I looked to the right of the scoreboard at Jacob’s Field and noticed at the conclusion of each inning, a countdown clock started with 2:25 on it. Just a hair under two and a half minutes until the start of the next inning.
In the old days, baseball fans at the stadium would use that time to grab a dog, use the restroom or mostly to sit and discuss the game to that point. We’d be noticing who was coming up that inning and anticipating what would happen next. We’d watch the team in the field throwing the ball around and going through their warm-up drills, whatever they were. It was under three minutes total, so action would resume quickly.
That is WAY to long for the modern day fan management would have us to understand. Each and every break in the game is now some kind of festival. Music rocks the stadium. Some squeaky voiced person is up on the Jumbo Tron interviewing some fan about the contest to guess under what cup the bean is hidden that is moving and circling with two other cups on the scoreboard to her right. The fans are shouting “two –it’s under cup two” as if it matters. I listen to the chatter around me and from the talk you would never know we were even at a game. Thankfully, I’m with John and he’s as rabid a fan as I and we’re busy arguing about the game and the stats of the players on and off the field. We’re talkin’ baseball, for God’s sake.
And then something really bad happens. “So…who’s it going to be today? Ketchup, Mustard or Onion?” the announcer bellows as the stadium begins to buzz in anticipation of the big race. I mean I’m talking about three grown people, dressed up in suits that make them look like hot dogs having a foot race from the left field corner past home plate and finishing somewhere around first base. People act like it matters; like American Pharaoh had just lined up for the running of the final leg of the Triple Crown, and are yelling and screaming as these costumed characters come running around the holiest of the holy grails…Jacob’s Field…heading for a sprint to the tape. Somewhere in the stadium I think some group of seats is going to get a free dog depending on who wins, so in the crowd of 25,000, it actually may matter to four people, but holy shit…the place is going crazy!
“This,” I stutter, “is an ABOMINATION!” John is laughing at me as I turn crimson and want to puke, but what can you do? People must be entertained and there is almost three minutes to fill.
Anyway, the Indians went on to win and fans who know when to get excited and cheer did so without an announcer or a scoreboard prompting to ‘Get Loud’ or ‘Make Noise’. We get loud when it matters and know when to cheer and when to keep quiet…if you know the game, that is.
I hiked four miles earlier in the day and otherwise didn’t have an overwhelmingly physical day. I’m still relying too much on the activity of my jobs and not formal training to stay in shape. To some degree it is working, but not for serious hiking and climbing in the Adirondacks.
Hike Duration: One hour
Training Heart Rate: 100-110 bpm.
Calories burned: 500.
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