Does alcohol turn you off from going to a game?

[enigami]

Check out the last answer in <a href="http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/99999999/SPORTS0106/51010006">Steve Ballard's Q&A from Oct. 7</a> on indystar.com:

"If it were up to me, I would ban all alcohol sales at all sporting events. I like a good, stiff drink or a cold beer on a hot day as well as the next guy, but when I want one, I go to a bar or grab one at home. I accept the rowdiness as a natural part of being in a bar. But when I go to a ballpark or a football stadium or a racetrack, I'm there to see the event and I don't like some drunk infringing on my enjoyment of it. I long ago all but quit going to sporting events as a fan just for that reason. Either I sit in the press box or I sit at home and watch it on TV or I wait and read about it the next day in the Indianapolis Star."

I disagree, simply because I think many venues would face bankruptcy if they went dry.

But is drunken rowdiness enough to turn anyone else off from sitting in the stands? Discuss.

 

[buckweaver]

This probably belongs on the Anything Goes board ...

My answer is no. That said, I don't know when was the last time I drank at a ballgame. Maybe I just don't like paying $9 for a 6-ounce cup of horse pish. I'd rather buy a good beer for half the price and drink it relaxing on the couch in my air-conditioned home. I'd rather have water or a soda at a ballgame (not to mention I'm almost always driving afterward.)

 

[Ace]

I also rarely drink at sports events. Maybe one beer. I object to the price and the quality of the beer as well. I also try to avoid drinking and driving.

In my experience, though, some of the drunkest bastards were in stadiums/arenas that did not sell alcohol. They came pre-lit or carried flasks.

 

[Captain_Kirk]

Afraid that's some misguided logic.

The drunken rowdiness, for the most part, is a product of people drinking before the game.

You don't see too many people going from zero to shirtfaced in the space of a 2 or 3 hour sporting event. The troublemakers are the ones who have been getting lit up for hours before the game.

Stopping the sale of alcohol at the event isn't going to keep mean drunks from attending the event.

 

[micropolitan guy]

I might have a beer or two at a baseball game. But it wouldn't bother me if they didn't serve alcohol.

I have been to some college football games where they sell beer and even hard liquor. Not a good combination. The idiots get hammered while tailgating, and then continue the stupidity inside the stadium.

 

[cranberry]

Drunks can be very entertaining. At my last game at the old Candlestick, my brother and I watched four guys in the back row share a bottle of tequila. Two of them got in a fistfight, another puked and the other rolled down about 40 steps and cracked his head. I forgot who won the game, though.

 

[black dude with pompano]

Maybe I'm going to the wrong places, but when I attend an MLB or NBA event (as a fan) I'm struck by how sedate and non-rowdy the crowd is.

 

[cougargirl]

If it's a nice day and I'm with a few friends or with the hubby I'll have a beer at the stadium but given the cost of booze at a ballgame, I can't afford to go all-out.

But that's why there's the pregame. Damn straight.

 

[TheSportsPredictor]

The drunken rowdiness, for the most part, is a product of people drinking before the game.

You don't see too many people going from zero to shirtfaced in the space of a 2 or 3 hour sporting event. The troublemakers are the ones who have been getting lit up for hours before the game.

Stopping the sale of alcohol at the event isn't going to keep mean drunks from attending the event.

Very true. Go to a parking lot around Cleveland Browns Stadium before the game. Like hours before the game. Like 8 a.m. Plenty of dopes getting their drink on.

I was at Indians/Yankees Game 2. Sat in the upper deck behind home plate -- not a VIP section. Plenty of regular fans could get in up there. And plenty of them were getting hammered. There was some back-and-forth between Yankees and Indians fans, a lot of it fueled by alcohol, but nothing out of hand. But I do think alcohol muscle turned plenty of people there into jerks.

 

[Ace]

Maybe I'm going to the wrong places, but when I attend an MLB or NBA event (as a fan) I'm struck by how sedate and non-rowdy the crowd is.

MLB and NBA are totally different from college sports and NFL -- drunken-fanwise.

 

[markvid]

When I used to work Monday Night and Sunday Night games at Three Rivers and was on the field, I kid you not, the crew would be looking at the stands for the entertainment that would match that on the field. Fights, puking, women flashing and so on. Give them basically 10 hours to liquor up? Good luck.

 

[Some Guy]

Baseball and beer just go together. I can't imagine being at a ballpark and not drinking one. I don't care how much they cost, or how stale and warm they are, I've got to have a couple.

This is why I'm glad I'm not on the baseball beat.