I'm sorry, but I don't buy that you know exactly what happened. If they were a row back and few seats to the right of you, there's absolutely no way you kept your attention on them the entire time. I'm guessing since you were at the game, you actually watched it, right?
aghast, I get your point - but then I think accomodations should be made for those who have some physical disability. Is it fair to the people in front of them that they now have to sit because they were unlucky enough to sit in their $$$ seats in front of someone with a bum knee? Lemme tell you something - this whole "sit down your blocking my view" thing isn't a rare event. My brother and I got yelled at repeatedly last year during the Lakers series. For standing, for being too loud. It's a huge bummer - seriously. You see fans get up & get excited. Standing & cheering. Then something like this happens & no one is happy. The complainers were of course not having a good time. The guys that got yelled at had a horrible time. The people around the "incident" were drawn away from the game & a bit more subdued afterwards. Yeah, and I guess that standing instead of sitting really doesn't affect whether Barry's 3 goes in, or Yao gets a rebound, or whether the refs don't try to job us, but it's part of going to see your team live. Standing and yelling "De-fense" or clapping as your team runs downcourt, yelling, clapping, dancing, high-fiving people you don't know... The best sight lines - for those that don't want to be bothered by things such as noise, standing people, and crowds - are right at home. From their TV to their couch.
RM, I was in the middle of Row 21 in Section 124 - my head turned to the right, as that's where the court is from that sightline. The complainer was in my Row, about 2 seats over - and loud. The standers were in Row 20 about 2 seats over as well. My head was pretty much facing the standers the entire time. Hell, as I was standing 3/4s of the time during gameplay, my entire body was turned towards the standers. Given all of this it was kinda hard to miss/not hear when the complaining party started to make himself and his wishes heard. Would you like me to break out the Powerpoint presentation as well?
When EVERYONE stand up, it has a huge impact. The Arena becomes more intitmate, the crowd is far more prominent to the players...they are aware...also, you make far louder standing up then sitting down...you never hear a musician sing loudly sitting down. They stand up. It makes a huge impact on the game...Noise is home court advantage... Do you think teams fight for home court advantage in the regular season for no reason?
I sent Lance & John an e-mail this morning. I wasn't able to listen to the entire show so I don't know what might have been read or said. Hmmm... someone told me that they've seen some of the Mavs down in the Park Shops... Here's to hoping they get an undercooked Chick-Fil-A sandwich...
The only suggestion I can offer is to call into either local sportsradio talk and get the word out. That's just....embarrassing.
So if it doesn't affect the outcome on the court, I submit that standing is irrational, especially with how today's stadium seating is so comfy by design. And when it blocks others' views, I think standing is both irrational and inconsiderate. This reminds me a lot of the public smoking ban debate, and people who suggest that if you don't wish to inhale secondhand smoke, stay out of bars/restaurants and cook at home. I'm all for personal freedom. I think I should be free to drink/snort/shoot up as much as I want in public, as long as I don't leave my dirty needles lying around to poke through the Reeboks of unsuspecting others. I think you should have every right to support the team/destroy yourself in any manner you see fit, as long as it doesn't negatively affect the people around you. But I wouldn't light up in a confined public arena, and for the same reason I wouldn't prevent the kid behind me from seeing the game, or force him to stand all night on tip-toe, just because he was assigned a ticket behind someone who wants to illogically stand the whole game. The other guy pays as much money for his seat as you do yours. (And he did rent the seat. Nowhere on the ticket does it say "standing room only.") A lot of people spend all day on their feet, working. The last thing they should be expected to do during their leisure time is be forced to remain on their feet by the tyranny of the tall. Posture from the waist up matters, maybe. Bending your knees doesn't affect your diaphragm, to my knowledge. I've got some recordings of later Louis Armstrong that would disagree. Piano Man still bellows. Billie Holliday could still belt it out even when she was passed out, face down on the floor. Again, I think the cheering/"oohing"/"ahhing" aspect is more important than whether someone 300 feet away from the players appears, to the player's perspective, to be an inch taller standing than sitting. I think the whole home court advantage thing is entirely overblown. It's a way to inflate the importance of regular season (read: meaningless) games. It also gives us, the fans, an inflated sense of importance in affecting the game. Let's face it: we all wish we were talented/dedicated enough to be on the court playing; instead, a lot of us make do pretending that by wearing our special, limited-edition Yao throwback jersey to the game, somehow that will make the real Yao play better in that game. I think the advantage in wins of the typical home team has more to do with being able to stay in one's own home, kiss one's children good night, not have to dial an area code for one's favorite mistress, etc,., more than the effect of the fans. Respectfully, Crotchety McCrotch
Yes, quite "crotchety." The smoking example doesn't fly. Standing & cheering for your team isn't a health hazard the way secondhand smoke is. Well, maybe a danger to yourself if HPD decides to take you down because of your exuberant support for your favorite team. And as for the "logic" of it all, well this is sport & sport fandom, where does logic EVER enter into the equation? Your post is kinda sad really - what's the point of buying a ticket to go cheer for your team then... Anyway, I'm just glad there are at least a few other people on this board who don't think the way you do when it comes to being a Rockets fan...
we were in section 112 i think, and the same thing happend to me and my cousin, except no security was called, cause we looked like we were gunna go crazy on the next person who told us to sit down. Freakin idiots.
standing at a basketball game is totally acceptable. i dont see cops yelling at people at college games when they just jump up and down all game.
This is totally unacceptable, I've already sent the first of what will hopefully be a flood of emails to the Toyota Center: guestservices@rocketball.com A more active crowd can really make a diiference for the home team down the stretch.
They should just have separate sections dedicated to people who want to sit down and watch the game without disturbing noises around them - the quiet section - it can be like a movie theatre where you turn your cell phones off and not allowed to talk. I thought that section was one's living room, but I guess I was wrong.
you dont always have rich stuck up snobs sitting behind you at a college ball game. i mean, these were good seats, and the only people yelling were me an my boy, and the two drunk ppl infronta us.
That's weak, I don't think people have any right b****ing about fans yelling/standing up. If you don't like it, then stay at home. Hell, I have season tickets to the Texans in the Bull Pen section, and if you SIT DOWN at any point during the game people will start yelling at you to get off your ass! I understand it's a common courtesy thing, and if someone asked me politely then I would probably move out of there sightline. But again, if you think something like that is going to bother you then don't even go to the game.
In Houston there is just such a section - it's normally called the "Club Section." I know people who are guilty of this too - friends who were sitting right behind the Mavs bench, but spent half the time at the Club level bar... If I had those seats I would have spent every minute yelling at Cuban about his combover...
Look, we here at the Rockets would prefer that everybody stand all the time and we don't ask people to leave who do, as a matter of fact I went a little overboard last night and started calling out some guys in front of me for not standind. All that happened in this case was some off duty pi.... cop took matters into his own hands.
