Major League Baseball :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In early May 2002, a ban that the management of Major League Baseballs’ Seattle Mariners imposed requiring non-admittance of any fan wearing a tee shirt saying, â€Å"Yankees Suck† was finally lifted. Telling the Seattle Mariner fans that the word â€Å"suck† was offensive and had no place in a family atmosphere, was out of line to many. The backlash from the fans was overwhelming to the point that Mariners management had no choice but to lift the ban. The ban caused three major backlashes: It angered season ticket holders, it told the fans that the first amendment could be twisted at the ballpark, and it tried to strip fans of team spirit and pride. Mariner management ignored the minor uprising as long as possible until the ban reached near boiling point levels. Things have since settled down in Seattle, but hopefully Mariner management will not try a stunt like the ban anytime soon.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Being a season ticket holder means a great deal to fans who love going out to the ballpark. When a security guard at the front gate doesn’t allow entry because of a tee shirt the ticket holder is wearing, to say it would cause the ticket holder to be angry is an understatement. If purchasing season tickets doesn’t guarantee entry into the stadium merely on the fact that some people find the word â€Å"suck† to be offensive was a travesty to season ticket holders. As a matter of fact, the word â€Å"suck† is being used by children today than in most the Mariner management’s lifetimes. Telling grown up fans to act as management wants to is fascism in a corporate disguise. When someone buys a ticket it is expected that the buyer is to act like a civilized human being, but don’t make up new standards for the fan to abide by.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The first amendment is what makes America work, so when Mariner management tried to tell fans they couldn’t wear a belief on a tee shirt, it sent mixed messages to the fanbase. It is well known what words are truly obscene in today’s world, but the word â€Å"suck† has not been truly offensive since â€Å"Ozzie and Harriet† was still on prime time. To say that the fanbase would be offended without taking a census of some sort or another was censorship in a way. A fan wearing a shirt with the f-word not being let in is different than a fan wearing a â€Å"Jesus Rules† shirt in.