Evil Washington Redskins Owner Bans Fan's Signs
I was remarking to a friend of mine as we were watching the Iggles peck the eyes out of the Redskins Monday that despite the fact that I write a blog about consumer news (not sports) — I keep finding myself writing about the Washington Redskins and Daniel Snyder, their evil and apparently totally incompetent owner. The newest permutation of said evil is that the 'Skins have banned signs from FedEx Field. Yes, signs are apparently dangerous.
The Washington Post says:
Now, no signs or banners are permitted whatsoever. A spokesman told me that this policy is meant to protect spectators from getting injured by signs, and also to make sure everyone can see the action. Because obstructed views at that stadium could not possibly be tolerated.
One security guard told me the policy went into effect at the beginning of the season. Another told me they were just told about it a few weeks ago. Either way, I can't imagine there was a rash of tragic sign injuries since last season, when I never heard of such a policy.
The Post then attempted to document the rejected signs, many of which criticize the evil owner (for evidence of previous evil, click here), and his vice president of football operations Vinny Cerrato.
For those of you not following the Redskins lately, they're 2-5 and have yet to beat a team that's won a game. They recently took offensive play calling away from their lame duck head coach and gave it to a guy who was quite literally calling Bingo the week before.
The Post tells the story of one longtime season ticket holder and his attempt to wear a t-shirt critical of 'Skins ownership:
And now it's Mike Broderick, a longtime season ticket holder, who came to the Chiefs game with Dumb and Dumber signs, attracting a security official who threatened to seize his season tickets. (See above.) The guard told Broderick he could either go to the security office, leave the stadium, or hand over the signs. So Broderick asked if he could put the image on a t-shirt instead.
"That would be kind of offensive," the security official said.
"It's offensive to come to these games," Broderick said he replied.
Broderick gave up the signs, and came back on Monday Night with new signs hidden under his jacket, and with t-shirts to match. The signs were about to be taken, as NFL Network cameras rolled live, and Broderick showed the security guy the team's old policy, printed in his telephone yellow pages, which he had brought as proof. Policy's been changed, he was told. Eventually, he said, security also made him turn his t-shirt inside-out, calling P.G. cops in for support. He said I could use his name, because his frustration overwhelms any fear of losing his seats.
"I'm to the point where I can't even give the stupid tickets away because people are so frustrated," he said.
Gee, Dan. Lighten up. These sign making hooligans are your customers, are they not?
Redskins ban signs at FedEx Field [Washington Post]
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Comments:
On the bright side, sign-related injuries are down 400%.
You will like your Free Speech Zones.
"I rather be at bingo"
Sigh...
Hell, we used to call them the Deadskins.
Dan doesn't really "own" the Redskins - It's the former "NationsBank", now "Bank of America" who loaned him all the money...
Daniel Snyder's is obviously trying to make Detroit Lions owner, William Clay Ford, look competent.
I love how sports fans get upset they can't bring their signs in the stadium and at the same time the very same people laugh at you when you tell them about the free speech zones.
The signs are bad enough, but banning negative t-shirts is just beyond comprehension. Sounds like Danny boy took a cue from the Bush admin.
It's not because they're offensive, or they obstruct view. These are both excuses. It's cause Dan Snyder's precious ego is getting hammered by people who pay good money to watch a team they love, and are gettting punished with a terrible team and no real solutions from the management. People are finally laying blame with who deserves it - the people who are making decisions, and making them poorly.
Some people just wanted to say hi to their spouses in the military posted overseas. Some people had signs encouraging the team.
I say if Vinny Cerrato can spend so much time making stupid, cheap car commercials instead of actually doing his job, he deserves the ridicule. Anyone who has been to an area AMC theater has seen this craptastic work.
@j-o-h-n: If you enjoy watching other guys play a game professionally, but your local team can't play to save their lives and won't let you call them out for it, that team might be pathetic.
You want to know the best way to get your point across about these no-talent assclowns who run the Skins?
