May 2012 Archives

From last week's posting regarding Ballpark Etiquette, I've received some feedback regarding clothing. At the end of the day, it's a free country and you can wear whatever you want to the game. However, if you're looking to potentially avoid ridicule, here are five things you might want to avoid during your next visit:

1. Visiting team clothing- If you walk into Yankee Stadium in Red Sox gear (or vice-versa) you're going to hear it. You'll hear it ALL DAY LONG. There's nothing wrong with supporting your team and if you enjoy "getting into it" with other people then this is a good way to make that happen. Most stadium employees are trained to treat everyone with respect but just know that other fans do not receive that same training. If you happen to be in right field of Yankee Stadium, expect to be arguing/ debating with other fans for the entire game.

2. Wearing clothing form another sport - If you're at Citi Field for a Mets game and you're wearing a Steelers jersey - you're weird. Again, free country but expect to at least get a little bit of friendly ribbing from a vendor or two. You might even possibly get a few people around you yelling "touchdown" whenever a run's scored. Better off to just wear regular street clothes. The only exception would be if there's a local team from another sport who has a playoff game that night.

3. Bringing a baseball glove - If you're under the age of fourteen then bringing a glove is perfectly fine. If you're any older than that, then you should be using your bare hands, a cup or your hat. That's it. If you're a man in his 40's and you catch a ball with your glove at the game, please keep your celebration to a minimum. It's a routine catch. If you catch it with your bare hand, your hat or in your beer, you're a hero.

4. High fashion - Unless you just left work or some sort of celebratory dinner, leave the suits, high heels, tuxedos, fancy bags etc...at home. It's not a fashion show or a club and nobody's impressed. If you're trying to snag one of the rich guys/girls behind home plate at the next Yankees game, don't waste your time. They come in through a private entrance. Throw on a jersey and be comfortable.

5. Full uniform - This might come off as a bit harsh but if you're a teenager or older and show up at the game wearing a jersey with PANTS and CLEATS - you should really consider bringing yourself in for psychiatric evaluation. I've seen a few grown men do this and it really is odd looking. There are plenty of players on the roster and I assure you, even if they were to run out of healthy players, they aren't going to start plucking lunatics out of the crowd because they're dressed appropriately. Stick with shorts and a jersey or shirt.

I've been receiving great feedback and truly do appreciate the support. If you have any suggestions for future topics, feel free to email me through the link provided. Have a great weekend!

Mark

Going the ballpark is like being home but for many of us but for some people it can be a nerveracking experience. There are some very basic, commonly followed rules of etiquette that most fans follow. To make things a little easier for your next trip, here's some things that you should keep in mind to ensure you're being respectful of other fans:

Don't block the view of others - If you need to stand up and stretch, do it between innings or more preferably, in the middle of the seventh inning. If you're heading to your seats, stay at the entrance ramp until the third out of an inning or a visit from the pitching coach. At the very least, wait until an at-bat is over, and then move quickly. Stay to the right, and if an at-bat starts while you're en route, crouch. Bringing signs to the ballpark happens less and less nowadays but if you decide to bring one, be sure to be respectful of other fans when holding it up as to not block their view of the game. Also, please make sure that there's nothing lewd on it. Family show folks.

Keep your kids from disturbing others - If your child is bored and climbing all over the place, kicking the chair in front of him or getting outwardly cranky, don't wait for the person in front of you to say something. Get up and take them for a walk around the ballpark. Almost every park has an area that's dedicated to  entertaining kids.

Don't "flop" until after the fifth inning - Generally speaking, if you paid for seats in clouds, sit in the clouds. It's rude to make other fans dig for their tickets when you know that you're in the wrong seats. If you want good seats - pay for good seats. The only exception is when the park is near empty and you're asked by staff to move down. If you just can't resist the urge, don't move down to better seats before the fifth inning and be aware that some ballparks will eject you for moving down (also called flopping).

Buying from vendors - He didn't charge you the $125 for your ticket, the $25 to park and he definitely isn't getting the $8.50 you're handing him for a beer. He's walking up and down stairs for 4 hours in 90 degree weather carrying a back breaking load. Tip the guy! Give him the ten and tell him to keep the change. You can spare the extra $1.50.

Catching Balls - There's nothing wrong with diving over two rows of people to catch a fly ball. If you're lucky enough to catch one though, there's a protocol to follow. First, if it lands in your beer, you must drink the beer immediately with the ball still in the cup. If it doesn't land in your beer you should hold it up in victory, maybe take a quick picture with it and then hand it to the nearest child.

Reading at the ballpark - Really? Why even go? You could sit in your back yard with a radio and experience the same thing. After first pitch, get out of your own head, join the rest of us and be a part of the game.

