Was it only a matter of time before something tragic happened? Did a human being, a father to a 6 year old son have to die in order to open our eyes? If you are not aware of the terrible Shannon Stone story please vist Hard Ball Talk here to read it. This horrific event could have been avoided if we looked at the signs.
As people sometimes we need to be protected from ourselves and this is an example of what happens when our host fail to watch over us. Baseball is by far on of the most dangerous sports to watch along with hockey. I can remember watching the Lansing Lugnuts from the first base line at sunset, I could barely see the batter. Then a foul ball would rip right past my head and a couple rows behind me, but these are the risk you take as a fan to sit close to the field. Hockey is the same way if you are just above glass level and someone misses on a slapshot it's coming up. My point is there will always be risk at games.
With Mr.Stone it was different, there was no foul ball or slap shot, just Josh Hamilton tossing up a ball at the end of the inning. Looking at pictures of where the accident happened it is clear the MLB needs to mandate a higher railing system around the league or keep fans further back. Even if they installed some type of landing on the other side of the rails, this could have been avoided. We have seen this happen before at ground level when people reach for foul balls and go over the wall. Maybe now is the time to start elminating fans from the game and take a row or two out. Something must be done so nobody has to lose their life for us to learn a lesson.
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Monday, July 4, 2011
The Magic Of The 4th Of July.. What Happen???
So I am taking a break from sports to write about the 4th of July and the magic it carried as a good. I don't know it was because I was young or because I had the entire Summer off from school but the 4th always carried special magic. It's was family bbqs,cookouts and fireworks.. Where does the magic go?
Some of my fondest childhood memories happened on the 4th of July. It could be the one summer when I was 6 or 7 and my uncle had a cardboard tube and would launch bottle rockets underneath a bridge where crowds of people's were walking to watch fireworks at the river. Probably not the best idea, but it was the 80's and it was pretty funny. I remember that was the Summer I was introduced to the movie "It's a mad mad world" and lawn Jarts (the dangerous ones).
Or in 95 when Chris Isaak was performing at The Hartford Riverfest. I was 15 at the time and rode my bike everywhere. So myself and a couple friends rode our bikes about 10 miles to Riverfest, along the way taped a couple m80's to a Isaak CD and launch it under a bridge. I remember wondering around Riverfest grabbing food and going down the water slide along with seeing ton's of friends from around town. Picking up a couple boxes of stink bombs from the dollar store and watching a crowd clear.
Life seemed so much simpler and slower back then, even though things were a little more tough. It was tough to get money for things and a lot more work to ride a bike then drive a car. Maybe that is what made it better, the adventure that led to the moment. I have been to numerous cookouts over the years now and have memories from all of them, but none of them seem to capture that same magic. Maybe now that I have a little baby girl I can recapture some of the moments from my childhood. Just looking for that spark to re-create the magic...
Some of my fondest childhood memories happened on the 4th of July. It could be the one summer when I was 6 or 7 and my uncle had a cardboard tube and would launch bottle rockets underneath a bridge where crowds of people's were walking to watch fireworks at the river. Probably not the best idea, but it was the 80's and it was pretty funny. I remember that was the Summer I was introduced to the movie "It's a mad mad world" and lawn Jarts (the dangerous ones).
Or in 95 when Chris Isaak was performing at The Hartford Riverfest. I was 15 at the time and rode my bike everywhere. So myself and a couple friends rode our bikes about 10 miles to Riverfest, along the way taped a couple m80's to a Isaak CD and launch it under a bridge. I remember wondering around Riverfest grabbing food and going down the water slide along with seeing ton's of friends from around town. Picking up a couple boxes of stink bombs from the dollar store and watching a crowd clear.
Life seemed so much simpler and slower back then, even though things were a little more tough. It was tough to get money for things and a lot more work to ride a bike then drive a car. Maybe that is what made it better, the adventure that led to the moment. I have been to numerous cookouts over the years now and have memories from all of them, but none of them seem to capture that same magic. Maybe now that I have a little baby girl I can recapture some of the moments from my childhood. Just looking for that spark to re-create the magic...
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