DON'T GO TO THE GAME.
Organize with other fans/season ticket holders and pick a game for everyone not to go to. Don't re-sell or pass your tix on to someone else. Let the seat sit empty. The best part is that since the tix have been sold the game won't be blacked out. Let the TV cameras show row upon row of empty seats. That seems to be the only thing that gets the attention of the NFL front office.
@pecan 3.14159265: Hi Pi! It's not just the performance of the team, either, that's affected. We stopped using our season tickets a few years ago because the FedEx Field game experience is awful.
Seat prices are outrageous, parking fees are too high and you get no help getting out of the stadium after the game. I know I sound like an old lady, but the PA system is too loud and commercials are blasted at you from every angle.
Food prices? Remember my story about the "feminine napkins?" Bottles of water are confiscated at the gate. It's just an all-around miserable day.
Signs are annoying and many stadiums ban them, but the main reason that the Redskins are banning them is because Dan Snyder is a prick and they don't want to be criticized. The fact that there are regular chants condemning Snyder at *every* home game is indicative that there's a problem. I feel bad for Redskins fans... one of the most prolific franchises in NFL history, and since Snyder bought the team, it's been the laughing stock of the league.
If it's any solace, at least the NFL is the ONE league that will take action against negligent owners, like in Detroit. It's bad for the NFL's image that the fans are vocally and obviously upset with the owner, and have been for a decade, so, some pressure will come from above that will force the Redskins hand if necessary.
On second thought, maybe Snyder is going to start selling signs and sign-making materials in the stadium and he doesn't want any competition! :-)
@TBGBoodler: Yeah, I never quite grasped what genius decided it was a great idea to have the Washington Redskins play in Landover so their biggest market outside of DC (Virginia) has to cross the District. Terrible.
@hi: Maybe they laugh because they know that the "free speech zone" is a ridiculous concept. "Sure, you can tell me what you think, but first stand in this cage over here."
Are season ticket holders obligated to purchase those tickets for the next year or can they just walk away when the season is done? Not buying tickets for next year would send a big enough message if enough people did it.
I really don't get the depths that people get into professional sports. The overpaid athletes that continue to exhibit really bad and many times criminal behavior. The blatant greed of owners and the NFL etc, the cost of anything pro sports in insane. Cheering for the home team just doesn't seem worth it.
@hi: I love irrelevant hypothetical strawmen.
The op hasn't said anything about free speech zones or that this is a violation of freedom of speech, nor has he "laughed at you when you've told him about free speech zones."
Um, made him turn his shirt inside out? That is ridiculous. His shirt's no more offensive than Eagles fans anytime they come to FedEx field.
Pi's right - Snyder's getting his ego tromped on and his short man syndrome can't take it anymore.
I quit!
In related news, the Redskins have also banned media outlets from doing any interviews with fans tailgating in the FedEx Field parking lot. I'm not sure how they think this will keep people from criticizing them - surely sports radio is keeping the lines open 24 hours a day to unhappy fans.
I'm not seeing what the problem is with keeping people from making jackasses of themselves at the game. If anything, more policy changes in that direction would make going to games a lot easier to enjoy.
When the zombie apocalypse comes (and it will come) I hope the first one out of the grave is Jack Kent Cooke and he makes a bee line for Daniel Snyder. Oh wait. Zombies eat brains. Guess that make Danny Boy safe.
Joe Theismann was an ego-maniacal jackass, John Riggins had a drinking problem, but how I long for the old days...
@bohemian: Most of the sports fans I know love sports because of the athleticism, not the drama. Mr. Pi loves sports, but constantly laments the downfall of great players due to careless and terrible mistakes that cost them their careers or lives.
My thoughts are that yes, athletes are overpaid, but there's also no one guiding them when they suddenly find themselves flush with money. Many criminal behaviors could be avoided entirely if only someone had been a source of wisdom and mentoring and steered these young athletes away from guns and the need for a certain lifestyle.