Drinking - If you're going to be a drunk, be a respectful one. Pretty self-explanatory.

And please always remember to...respect the flag during the national anthem, proudly sing "Take Me Out To The Ballgame" in the seventh inning and get out of your seat and cheer your brains out if your team is winning and it's the potential final out of the game.

Lastly, HAVE FUN! It's why you're there.

Hello all! I was planning on spacing out the articles regarding ticket scams but I've gotten such nice feedback I thought I'd put out Part 2 sooner rather than later. Last week we covered the dangers of purchasing off the street from scalpers (especially "print at home" tickets), how some scammers resell tickets that have been reported as lost or stolen, deceptive wording on some group travel sites and the use of sites that never deliver tickets at all (sometimes called "mirror sites").

Need more convincing that you should only go to official ticket sellers and well researched websites? A lot of scams involve Craigslist. Although Craigslist is a reputable company, there are a lot of tickets scams that are perpetrated through it. Things that should raise a red flag are a suggestion that your purchase will be covered by the Craigslist Purchase Protection Program. Craigslist does not officially back any transaction made through its site. If you're asked to wire your payment instead of using Paypal, you should see that as a red flag. You should proceed with caution if the seller is overseas or there seems to be an inordinate amount of spelling and grammatical errors in their listing. If the selling price is ever in pounds instead of dollars, don't make that purchase.

The next one will make your stomach turn. Every venue has a certain amount of seats dedicated to disabled patrons as part of the Americans with Disabilities Act. This is sometimes referred to as wheelchair or disabled seating. These seats exist so that disabled patrons can attend the game the same way that non-disabled patrons can. Scammers are aware of these seats and know that they typically sell much slower than general seating. This allows for a few different scenarios. Anyone can go online and purchase disabled seating without having to prove that they're disabled. A lot of venues will call prior to the event and request proof. If you aren't disabled, your seats will most likely be taken away from you. The issue that comes up (besides taking away seats from people who are truly disabled) is when scammers resell the disabled seats and do not tell the new buyer that the seats are for the disabled. The second purchaser could very well be ejected from the show once they arrive and would have no recourse through the venue.

The third type of scam is about as repulsive as the one mentioned above. When you've got anywhere from 20,000 to 80,000 tickets sold for a sporting event, you're going to have people who end up not being able to go at the last minute. Many good natured people will bring the extra ticket with them and instead of trying to sell it, will simply give it to a stadium employee outside and request that it be given to a member of the military. It's a great gesture but one that has been exploited repeatedly. If you hand a stadium employee making $12 an hour a ticket for $150, it's very tempting and easy for that employee to quickly resell that ticket for $50 or $100. It happens more than you might think. If you'd like to donate your ticket to a member of the military, bring the ticket to the ticket window and ask if they do that type of thing or simply look for an active member of the military yourself.

The last scam in Part 2 also revolves around stadium employees. This one involves separating you from your tickets once you're in the venue. Always, I repeat ALWAYS, have your ticket with you. You'll be asked from time to time to show it, but don't ever let someone take it away from you (unless you're exchanging for another one). The first reason is that without it, you can be ejected even if you've already been allowed in. The second, many ballparks and stadiums are set up so you need to show your ticket to get access to you actual seating area. Lastly, and this is where the scam comes in, there have been incidents where a staff member will ask for your tickets, keep them, hand them off to someone else and have them scalped outside the venue. With this scenario, you're now without proof that you paid, you're without access to your specific seating area and someone outside is now being resold your tickets that will not allow them entry as the tickets have already been scanned in.

As we mentioned in Part 1, there are tons of other types of scams out there but the ones above are some of the most common. Don't wait until the day of the event and put yourself at risk by dealing with a scalper. Even if you don't get tickets at first, you've got time to research and find reputable resellers. Once you're at the venue, HOLD ONTO THAT TICKET and don't trust a stranger to do the right thing with your extras. Hope you all head a great Mother's Day and please keep reading!

You've always wanted to experience a live playoff game but have never taken the leap and just done it.  This year is going to be different. You've made the decision that it's something you'd like to treat yourself and your family to. You find out when tickets go on sale and call the moment that they're available. To you're amazement, tickets to the game have sold out within ten minutes. Now what? The kids have been talking about it to their friends for a week. You really don't want to disappoint everyone. There must be another way to get tickets to this game.
 
