On another subject that has been raised – ticket buyers not showing up for a game – we all know that has to do with season ticket holders whether they be individuals or corporations. We were at last year’s home opener with tickets given to us for the Champions Section as mentioned. I would say there were as many empty seats as there were those occupied for the the entire area on the right side. Yes, it was cold and as some chose to stay in the lounge, but that would not explain for so many no-shows. Yet the game was officially announced as a sell out as we drove into the parking area.

That I could understand. But what I don’t understand is the amount of upper promenade seats we see unoccupied. Yes, many congregate in other areas but not enough to make the stands appear that empty on television. I wonder if that had to do with many hording tickets in hopes of selling them on the secondary market and just got burned? Just a guess but I do find it interesting that I was able to find many outfield reserved tickets in so many sections on Stub Hub for a game we were thinking of going to a month in advance.

For those like myself, life’s experiences has caused a disdain for not being treated as an equal when it comes to simple courtesy and this extends way beyond the Wilpons onto standards we set for ourselves and others. It also has nothing to do with the amenities that goes with being fortunate enough to be in better financial shape than others. One could buy a single ticket and sit in the balcony at the Metropolitan Opera or Avery Fisher Hall and be treated with as much courtesy as those sitting in their season private boxes.

That is the point I am trying to make. It is sort of a microcossimn of what goes on here inside MMO. There are those who show respect to others who totally disagree with their opinions and there are those who instead of have it dissolve into name calling and other insulting remarks.

smh!

Just watch them play, and be thankful smart people are in charge now.

Sorry to butt in.

It is obvious why you and I share the same feelings about the Wilpons. They cater to the elite. Even during the dark days of M. Donald Grant when we were treated to inferior teams, we weren’t treated like inferior fans.

I know you were not referring to me in the last comment but I do wish to address the point you made about those who wish to bash the Wilpons. I will be quite open and admit I have little use for them and am one of them.

I also want to stress that I have been a long time fan, having been there from the beginning in 1962 taking the D train to the Polo Grounds through going to last year’s home opener and sitting in the Champions Lounge. My den is full of Met memorabilia and I will be moderating and giving a few remarks at the upcoming 50th anniversary celebration at Hofstra later this month. So you can say, I literally bleed orange and blue.

I can honestly say that the Wilpons have taken away a lot of the fun that going to a Met game was. It goes beyond building a smaller capacity ball park with the goal of less fans meaning more money by charging outrageous prices for tickets. Its because I never expected to feel like a second class citizen because I don’t sit in more expensive seats.

Why? Because fans are denied access to the many entrances to the park made exclusively for those high priced ticket holders. Sit behind third base in the upper promenade and be unable to see anything to the left of the Shea baseball on the wall – meaning anything hit approximately ten feet or so to the right of Jason Bay – for the benefit of those patrons allowed access to an exclusive restaurant to be angled more toward home plate. Escalators do not take fans entering through left to their upper promenade seats – they have to walk a flight of stairs to get to that last level.

Yet when we sat in the Champions Section the hostesses couldn’t do enough to see to our every comfort and need. Now I know one paying $200 a ticket is going to get special treatment, but that doesn’t mean those sitting in the cheap seats have to be treated like steerage, either.

It used to be that a day at the ballpark would not break the bank and even if one sat in the upper deck they saw all the action – albeit higher and further away. But they saw it all. And everyone was allowed to enter anywhere except for the Diamond Club entrance. There was not such an open and obvious class system that one feels at Citi Field.

These things might not seem important to some and that is fine with me. But for many of us who remember how things used to be, it is. Even just providing fans on top an unblocked view of left field was too much for the Wilpons to consider since it meant not having the restaurant placed at the angle they wanted it.

I hope this helps explain why many of us resent Met ownership. We feel very slighted for we are not able to shell out big bucks for those tickets.

What would have been nice to know is how many would have shown up without the free ticket offer. If they still would have generated 42,000 paying fans in that manner, it would be an air of refreshing news knowing nobody needed extra enticement to show up.

It doesn’t matter if one is pro, anti or indifferent to ownership. It is simply trying to get a feeling about fan support or fan apathy, isn’t it? And why the reason for needing a give away on opening day.

As far as that report:

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/mets_in_opening_day_panic_N4vH1pX5dJJav5wgxuW24N

Personally, I don’t base my opinion of Mets ownership on what others are doing. Of the 29 other teams in MLB, you’re apparently fixated only on the neighbors. I think that’s part of the problem for some Mets fans who are consumed with an inferiority complex through team and are angry with the Mets for not providing the band-aid to make it all better. Hard times are easier to cope with when not looking toward others to make the pain go away rather than looking intrinsically.

You’re going to drive yourself crazy using the Yankees as barometer for sharing a city with a revered franchise. No one can compete with their history and brand, so I advice to stop trying. And insofar as the Phillies, they’ve been around for well over a hundred years yet have same number of World Series titles as we.

They’re also likely heading for a downfall in the coming years with an aging roster, lean farm system, and long-term, very expensive contracts. So in the coming years the Mets and Phillies may likely be heading in very different directions. And that’s the cycle of baseball in the sport’s long, history…patterns of ups and downs. If you stop worrying what the neighbors are doing, you may might free up additional emotional energy to better appreciate your team and the efforts being made to turn the Mets again into championship caliber. Animus gets in the way of being truly vested in the well-being of this franchise. There are some Mets fans who want a championship yet actively support hurting them – these diametrically opposed wants is recipe for failure.

In any case, I have news for you. No one put a gun to anyone’s head forcing them to show up at a baseball game. They went because they wanted. This is just an effort from the anti-Wilpon crowd to detract from the sellout they were hoping would never happen. The fact is, the game was sold out.

Aggressive marketing, perhaps, but a tell-tale sign nonetheless. We do not know if it did jack up attendance figures or not but it does question the credibility of how many would have otherwise shown up today. Remember the old World Football League opened in many cities to crowds in excess of 100,000 (Philadelphia). What wasn’t know at the time is that many tickets were given out free or cost almost next to nothing. What the WFL wanted was for the stands to appear packed in order to entice future ticket sales. That is what the Mets were essentially doing with these special ticket offers – teams without attendance problems don’t need to make such promotions.

Also remember, the past few seasons fans could not even buy single game tickets for the home opener – they were indeed forced to purchase game packs of one degree to another.
So it is simply a change from being forced to being bribed. Either way, it wasn’t just straight ticket selling – but still, it’s the fan that finally benefits, not the Wilpon’s pocket book for a change.

Do you call yourself a Mets fan but root for them to lose?