The bartender said, “Sorry, pal. No pets allowed.”
The man replied, “This is a special dog. Turn on the Skins game and you’ll see.”
The bartender, anxious to see what will happen, turned on the game.
The guy said, “Watch. Whenever the Skins score, my dog does flips.” The Skins score a field goal and the dog keeps flipping and jumping.
“Wow! That’s one hell of a dog you got there. What happens when the Skins score a touchdown?” asked the bartender.
The man replied, “I don’t know. I’ve only had him for a year.”
Ah yes, your Lambs did beat our team last year with Brad Johnson at the helm. Congratulations. I hope you enjoyed both of your victories last year as it looks like the Lambs may not get any this season, although they do face Detroit this weekend. And yes, the Lambs do have a more recent Super Bowl Victory than America’s team, but I’ll enjoy our five super bowl titles to your one any day. Cheers.
Guess I'll pass... on season tickets--
You’re right, and this kind of restriction on free speech always backfires and will generate even more criticism of this team.
Just ask George Steinbrenner, who tried similar restrictions during the Yankees' weird years of the 1980s. Including, among other things, having thrown out of the ballpark a Banner Day parade participant who costumed himself as a monk and carried a Grim Reaper's blade from which dangled the sign, FORGIVE HIM, FATHER, FOR HE KNOWS NOT WHAT HE DOES.
And, having Yankee Stadium security forces try to purge from the park fans chanting STEINBRENNER SUCKS! STEINBRENNER SUCKS! in the same years.
Not that Steinbrenner didn't learn his lessons. I'll always praise the man for what he did when Yankee personnel tried getting the party quashed when the Red Sox finished that stupefying comeback to win the 2004 pennant. "No," Steinbrenner replied. "They earned it. Let them have their fun."
Say what you will about the man but that one took class.
Not only that, but if FedEx Field is like most NFL stadia, the taxpayers are funding part of it anyway.
“Fags” ;)
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