A’s 3 Indians 0: Small Attendance, Smaller Offense
August 28, 2012Browns News: Trent Richardson Still Not At Practice; Weeden to Sit Out Game
August 28, 2012After the Cleveland Browns scored a touchdown in their preseason game this past Friday, a Browns fan named Jim Becker claims that he was reprimanded for standing in celebration and subsequently removed from the stadium, ultimately subjected to the league’s new conduct policy.
Becker’s first-person account states that, with the Browns trailing the Philadelphia Eagles 24-3, a fan roughly five rows behind he and his wife began getting restless when the Browns were on the verge of scoring, demanding that he remain seated. After the fan failed to obtain his desired outcome on his own, he sought the assistance of stadium security and the party in question was removed from the premises.
“Then the Browns scored a touchdown, so we all stood up to cheer and high five each other,” writes Becker. ” Big mistake. Immediately, three police officers and 2-3 Tenable security guards came up to our seats to kick us out (all of us!), telling us that we had already been warned and that âfansâ had complained.”
Following the ejection, amidst a chorus of boos from those in the stands, Becker claims that his entire party were forced to hand over their tickets as well as identification for reporting purposes. It is not clear whether or not the reports were forwarded on to the team for any additional ramifications, including, but not limited, to a reported $150 fine and a class merely to retain ticket rights.
“I have never considered not being a Browns fan in my life until this past Friday,” writes Becker. “I have been stupidly giving thousands of dollars away to a team that seems to have a mission to make it harder and harder to do so. There is really no reason I can find to shell out hard-earned cash to attend the games in person. The atmosphere has been subdued, the food and beer is incredibly overpriced, you canât get cellular service at the stadium, and there is little to no information about other games (or stats about the game that is happening right in front of you) displayed in stadium.
“And oh yeah, god forbid you do something crazy like standing up and cheering.”
[Related: Browns Preseason Game #3: Winners and Losers]
78 Comments
if this is accurate, it is a disgrace
could be totally biased, but if this is even partially accurate, it is awful. especially in the dawg pound… if standing is what your complaining about, your having a mild day in comparison to other days.
I doubt that it is accurate. Also, we’ve heard only one side of the story. There are at least two more.
If the place was so empty, why didn’t Becker just move out of the other guy’s line of sight?
It seems like this could have been easily avoided if someone had wanted to avoid it.
Do wonder if the entire issue was standing, or whether this thing escalated into threats between fans and whatnot. Have never heard of an ejection for simply standing after being asked by another fan to sit, and guessing there’s another version of this incident.
Unless the fan 5 rows back went by the name Haslam.
also (giving this thing way more attention than it deserves), does standing really block the view of someone 5 rows back? Not all that much, even if the action is below you. Unless you’re holding up the bible verse sign.
The NFL in-game experience is awful. TV advertising dollars reign supreme at the expense of the fans in the seats. I’m glad I haven’t spent money on Browns tickets in at least 7 years.
I am not surprised by this at all unfortunately. I have been told to sit down at a Cavs game before when in the lower bowl and I will never get over that. It was 4 seasons ago in a 2OT game against the Bucks, game on the line and I’m told to sit. Unreal.
You doubt it’s accurate? You’re foolish then. There is a comment on his site backing this story up.
Plenty of seats available at Progressive Field!!!
People who don’t unquestioningly believe every comment they read on a Web site are foolish? Wow.
Actually, I don’t see any comment on his site backing up his story. I do see a comment from a guy who was with him “prior to the game,” which is obviously not the same as being with him during the event in question.
Stand all you want!
Stand? Hell they’ll probably let you play first base if you buy the right ticket package.
Stand? Man, I’d be laying down on the bleachers. Stretch out and relax.
If this went down like he says it did, it’s shameful. Chances are there was alcohol involved, and there were some exchanges prior to the ejection that led up to this. I doubt this guy is 100% innocent.
That being said, I do know this…if I am ever asked to sit down at a Browns game as/shortly after they are scoring a TD, and then am subsequently escorted out of the stadium after doing nothing but standing and cheering….well, that will be the last dollar that this organization ever gets from me. My wife and I already went through a similar situation at a Blue Jackets Stanley cup playoff game a few years back with a guy complaining about us standing and cheering. At a PLAYOFF game. I have been salty about it ever since, and I don’t care if I ever go back to another hockey game in Columbus.
If someone is being a drunken idiot (or just an idiot for that matter), and is going out of his way to be a jerk, the situation is different. But if you can’t handle people occasionally standing up and cheering in front of you at pivotal points in a game in an honest attempt to cheer on the team…you need to stay home. Period.
Looks like everybody that was belly-aching about the stadium experience not being fan-friendly finally got their wish. I’m betting enough letters came in to the Browns from people complaining about not being able to take their family of four to a game anymore because of standing and yelling fans that the Browns saw lost revenue and doesn’t to stomp out the boorish behavior. It’s the silent majority that got nailed in this one. I honestly don’t even know why people go to live NFL games anymore.
the noisy majority?
Maybe the “average, non-geriatric majority.”
Wow. The Blue Jackets were once in the playoffs?
run down the rows doing the one man wave!
I’ve heard similar stories a number of times. It’s ridiculous.
You should’ve just said you’re CFPPF! They would’ve ushered you down to courtside and given you popcorn. đ
Yeah, but they got swept in the first round by Detroit.
