Bowling

Preface: Found this siting in my drafts...from October 2010, after an extended period without posting. actually hit send on 5/7/12

No, Bokolis didn't die on that plane...or in that pseudo-tornado that hit the Apple three weeks back. Summers are usually a busy time- moreso at the fun job than at the real job- and it gets buckwild after Labor Day at the real job. That's all in addition to getting to the beach and living a full life. It all means that I don't have much time or will to organize methoughts. It's too bad- really- because I think of some good shit.

Now that Summer is but a memory and I'm sitting on the bowl, I can reflect on what happened. Of the title of this weblog should indicate that I'm not spilling the beans on anything good. Rather, I'll burn some pent up negative energy on discussing the miserable losers, the New York Mets.

As always, the failures of the 2010 season, like one of those upside-down planted tomatoes, are rooted at the top. Financially speaking, the Wilpons ran this franchise the way I would try to manage after a bad two-week gambling run back when I was in college. Having nothing left after paying off (or not even having it to pay off), I would do nothing but sit in the house and play video games in between work shifts. Certainly, no partying; leaving the house at all would lead to expenditures. I wouldn't even drive so as not to waste gas. I wouldn't train so as not to build up an appetite and not need to shower. In fact, if had the next day off of work, I wouldn't shower so as not to waste the toiletries.

There is probably more to add to those, but I've blacked out those memories. To be sure, gambling wasn't always bad to me. But I'm not going to tell tales of the winning or of the ensuing strip club outings...not on here, anyway. The point was to illustrate the piker mentality and counter-productivity of bunkering up.

After the Wilpon's own epic cock-up with Madoff, they've spent two seasons at their shrine to the Brooklyn Dodgers struggling to fill half the seats on weeknights. They've taken price gouging to a whole new level, charging different pricing not just for different "class" of games, but for seemingly every section in the place. Well, as an old associate of mine used to say, the fucking you give isn't going to be worth the fucking you're going to get.

Back to the Wilpons. They market going to the ballpark as an experience, rather than merely showing up to watch a ballgame. This includes having fun shit to do while at the game and a marked step up in concessions and food, with accessible-from-outside restaurants and bars built in. If that is the case, why the need to differentiate the classes of ballgames to such a degree? If the idea is to get people to spend (as much money as they did on the ticket) while at the game isn't it imperative that you fill the ball park?

A counter-argument can be made that, since the club farms out administration of all that stuff, there is no overhead cost to be borne by the club on underutilized concessions capacity. Let me know how the contract renegotiations go and let me know if you have problems with the crane getting the chimichurri truck up to the top deck.

After all, if no one shows up, what's to experience?