SI.com: Sushi … in Cincinnati … at baseball games? You can’t be serious
An article like this shows how backwater Cincinnati can be at times to new ideas and change. Paul Daugherty thinks that selling sushi at Reds Games is somehow a questionable idea because it’s Cincinnati and we don’t do that kind of thing here.
This is the home office of paid baseball, established 1876. Johnny Bench slept here. We eat hot dogs and their various kinfolk: Mettwurst, bratwurst, all the wursts. We drink beer. It’s who we are. Buy me some su-shi and char-donnay? I don’t think so.
Wake up Paul, it’s 2010 and times are changing. What’s wrong with offering customers a choice? It’s not like someone is forcing you to eat sushi when going to the ballpark. But, Daugherty is thinking like a 10 year old- that somehow what you eat defines you as a fan.
The NFL doesn’t do this, because it doesn’t have to and no meat-eating
NFL fan would be caught dead with a piece of raw mackerel between his
thumb and forefinger. Except maybe in San Francisco.
But, he’s wrong here too. A simple Googling shows that at least the Houston Texans of the NFL has sushi available. I’m sure there are others too, I’m just not bothering to do more research, just like Paul Daugherty.
Real baseball fans don’t come to the yard to eat ahi and slurp cuba libres. They just don’t. Problem is, there aren’t enough real baseball fans. You should see the cynical, smirky grins I provoke when I walk to my seat with my scorebook and pencil. All I need is a hat with a propeller.
There definitely aren’t enough of the fans that Daugherty describes, because well, they’re mostly dead. But, there are plenty of other fans, just not as many as the Reds would like. The Reds averaged 21,579 last year, 14th out of 16 National League teams. It seems like the strategy for catering to just “real fans” is a losing one. Speaking of “real fans”, I drove by Miller Park in Milwaukee one weekend day after they were out of the race, and there were a lot of people tailgating for a Brewers game. It’s time to stop talking about how great the fans of Cincinnati are. We have dedicated fans and we have fair-weather fans, just like any city.
The Reds need more fans, not less fans. So, what is wrong with the Reds trying to appeal to more people and create new fans? Will “real fans” not show up because there’s someone eating sushi next them?
Isn’t being a fan, about loving the sport and loving the team? I love Baseball, the Reds, and sushi. I also love hot dogs, just not the cadaver-like ones they sell at the stadium. (I like Nathan’s hot dogs).
It’s nice to see the Reds offer choice. Now, maybe the Reds can get some decent Mexican food, and no those day-glo nachos don’t count.
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