Patriotism Is Enforced at Yankee Stadium

Most teams only break out "God Bless America" during the seventh-inning stretch on Sundays and holidays, but I can understand why the Yankees still play it every game -- if nothing else, it's a lasting tribute to those who died during 9/11. But still, it does seem a bit extreme that those attending the game are literally chained to their seats when the song is being played. From the New York Times:

Seconds before "The Star-Spangled Banner" and "God Bless America" are played, police officers, security guards and ushers turn their backs to the American flag in center field, stare at fans moving through the stands and ask them to stop. Across the stadium's lower section, ushers stand every 20 feet to block the main aisle with chains.

Why do they do this? Because the team wants to ensure you are paying the proper amount of respect they deem necessary to our fine country, of course:

Howard J. Rubenstein, the spokesman for the Yankees' principal owner, George Steinbrenner, said the policy was an expression of patriotism.

"Mr. Steinbrenner wanted to do all games to remind the fans about how important it is to honor our nation, our service members, those that died on Sept. 11 and those fighting for our nation," Rubenstein said in a telephone interview.

... Lonn A. Trost, the team's chief operating officer, said fans sent the Yankees' front office hundreds of e-mail messages and letters and made phone calls to complain about how other fans were not paying respect.

"The fans were telling us it was a disgrace that when the song was being sung people were not observing it with a moment of silence," Trost said.

You know what? Let the fans complain. It's a free country, and if someone wants to celebrate that fact by taking a trip to grab another beer or use the men's room during the stoppage of play, I have no problem with it -- it's better than waiting and being forced to miss part of the game. In fact, after reading this, I hope fans start testing the authority of these ushers, stepping over the chains to go about their business. It's just a baseball game, not Guantanamo Bay.

(via Ballbug)