04/16/24
October 01, 2005
Thirteen of 14 NFL games will require attendees to be patted down: The Bengals/Texans game is the lone exception. "These are illegal searches, the last thing we intend to do is pay for them," Hamilton County Commissioner Phil Heimlich said. "It's bad enough they're trying to subject people to pat-downs. This adds insult to injury."
Having gone through the "patdowns" at Ralph Wilson Stadium opening weekend (9/11) I can tell you it took roughly 1-1/2 to 2 seconds, and was pretty much worthless. I was just hoping and praying the person in front of me wasn't strapped up with dynamite and explosives, waiting until his patdown began to ignite himself. My heart was beating very rapidly up to that point. What I really think they were looking for were small glass bottles of Jack Daniels.
posted by dyams at 10:24 AM on October 01, 2005
You can complain about the "patdowns", but if someting happened at an MFL game..... there would be a publci outcry: "Why weren't people searched?" "We should have been able to prevent" Then we would get all kinds of finger pointing and class-action lawsauits..........
posted by daddisamm at 10:59 AM on October 01, 2005
Yeah, but it would be even worse at an NFL game, which typically draws a larger crowd than the MFL. I kid, I kid!
posted by The_Black_Hand at 01:41 PM on October 01, 2005
There would absolutely be public outcry if a major terrorist attack happened at a professional sporting event. But the likelihood of someone plotting to pull something like this off doing it by walking into the stadium with thousands of people is fairly remote to say the least. A more likely scenario would be an inside job involving employee(s) of the team/stadium, probably getting paid off to gain the terrorist's the necessary access to pull it off.
posted by dyams at 02:43 PM on October 01, 2005
Exactly. What's a pat-down good for except making sure your concession margins stay high?
posted by yerfatma at 03:45 PM on October 01, 2005
What's a pat-down good for except making sure your concession margins stay high? If you're lucky, you might get a date out of it.
posted by lil_brown_bat at 05:01 PM on October 01, 2005
Damn the Constitution getting in the way of our security!
posted by mick at 05:37 PM on October 01, 2005
Hey The Black Hand, what do you think the MFL is-the Midget Football League? That would be awesome! Oh wait...maybe it should be the LPFL. The Little People Football League. If I offended anybody out there, I truly apologize.
posted by Desert Dog at 05:53 PM on October 01, 2005
The Little People's Football League? I think we've covered that. :) Good on Cincinatti, though. This is so disgusting- it's of questionable constitutionality, and I'm curious if a fan would have the legal right to a full refund if the patdown is not clearly labeled on the ticket. Seems like you can't be forced to be patted down by anyone, public or private, without a right to refuse. IANAL by any stretch, but isn't it the case that you can't make some give up their rights? If you've already paid for the ticket, could they spring a surprise pee test on you as well? I can see if they were a private facility, saying "you can't come in without a patdown", but if the possibility of a search wasn't clearly identified before you bought your ticket, could you get your money back? And while private locations have the right to refuse entry without, say, a search, I would also raise the question of whether the venue can be called a private location at all, as opposed to public, if the taxpayers paid for the bulk of construction- as is often the case in pro sports stadiums these days. Sounds like in the Bengals' case, the usual asleep-at-the-wheel "elected" representatives gave the team too much latitude in controlling the stadium. Hm. I think if I were a multimillionaire, I'd amuse myself by having a good lawyer permanently in my employ, and testing the legality of these and many other actions. It's sad how many people just willingly toss away their rights.
posted by hincandenza at 06:09 PM on October 01, 2005
Actually Hal, I wasn't talking about the Madden glitch. I was trying to make a joke about mid..er..little people playing in their own league. I guess it went over your head. Get it, OVER YOUR HEAD? Ahhhh Ha Ha! I am hilarious! By the way, you misspelled Cincinnati. I'm sure it was just a typo.
posted by Desert Dog at 07:58 PM on October 01, 2005
I made a typo---I alway make typos---leave me alone....
posted by daddisamm at 08:53 PM on October 01, 2005
Hal great questions about getting money back if you didn't know about the search. Yes you could definately get your money back if you bought your ticket and then leaned about the search and you decided not to go. Terms of search must be on ticket or clearly stated with your ticket ie attached paper or somthing like that as I understand it. However when buying tickets there are often terms on them and you may not know of the terms before buying. Like when you buy concert tickets online and you get them and there are terms like cant bring in a sode etc. If you purchase ticket and agree to the terms you have entered a contract and cannot breach contract. If you do not agree to the terms of the contract you do not have to accept the contract and get your cash back. Bilateral contract customer is OR then becomes EE when EE comes up with new terms aka counter offer. Initial OR is now EE with new terms ie search) if accepts then contract aka decide to go to game. See ProCD INC v. Zeidenberg 1996 google it. Thanks for giving me opportunity to use my studies, to test myself, in an applicable real life situation. good day
posted by T$PORT4lawschool at 11:21 PM on October 01, 2005
What the hell is the issue here? I don't think I've ever got into a football game without a patdown.
posted by salmacis at 05:50 AM on October 02, 2005
Yeah but you live in the repressive UK where soccer hooligans are a common occurrence. We're more civilized over here ;)
posted by mick at 08:10 AM on October 02, 2005
T$PORT4lawschool- SportsFilters offical lawyer- Hal, here is your lawyer you dream about. :)
posted by redsoxrgay at 06:30 PM on October 02, 2005
What are they patting-down for anyway? Has there been a threat?
posted by AJ_in_BN at 09:37 AM on October 03, 2005
Wouldn't a metal detector make more sense... Unless it was protecting concessions revenue. That last one don't fly with me, becuase I'm still sneaking Liquor into games, and a soda is only a buck less than a beer.
posted by LostInDaJungle at 02:38 PM on October 03, 2005
Ridiculous. I suggest a patdown (with optional cavity search) of NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue every time he steps into a public place.