-Cincinnati Sports Thread- (Washington: new home, driver, between)

[abr7rmj]

Originally Posted by ArtVandalay84

You should have been there Friday. It was as if the fans didn't even have a clue a possible division-clinching game was going on in front of them. I went with a buddy of mine who is a huge Reds fan and he couldn't believe the place was only 75% full. And then there were the legions of fans that headed for the doors as soon as the Dodgers scored in the tenth. After the game he called Cincinnati "the biggest bandwagon sports town in the nation."
It's puzzling to me why fans have to be prompted when to cheer/stand up by the ballpark scoreboard.

35,397 is not 75 percent full, it's 84 percent full. And virtually all price points were sold out except the very worst of the $17 seats. And don't forget that game was on a Friday night during high school football season (with a rather large Moeller vs. St. X game going on) with heavy storms in the area. Friday was a great crowd. Coupled with Saturday's SRO sellout and Sunday's 32K-plus, it was a great weekend.

As for distracted fans, try going to games just about anywhere. There really isn't a ballpark that doesn't do the scoreboard gimmicks, Yankee Stadium included.

[abr7rmj]

Originally Posted by CinciFan

No. Some idiot starting howling at one of the games a couple weeks ago, and got some of the stands to do it too. One of the announcers made the mistake of saying "I kinda hope this catches on." So, now, at every home game we get to listen to some obnoxious Reds fans howling for no freaking reason whatsoever.

The howling didn't start here. Pittsburgh Penguins fans have done it for awhile. It's not unheard of at Pirates games either and guess who the Reds were playing on the dog night when the howling started ... the Pirates. Hmmmm ...

It's clearly just a fad here. I doubt it continues into the playoffs. And it's slightly more tolerable than the infernal wave, which I despise.

[ArtVandalay84]

Originally Posted by abr7rmj

35,397 is not 75 percent full, it's 84 percent full..

We're talking about two different things. Butts in the seats vs. tickets sold. The forecast all day was calling for rain *overnight* with dry weather during the game. The weather was beautiful.

There's always an excuse, though. The attendance is low on a Tuesday night? "It's a weeknight game. You can't expect people to go to a night game on a school night." Empty seats on a Friday night? "It's the weekend, you can't expect them to pack the place on a weekend." Weekend game in the thick of the stretch run? "Oh, there's a big high school football game going on" (nowhere else on earth is this an excuse other than in Cincy.)

Also, you're wrong. There are baseball towns whose fans don't need to be told to "make some noise" every time there are two strikes and two outs in a big inning. Cincinnati isn't one of them. I guess when you're busy doing the wave, the chicken dance, howling, etc., you can't be expected to keep up with the on-field action.
Can you explain why the fans headed for the hills in the tenth when the Reds still had their turn to bat? I have never left a baseball game early just because my team was losing. No way in hell would I leave early in the possible division-clinching game on a Friday night. I've been to September games at GABP where the VISITING TEAM'S FANS were into the game more than the Reds fans were in their home ballpark on Friday night.
My friend said it best: Fairweather fans.

[Zen_master]

Originally Posted by CinciFan

No. Some idiot starting howling at one of the games a couple weeks ago, and got some of the stands to do it too. One of the announcers made the mistake of saying "I kinda hope this catches on." So, now, at every home game we get to listen to some obnoxious Reds fans howling for no freaking reason whatsoever.

Hilarious! Granted i haven't heard it so maybe it is annoying but based on your account for how this found its genesis it's a riot.

[Zen_master]

Originally Posted by abr7rmj

35,397 is not 75 percent full, it's 84 percent full. And virtually all price points were sold out except the very worst of the $17 seats. And don't forget that game was on a Friday night during high school football season (with a rather large Moeller vs. St. X game going on) with heavy storms in the area. Friday was a great crowd. Coupled with Saturday's SRO sellout and Sunday's 32K-plus, it was a great weekend.

As for distracted fans, try going to games just about anywhere. There really isn't a ballpark that doesn't do the scoreboard gimmicks, Yankee Stadium included.

Any idea how many attended this game?

[CinciFan]

Originally Posted by abr7rmj

The howling didn't start here. Pittsburgh Penguins fans have done it for awhile. It's not unheard of at Pirates games either and guess who the Reds were playing on the dog night when the howling started ... the Pirates. Hmmmm ...

It's clearly just a fad here. I doubt it continues into the playoffs. And it's slightly more tolerable than the infernal wave, which I despise.

Yeah I knew it was a Pittsburgh thing first. It should have stayed there!!!

[ArtVandalay84]

Originally Posted by Zen_master

Any idea how many attended this game?

I was there. It wasn't nearly that many. There were plenty of empty seats in all sections throughout the game. After the seventh inning, it was probably 60% full.

[Ohiogirl81]

No one wants to be copying Penguins fans.

[abr7rmj]

Originally Posted by ArtVandalay84

We're talking about two different things. Butts in the seats vs. tickets sold. The forecast all day was calling for rain *overnight* with dry weather during the game. The weather was beautiful.

There's always an excuse, though. The attendance is low on a Tuesday night? "It's a weeknight game. You can't expect people to go to a night game on a school night." Empty seats on a Friday night? "It's the weekend, you can't expect them to pack the place on a weekend." Weekend game in the thick of the stretch run? "Oh, there's a big high school football game going on" (nowhere else on earth is this an excuse other than in Cincy.)

Also, you're wrong. There are baseball towns whose fans don't need to be told to "make some noise" every time there are two strikes and two outs in a big inning. Cincinnati isn't one of them. I guess when you're busy doing the wave, the chicken dance, howling, etc., you can't be expected to keep up with the on-field action.
Can you explain why the fans headed for the hills in the tenth when the Reds still had their turn to bat? I have never left a baseball game early just because my team was losing. No way in hell would I leave early in the possible division-clinching game on a Friday night. I've been to September games at GABP where the VISITING TEAM'S FANS were into the game more than the Reds fans were in their home ballpark on Friday night.
My friend said it best: Fairweather fans.

Really not sure what you're complaining about. Who cares what fans are doing? Cleveland football fans bark incessantly ... are they bad fans?

I was at the game on Friday night, in the right field sun/moon deck. There were every bit of 35K-plus in that park. I've been to about 35 games this summer and at least that many last year - I have a fairly good understanding of what GABP's attendance patterns are. People did start leaving after the Dodgers scored a couple of runs in the ninth, but that's about it. And that's hardly a Cincinnati-exclusive problem either. Rick Pitino, when he coached at Kentucky, admonished fans for leaving in droves at the 4-minute timeout game after game, even if the score was close. We stuck around til after the final out, fwiw.

As for what other cities do, in the last five years I've been to:

Yankee Stadium
Nationals Park
Target Field
Coors Field (many games)
Kaufman Stadium
Safeco Field
Citizens Bank Park
Citi Field
Progressive Field
Comerica Park
Orioles Park at Camden Yards

I think I have a pretty good idea of what goes on in other cities. The scoreboard antics that I can recall in those parks are fairly similar to what goes on here. There are "noise meters," "louder" prompts ... even Ohio Stadium rings the third down bells to prompt fans on when to get loud at OSU football games. If you watched Monday Night Football last night, you could clearly see that Seattle's scoreboard stokes the fans too.

I don't think it's fair to single Cincinnati fans out.

[abr7rmj]

Originally Posted by Ohiogirl81

No one wants to be copying Penguins fans.

I'd like to have a couple of their players (Crosby, Malkin) on my team.