Sporting arenas invaded by Big Brother

If you’re scared of the Patriot Act, Guantanamo Bay, and the CIA, then be scared of this, folks: Big Brother has entered the world of sports.

Yes, you heard correctly. As Rick Reilly wrote last week in his ESPN column, the sporting arena—one of the only places people can escape to in this overbearing society—is now featuring a new kind of peer-surveillance that enables fans to report their uncouth neighbors to the authorities. And the best part: it’s all done anonymously, by text messaging.

So when that obnoxious Yankees fan drops one F-bomb for every championship the team has won, all you have to do is send a text message—”tattletexting,” as Reilly terms it—to a certain number. The authorities will then examine the situation using their security cameras and eject the fan if they deem it appropriate.

According to Scott Meyers from In Stadium Solutions—a company that provides the text messaging service to sporting arenas—“only about 5% of the texts we get are pranks,” as he told Reilly.

The ISS has also reported that the text messaging service—now operational at NFL, NHL, MLB, NBA, NCAA games—has been used for medical emergencies and by fans who forgot or lost their tickets en route to the venue.

If this system sounds extremely efficient—and therefore scary—to you, that’s because it utilizes the most reliable vehicle to make it work: your fellow fans. The system mimics tactics that were employed by some of the most tyrannical regimes in history. It reads like the kind of scenario you find in science-fiction books. Think Fahrenheit 451 meets Yankee Stadium section 4, row 5, seat 1.

In recent years, security at American stadiums has increased tremendously, leading to a much more controlled environment overall. Partly due to the September 11 attacks, most stadiums feature some sort of bag check, and security guards pat down fans wearing heavy coats. To be honest, they’re probably looking more for people trying to save a buck by bringing a bottle of water into the game, but there is an undeniable presence.

Furthermore, most stadiums are far stricter regarding the mobility of fans than they were ten years ago. Fans are now restricted from entering concourses or decks that they do not have tickets for, and in my experience—having been to 16 out of the 30 active baseball stadiums—ushers are increasingly aggressive in kicking fans out of seats that they do not have tickets for. Gone are my childhood days, when I ran around the stadiums viewing the game from different perspectives and slowly inched closer and closer to the field by sneaking to different seats between innings.

Because of recent epidemics of inappropriate behavior, stadiums went from glass beer bottles to plastic beer bottles to vendors pouring beer into plastic cups. Most baseball stadiums now feature a horde of security guards situated in the front row to prevent fans from entering the field.

Stadiums have become more prone to throwing out fans for bad behavior, and the text messaging system will only aid the security staff. But Reilly fails to ask one question: Where is the line between unruly behavior and fans who are within their limits to chant, yell, and chastise players, referees, and coaches? Shouldn’t a sporting event be an opportunity to relax and blow off some steam?

Ushers—who are on greater power trips than Columbia Public Safety officers—sometimes eject fans who really haven’t committed any serious infractions. And now that our fellow fans can get us booted, are we all supposed to sit there quietly when the third baseman drops a pop-up? Are we not able to chant “De-troit-sucks” no matter where we are in the country or whom our team is playing against?

My favorite story took place last summer at Chicago’s Comiskey Park—I refuse to call it U.S. Cellular Field—where my White Sox were one inning away from sweeping a hated rival, the Chicago Cubs. I stood at the top of an aisle waiting for the ninth inning to end so that I could run out of the ballpark and beat the traffic.

As the inning continued, my giddiness got the best of me, and I started a small argument with a depressed Cubs fan (something my mother has always told me will get me shot one day). To my surprise, the short, overweight female usher on aisle duty took over for me and began to rip apart the Cubs. And when the argument heated up, she threatened to throw the Cubs fan out of the game.

This particular Cubs fan was certainly being a jerk, swearing and threatening the fans in his vicinity with violence. But at the same time, the usher clearly took part in the argument herself and further provoked the fan. At what point do sporting arenas have the right to throw out fans that are paying increasingly higher premiums for tickets?

Immersing yourself in the game and yelling at the players is part of the fun of going to a sporting event. While large quantities of swearing (especially in front of kids) or any kind of violence cannot be tolerated, when is a fan being obnoxious enough to justify removal?

So next time you’re at the game, just remember that Big Brother also goes to the games in his free time. And if this column sparked your interest, sign up for Professor Usher’s Big Brother class next year. (No, the Ministry of Truth did not force me to write that.)

Jacob Shapiro is a List College junior majoring in history and Talmud. Sports@columbiaspectator.com">Sports@columbiaspectator.com.