11/05/24
August 26, 2005
Is That an Intrusive Post-9/11 Security Measure or Are You Just Happy to See Me?: The St. Petersburg Times notes a change that greeted me at the first Jaguars home game this preseason in Jacksonville: Everyone attending an NFL game will now receive a complimentary pat-down.
Those pat-downs are pretty simple this time of year when most people come to a game in shorts/t-shirt or something similar. I live near Buffalo and go to Bills games in December when people walk into the games often looking like polar explorers. Doing a thorough pat-down of people in those conditions will take forever. I'm OK with it, though. I've usually encountered that treatment anyways in the past with the security thinking I'm sneaking in beer, etc. The best security person I ever dealt with saw me come in with binoculars around my neck and a binocular case on with them. I had just passed by him when he got my attention and brought me back, asking "If your binoculars are around your neck, why do you need the case?" He opened the case and found two tall Bud cans. Excellent work on his part, I have to admit. What would these guys do if they DID find a major weapon or something? Disarm the guy right there? Hope I'm not at that gate during that struggle. The guy might panic and open fire randomly.
posted by dyams at 07:48 PM on August 26, 2005
This sort of thing has been going on for a while, and it's okay. You can't even get through the gate at a Mets game if you have a bag with you. Sucks, but what are you gonna do? I'm not worried about terrorists, because when you worry, the terrorists win. Or something. But if a pat-down is what it takes to make people feel more secure, then so be it. You'll still see a game in person, instead of on TV. I think we can all deal with a minor inconvenience. Also, I'm sure Jacksonville is a hotbed of terrorist activity.
posted by Samsonov14 at 08:00 PM on August 26, 2005
Sucks, but what are you gonna do? I dunno, not live in fear? I realize that's too much to ask, but aren't the pat-downs more of a response to potential liability?
posted by yerfatma at 08:38 PM on August 26, 2005
I went to see the Broncos play in Arizona the first weekend of resumed play after 9/11. It was a Sunday night game and as many people were heading to the stadium almost as many people were heading away from it. No cell phones, cameras or electronics were being allowed in at all. Many people found this out only when trying to enter. Still plenty of fights in the stands including an unruly young woman carted off by four security guards from the section next to mine.
posted by geekyguy at 11:42 PM on August 26, 2005
Hey I would rather be safe than sorry, I just hope its a hot guy who is patting me down. :)
posted by tina at 01:16 AM on August 27, 2005
I'm surprised that people don't seem to mind these mandatory pat-downs. I think the chances that they would find a bomb or gun are extremely unlikely, at least by the standards used in Jacksonville: One pat under each underarm, one pat on the back, and a post-coital cigarette. They didn't even notice the suspicious bulge in my pants.
posted by rcade at 09:44 AM on August 27, 2005
Does anyone, rcade? I suppose I understand it, but I think it's all a liability issue also. No one wants to be the venue that gets hit, but it's also more about alcohol, glass bottles and the like. Someone needs a friend with a wooden leg, methinks. Oh ... and there are people that go to games in Arizona?
posted by wfrazerjr at 10:38 AM on August 27, 2005
I went to a Braves game a few weeks back where we were all patted down. Didn't think anything of it. Their house, their rules. My favorite incident of pat downs was when I went to see a Green Day & Blink 182 concert (GD rocked, blink sucked) at Lakewood (aka hi-fi buys) a few years back where they did full-body pat downs. Not only that, but you couldn't bring chains into the concert. Put GD and Blink together and you're bound to get a lot of teener-bopper punk wannabe's with a bizillion chains hanging from their pants. Nothing more entertaining than seeing a puch of teenage punkers having to hide their chains in the bushes and the retreiving them after the concert (I hid my pocket knife in my frickin' sock with no problem).
posted by jmd82 at 01:39 PM on August 27, 2005
I'm surprised that people don't seem to mind these mandatory pat-downs. I think the chances that they would find a bomb or gun are extremely unlikely, at least by the standards used in Jacksonville: One pat under each underarm, one pat on the back, and a post-coital cigarette. Rcade, the fulcrom of our teeter-totter here is that sometimes people need to feel safe. Can anyone smuggle a weapon into the stadium? Yep. Does Joe Family feel safer now? Also yep. It's a pointless pat-down, and most of us know it. There's no barcode readers or any Big Brother BS here. They pat you down, and you enjoy a game. It's that simple. Our liberties aren't being comprimised, and our enjoyment of the game isn't either.
posted by Samsonov14 at 03:36 PM on August 27, 2005
If I lived in a conceal-and-carry state, I'd want pat downs on the bus. I'm not scared of terrorists - I'm scared of drunk, armed fans with the home team losing. Well, not really, but it is all a matter of perspective.
posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 05:38 PM on August 27, 2005
Quite frankly, I think the whole idea is ridiculous. I mean, 90 percent of the the profottball towns wouldn't be targeted by the Census board, if they could help it...much less terrorists. I'm a New Yorker, and I was visiting family when 9/11 went down. We lost people, but that doesn't excuse this type of behavior. The bottom line is, worry more about the annoying fan spilling beer and being rude. I doubt he's gonna be packing....unless he's a Texans fan. :-)
posted by supersly26 at 11:36 PM on August 27, 2005
In my book, any excuse for some nice friendly man on man contact is a good thing.
posted by Joey Michaels at 01:58 AM on August 28, 2005
If this is never used as an excuse to force you to buy something in-stadium you could easily bring in, then it's not such a big deal. I look forward to using NFL-branded disposable cameras next time I attend a game.
posted by yerfatma at 09:44 AM on August 28, 2005
I just suffered one of the pat downs at RFK, oops, Fed-Ex field, and I have to say they missed 6 airplane taster sized bottles of Capn. Morgans, my porta-bhong, and a pocket knife. I'm wearing shorts and a T-shirt, and the guy didn't even touch my pockets, he patted down my T-shirt, which has no pockets. I think these guys are pretty much told to make sure their hands stay above the patron's waist (in the case of males) so how hard can it be to slip something past? I would have noticed the Likker bottles by eyesight... between that and the porta-bhong, I had quite a bulge working in that front pocket. This is a bit like putting an empty Condom wrapper in the nightstand. It won't keep you from getting pregnant, but you can look at it and feel better... "Gosh, there's an empty condom wrapper, it must be safe sex. Cool."
posted by LostInDaJungle at 04:28 PM on August 28, 2005
My trick for patdowns: I think luscious thoughts on line until I'm pretty stiff when I get up there. Then, if there's any inappropriate touching, it's really inappropriate.
posted by Hugh Janus at 10:20 AM on August 29, 2005
I dont mind the search. When I go to a game I am usually toting along a bag with extra oxygen. If I was another person seeing that bag being searched, I would feel ok about it. Like it or not there is always that possibility that something might happen.