@Schildkrote: There are fans with signs at pretty much every pro football game. I don't see how this is making anyone a "jackass" - they're just fans.
@pecan 3.14159265: It always amazes me when people at the top of big business make stupid decisions like this. I wonder a) how they go there in the first place and b) if there really so stupid that they don't think it's going to turn into a shitstorm once somebody on the internet gets a whiff of the story.
I can see the signs, but the shirt? How is it offensive? It's not hate speech or foul language or anything. So if you had a shirt with jim carey that said dumb and dumber, it's be offensive as well?
@pecan 3.14159265: Jack Kent Cooke *wanted* to build in No. Virginia. But the NIMBYs didn't give him any concessions, so he bought up the land in Raljon, and MD gave him infrastructure from the Beltway to his stadium.
Then he died, and forced his kids to buy the team from the estate, and Snyder was able to get more money, more than the "Kids discount".
Time for the "F*** Censorship" T-Shirt.
@j-o-h-n: I don't see that this man measures his life by the Redskins from this article.
Besides, do you not enjoy and invest yourself in the pursuits and activities of other human beings? Shall we all find the same things worthwhile?
I'm bored just by the thought of that.
@Schildkrote: Hey, listen up. People have a RIGHT to make complete jackasses of themselves pretty much anywhere. Its called the First Amendment. Look it up.
Wasn't there a story a few weeks ago about the Redskins suing an 80-year-old woman for not renewing her season tickets like she was obligated to do?
@TBGBoodler: Because Bush banned offensive T-shirts? Because we all suffered under the iron hand of censorship under the cruel reign of Dear Leader Bush?
Give me a break. Take your persecution fantasies somewhere else.
@MisterE: We still call them the deadskins :)
I upset a co worker once when I hung the redskins mascot from a bunch of rubber bands connected to one of the ceiling tiles :)
She ended up in that because she has "premium seats" so they make her and other fans sign multi-year contracts.
I was at a Green Bay Packers Game last week and there was a table set up inside the stadium for fans to make their own signs. Paper and markers were supplied. If it is such a hazard, the NFL should ban it, not individual teams. The Packers encourage signs....
@bohemian: Most of them can walk away when the season is done. However, all of the teams do have a waiting list of people who want to buy season tickets, and some of these lists mean a waiting time of decades (i.e. Packers, Steelers, Redskins, Cowboys). Giving up your tickets means that the team just sells your seats to someone else immediately.
It's a case of damned if you, damned if you don't. You can either keep paying and padding the owners wallet, or give up your tickets, and let some other sucker pad the owner's wallet.
@bohemian: No, you cannot walk away.. even if you are going into bankruptcy, the Snyder will still sue you.. Unless you are in the last year of whatever contract you signed for the season tickets.
Personally, I hate American football.. its a bunch of pussies who wear 40 pounds of armour.. You want a real sport, go play rugby.. or even better, Aussie rules.
The players are over paid morons (okay a few actually made it through college or high school using their brains rather then being passed by sports driven teachers and lecturers).
And Fedex field is a joke, they won't even permit people who live in the area to walk to the stadium, so if you live 200 feet away, you have to drive and pay the outragious parking fees.
Alternatively, we could just pay the athletes reasonable rates for what they do instead of pouring money on them that they proceed to waste on exorbitant, unnecessary lifestyles. It's sad how much they make compared to, say, teachers.
They have also banned the press from interviewing tailgaters in the parking lot.
So I wonder if fans could coordinate their efforts show up to the game and all get up and walk out of the staduim 7 minutes into the first quarter while chanting whatever* they seem to be upset about, preferably on a game that was being broadcast live. Can you imagine the message that would send to the owners.
*Personally, I can not stand to watch or follow football, and while I live in the DC area, I generally tune out anything having to do with sports, so I really don't care what the fans are pissed about.
PSA: If you in any way measure your life by how well some other guys play a game, you might be pathetic.