Five Ballpark Promotions That Went Wrong
Of course, I knew about the White Sox Disco Demolition Night, but not the other ones. And really, who (in 2006!) would think dropping cash onto an audience would be a good idea?
Comiskey Park, 1979
The Promotion: Disco Demolition Night. White Sox fans were encouraged to bring old disco records to the park in exchange for a reduced admission price of 98 cents. The records were to be destroyed in between the two games of a doubleheader against the Detroit Tigers.
What went wrong: Believe it or not, a lot of people wanted to see disco records destroyed. 50,000 people showed up at the gates and many who were turned away at the gate tried to climb the walls of the stadium to get in. The crowd, who were reportedly heavily under the influence, soon realized that records could double as Frisbees, which naturally led to fans throwing firecrackers and drinks. When the demolition moment came, the explosion was bigger than expected and ended up ripping a hole in the outfield grass. Thousands of fans ran onto the field to join the mayhem, burning banners and throwing objects. The batting cages were even destroyed in the riot.
The outcome: The Tigers refused to take the field, forcing the White Sox to forfeit the game. The quick patch job on the outfield left the grass uneven and players complained about it for the rest of the season.
I call bullshit on that walkability thing. My current address, my last address in Manhattan, and my parents' address all got in the low 80s, but you don't need a car for anything in any of those places.
My old place gets a 69 (which is ridiculous, it was crazy walkable). My new place gets a 48, which is about right, it's sort of hemmed in by a busy street and a mall.
hmm ... my current place got an 88, but they listed some places that have closed and didn't list the Safeway under groceries, although they had the pharmacy. My mother's place - 29, and overrated. Not really walkable at all, unless you're fond of either cutting through the woods and crossing the train tracks or walking on the shoulder of the highway.
To be fair, the site does have a "How it doesn't work" page, and it does confess that there's no way yet for them to know about businesses that have closed or calculate in highway overpasses and whether or not a given neighborhood is dangerous.
91 does seem a bit low for our neighborhood, but the lack of a nearby grocery store is a big giant PITA.
The address in the tony suburb I lived in until my parents split up got a score of 11, which isn't as low as some people's but is still pretty amazing for an upscale Northern California suburb that's only a 25-minute train ride from San Francisco.
Low 80s is very good, much higher than your average address, seriously. It's when you start going under 50 (or have other factors like crime) that affect the walkability that you're in trouble.
The listings for my old place are stupid. It's calling an ice cream place a bar, there are tow major grocery stores that aren't listed and they miss a park which is about 100 feet away form my old house.
I have been informed that my lunch smells
great,
which I guess is a good thing because stinky lunches rank up there in common office pet peeves.
Of course, the person who told me this? Is the Loud Talker.
This is why they have warning signs around trucks carrying those bullet shaped gas canisters: [link]
Holy moly.