The scenario above will most inevitably lead you to some sort of secondary market. This mean resellers. This secondary market is comprised of some reputable companies but also includes a large number of dishonest ones. The secondary market also includes scalpers, who are the most untrustworthy source for tickets out there. Purchasing from a scalper is not safe, smart or legal. Most scams are perpetuated by street scalpers. Get where I'm going with this? Don't buy scalped tickets. We could easily write ten pages on the various types of ticket scams out there but for the sake of keeping it at an appropriate length, here's a few of the most common types of ticket scams to watch out for:
 
Never purchase a "print at home" ticket from someone. Seems pretty obvious? You'd be shocked at how many people I've actually dealt with who have been burned by this extremely easy scam. The original purchaser purchases from Ticketmaster or some other licensed ticket vendor and requests to print their tickets from their home computer. They can then, very easily, make as many photo copies of these "print at home" tickets and sell them on the street. So what happens when you get to the gate? Well, if you get there before the rest of the people who bought a copy you'll get in. If you're not first, your tickets will not allow you entry and will show as "already scanned in". This has absolutely nothing to do with the venue since you purchased illegally and you certainly can't expect the police to help you in this situation. You're out that money.
 
Another common scam revolves around lost or stolen tickets. Each ticket has a unique number and bar code making it identifiable. The original purchaser can report a ticket as having been lost or stolen, and the ticketing agency can invalidate the ticket and issue a replacement with a new ID. So the original purchaser will still have a valid set of tickets but can resell the deactivated tickets to an unsuspecting purchaser on the secondary market. If someone tries to enter a venue with a ticket whose ID has been reported as lost or stolen, the scanner will reject that ticket.

The next one revolves around group tours to sporting events. Again, there are reputable companies such as mine and some of my competitors' but there are also some that utilize misleading wording on their websites. So when you reserve your All-Star Weekend Extravaganza, be sure that game tickets are specifically promised. If the trip description says "accommodations on the night of the game", don't assume that you'll also get tickets to the game. Make sure everything you're supposed to be getting is clearly marked on your contract with the tour operator.

The final one we'll be covering today is done through phoney websites. Sometimes called mirror sites. A mirror site is a web site with a name that is close to a legitimate site, and pretends to perform the actions of the legitimate site. Random example: Knicksplayofftix.com. The scam site will simply accept payments for tickets, but deliver nothing. How do they get away with it?  This type of scam is short lived and of the hit and run variety. It takes a while to investigate and by the time the fraud is uncovered, thousands of dollars may have changed hands.

There are tons of other types of scams out there but the ones above are some of the most common. Dishonest scalpers and brokers prey on unsuspecting fans who will do anything and spend any amount to attend certain events. The first line of defense against getting victimized is to stay calm. Don't wait until the day of the event and put yourself at risk by dealing with a scalper. Even if you don't get tickets at first, you've got time to research and find reputable resellers. That's the most important thing to remember when making your ticket purchase - research the seller!  You're spending a significant amount of money here. If it seems like something's sketchy, it probably is.

Does your favorite team stink? Have they stunk for a really long time? Tired of never knowing the thrill of having your team win a championship? Perhaps you've considered crossing over to a different team. You know it's wrong but in the back of your mind you sometimes fantasize about how great it would be to root for a winner. Perhaps there's something else that's causing you to consider this drastic change in loyalty. If this is the case, I would like to now list 10 possible reasons to consider switching teams. I've also taken the liberty
of giving feedback on each reason to include, in my opinion, if each reason is valid or not.

 
10 Potential Reasons for Switching Team Loyalty
 
1: Your current favorite team moves away to another city. Unacceptable to switch. If at all possible, you should move as well.

2: An expansion team or existing team relocates to a city that is closer to you. Unacceptable to switch. Follow same instructions as #1.

3: Your team ceases to exist (goes defunct). Acceptable to switch providing your support goes to any new team that might be eventually introduced to your region.Until then you should spend time in a dark basement watching old game tapes.
 
4:You have two teams in your area and just feel like a change. I won't dignify with an answer.
 
5: A minor league franchise moves to your area and you root for the success of the guys you rooted for in the minors. Unacceptable to switch. Root for the players but not the team.

6:You are fourteen years old or younger. Acceptable to switch. Once you've reached 15,you've had enough time to figure it out.

7: You move to a city that is closer to another team other than your old team.Unacceptable to switch. That's what TVs are for.

8: You're fortunate enough to work for a sports team but they're not your favorite. Unacceptable to switch. Just keep it to yourself around the office. Always remember where your bread is buttered.

9: Ownership is horrible. They continuously put a losing team on the field and year after year make poor decisions, causing nothing but heartache for their fanbase. Unacceptable to switch. Best bet is to try to outlive the owner.

10: Your favorite player goes to another team.Unacceptable to switch.You can continue to follow and root for the player, but not their new team.

So there you have it. You could, of course, ignore these suggestions and do whatever you want. Just be prepared for the occasional ribbing form other fans who have stayed loyal and endured all of the pain that sometimes comes along with following a rotten team.

Sports is human life in microcosm.  ~Howard Cosell