I was with Jim prior to the game and he was not nor was his wife intoxicated. I have gone to dozens of games with Jim both home and away and I have never encountered one instance where he was unruly or causing any fan interference. This article is 100% true and 100% a shame.
Yep, this happened to my friends and I last year. It doesn’t matter what you say or do there, you are guilty and no questions asked are removed. It’s ridiculous. F Browns Stadium.
Only if you bat lefty though
Why should he have to move to stand up in cheer right in front of his seat? It’s not his problem.
I’ve been warned in the 500s that if I don’t sit down I’ll be thrown out.
Also in a CBJ home playoff game I was told to sit down or I’d be thrown out. There’s almost no reason to ever go watch a game in person anymore.
I hope it was game 4, because the exact same thing happened to me.
I mean, if we can’t believe “BrownsGeoff,” who can we believe????
I don’t believe you.
Money is of course a huge part of all this. And I think part of it is the fact that people are used to the great views provided by television, so they expect the same in person–because they paid x amount to be there. I find these people even more annoying than the ones who take the attitude of “I can do/say whatever I want because I paid for the ticket”. The fact is, paying for the in-stadium experience includes the atmosphere and intensity–the reasons many folks still choose to pay to be there. That may entail coarse language, loud noises, and people standing. Now, there are and ought to be limits to frequency and extent of these things (ideally self-policed), but to eliminate all of it deprives those in attendance the live experience. Sorry, family of four, but adults swear at sporting events, and some people act foolish. If you are incapable of explaining that to your kids, or they are unable to handle that atmosphere, then there are better places for you to take in a game with them. I consider myself a life-long and die-hard Browns fan, but I didn’t see a game in person until I was 8, and didn’t get to sit in the Dawg Pound until the team came back in ’99. At 8, the adults I was with made it clear that I was not to use the rough language I heard, and by 19 I knew that some folks are to be avoided when drunk. The people who think their 4 year old ought to be at a pro football game as though it’s a trip to the playground need to reconsider some things. And sorry, crabby old-timer or uptight middle-age woman, but if you want calm and quiet and comfort during your viewing experience, buy yourself a nice flat screen tv and a recliner and stay home. The rest of us would like to have fun.
Put me down as another who was told to sit down or get removed from the stadium. We had a large group last year vs. Tenn and 4 of us were warned and our ticket stubs marked citing a warning, next time we were gone. Alcohol wasn’t a factor, it was an old man behind us who wanted to sit and watch the game… in the Dawg Pound. Won’t say I wont ever go back but for a 100$+ a ticket, I’ll just say I am in no hurry!
If I lived close enough to go to a game, this might bug me, but then again I might just prefer to watch at the bar anyway where I get replays and games on other TVs and cheaper food/drinks and a good atmosphere, etc. I can jump up out of my seat all that I want at BW3.
Actually this can be a useful way of getting visiting fans the old heave-ho. Next time you see a Raven or Steeler fan (Bengal fan don’t even go to their own games) at Cleveland Stadium, start sending text messages to security.
and simply, why not designate a family friendly section for one portion of the upper and lower bowl if that was the desire?
I fly up for 1-2 games a year, and honestly it’s primarily to tailgate with friends. Once in the stadium, it’s easy to start wishing for an attentive server and a good tv or 10 for replays and checking out other games. Of course, fielding an entertaining/competitive team might make those other things unimportant, but I’m being realistic with what we’ve been working with here since ’99.
Precisely, and they did that. At this rate, it’s the non-“family friendly” seats that will require a designated section.
Some suggestions:
1 Samuel 12:16 – Now then, STAND still and see this great thing the Lord is about to do before your eyes!
2 Samuel 22:34 – He makes my feet like the feet of a deer; he enables me to STAND on the heights (or the 500 sections).
Psalm 20:8 – They are brought to their knees and fall, but we RISE UP and STAND firm.
Proverbs 10:25 – When the storm has swept by, the wicked are gone, but the righteous STAND firm forever.
Romans 14:4 – Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To his own master he STANDS or falls. And he will STAND, for the Lord is able to make him STAND.
Galatians 5:1 – It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. STAND firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.
So many good ones.
Anyone know where Oribiasi has been, this seems like a cause he would get behind.
Tailgating does up the value of going to the stadium for me… maybe in 20 years when my kids are both in college, I’ll fly up for a game or two đ Unless of course I can attend the game using virtual reality at that point.
Haven’t seen him post in a while… did he finally give up on all of us overly-optimistic people?
let’s not be tempting the fates here…I’ve actually started enjoying Browns comment sections again
Yep. Game 4. (You had a 50/50 chance of choosing the correct Blue Jacket playoff game…ha ha)
The game may actually be played in virtual reality at that point. No more concussions!
If only we had Tebow…
Standing (er…sitting) ovation!
if they feel there are more fans that want the family friendly atmosphere and being able to sit, then this works as well. and the non-family friendly section would definitely include the Dawg Pound I would imagine.
to be fair, Tebow would be kneeling and not obstructing anyone’s view
Ha! We might actually make the playoffs! Or beat the Steelers! Or both at the same time!
My brother had lower bowl seating and got kicked out of the stadium when he moved up into the top section to hang with his friends when there were no other fans around at all