Is Stan Kasten Seriously Confused?

Perhaps not...

In his Washington Post article "Kasten Shows Some Ill-Advised Brotherly Love" Thomas Boswell argues that as a Washingtonian, the last thing anyone should do is invite anybody remotely related or loyal to Philly!

And that goes for any major league sport; Baseball, Basketball, Hockey, and especially Football!

Here is what Kasten actually said...

"We have an Opening Day here Monday. We'd love for all our Philly fans to come down, because I know it's gonna be so hard to get tickets in Philadelphia this year. It'll be much easier if you drive down the road and come see us in Washington.

"I have gone to enough games in Philly to tell you that I haven't always felt welcome in your parks, okay? But you can root for whoever you want, you will be welcome when you come to Nationals Park."

OK So, he didn't actually say, "Come boo my team."
Rather, "Come spend your money at my place"...

Thomas Boswell makes lots of good arguments about rivalries and bad experiences both with Philly fans and games across all the sports.

But I think there is actually a method to his madness...

I started thinking about all the wonderful things that can happen in Baseball. Especially on opening day!

With the proper seating, you could catch a great view of the following...







Great Pitching












Great Catching and Fielding












Great Batting
Even a home run!











But we would not want any Philly fans gloating and jesting with a Philly home run ball that they just happen to have caught.
So this knocks out a good portion of the outfield seats from consideration.

We also do not want to leave them with a bad view of the field. After all the closer you are to the game the better your experience.
So this knocks out all the tiered seating areas.

This leaves the field level seating around both sides of the infield and behind the plate.

Now I admit, some fans may prefer to be able to look into their teams dugout in order to see their favorite players, coaches and managers. But in this case, that would mean that Philly fans would be sitting behind and above and around the Nationals dugout. This could prove to disruptive to the Nats, and I'll admit it, they will need all the help they can get.
So sorry, this rules out half of the remaining available seats.

So, what we have left is; the seats behind home plate, and the ones behind, above and around the visitors dugout.

Now, there is a chance that this game will be televised, so as a Washingtonian, we want to project the proper image of National Fans cheering for their team. This means we want National Fans sitting behind the plate in full view of the camera angles.
So, sorry no behind the plate seats for you Philly fans either.

This leaves the seats next to your teams dugout!
Pretty cool! The Philly fans get good seats, a chance for a fun experience at the ballpark, an opportunity to view all the action up close, possibly even get pictures with their favorite players! What better way to experience rooting for your team!

RIGHT!

These seats are also prime location for zinging foul balls flying at you at close to 100 MPH!









Oh and unlike the seats behind home plate, there is no safety net!











These seats are also prime location for shards of broken wooden bats



hurling, and twisting through the air



towards unsuspecting fans!
























So, watch out Philly! We have a special selection of greased baseballs and rigged bats just for you!

Have a nice day!

-----------------------------------

Did you catch the stick? :-)

Well, at least one dog did not.
And as a result cause not only the dog, but the owner of said dog much discomfort, time, money and worry.
Fortunately the dog and its owner have fully recovered...

OK, maybe just the dog... ;-)

If you are curious about why the stick, check out Life with Dogs

And like all great ideas, it took on a life of it's own at Misterstick