"Give em Hell!"

Harry, a friend of mine, recently completed a blog. - one of the nicer experiences in my life - and probably a good read for many others as well.

Recently he has been writing a lot of "good feeling stuff" about his love for playing music and the blessings of good comraderie. I have enjoyed both immensely. I also enjoy it when he "let's it all hang out" as he did in his most recent blog.

Harry may be visited at: http://www.harry2335.blogspot.com/. I am more than pleased to endorse a man who is a Yankee's fan and still finds time to root for our Pirates.

Harrys' writings suggest we both came from parents and an environment that encouraged us to think about and act upon the rights of others.

I'm sure that is true of all generations but, it would spoil this blog if I start throwing around plaudits indiscriminately. Get your own friends to start writing an "old farts" blog.

So, here's MY pet peeve.

It came after reading Ron Cook's column in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette about fan behavior at sporting events. The impetus was the 21 year old (kid?) who was so inebriated he intentionally vomited on a 11 year old girl and punched her father several times in the head during a Phillies/Nationals game played at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia..

They ejected the "kid" from the game. He pleaded to one count each of simple assault, disorderly conduct and harassment for his behavior during the Phillies game.

His public defender declared, "It's probable he consumed too much alcohol." You can tell it's tough to pull anything over on this guy - but, that's not the bottom line.

In exchange for his guilty plea, charges of reckless endangerment and corruption of minors were dropped. He is expected to get probation when sentenced at the end of July.

Now, maybe this is not considered abhorrent behavior in Philly. Maybe the people running the court system have neither a 11 year old daughter nor grandaughter. In my lifetime I've had both and I know Harry & his wife Jane are the parents of two daughters.

Recently, I've added to my nightly prayers, "And dear God, please thank my Mom & Dad for settling in Pittsburgh and not travelling further east."

I will admit to having some prejudice about the Philly area - like also praying that some day they discover a fault line around the city and New Jersey that causes both to become permanently detached from the mainland and float off into the Atlantic.

But, let's leave Philly alone to it's own potty training.

People go to sporting events to have fun - cheer for their teams - and get away from every
day problems. They don't go to be hassled - not just by the team owners - but the other fans as well.

Granted, the latter is more of a societal problem and is not just being confined to sporting events. However, the lack of attention given to the idiot/fans who are causing the problems smacks of an owner philosopy which states: "Hey, if he/she wasn't sitting in that seat - it might go unoccupied."

A loud mouthed guy from New York (not like you, Harry) was sitting behind my brother Jim and me at a Pirate Spring Training game at McKechnie Field.

His contribution to the enjoyment of us and the others seated around us was to loudly supply play by play for all of us who were trying to enjoy the game. His rantings had people upset for three rows. Both my brother and I spoke up and criticized his behavior. His defense?

"Hey, I came to root for my team. Didn't you?"

After he finally got up for refreshments, a cigarette or a pee break, several folks supported our stand- and I'm ashamed to admit it did get a little ugly.

When the rights of one or two inconsiderate fans are allowed to supercede the rights of many, we're going to see these situations repeated.

Where did we go wrong?

You figure it out.

In the meantime, "Give em Hell, Harry!"