Passing along a link to an interesting article at Culture11.com. Author Michael Brendan Dougherty’s central point:
Like many newer stadiums, Nationals Ballpark is a place that caters to jerks, while pretending to cater to baseball fans….Like so many modern stadiums, the Nationals Ballpark experience doesn’t trust the show it is ostensibly putting on: a baseball game. It partakes in the sensibility the brain-zapped sensibility that’s come to dominate live sports. That’s perfect for the jerks who don’t care for the sport. For the rest of us, though, it’s disheartening. The operating philosophy is that no one could possibly enjoy our national past-time without slathering it in techno-pizazz. Gone are the little moments that make the game unique: the superstitious gestures, the punch of the ball into an outstretched glove, the strange diction of the umpire, the din of a crowd punctured by cotton-mouthed vendors.
Dougherty discusses both the merits and pitfalls of the new park. What do you think?
Entries (RSS)
September 18th, 2008 at 1:56 pm
i think this is yet another guy that visited the park once and has a larger topic to grind and is using Nationals Park as a prop. all new baseball stadiums are used for baseball entertainment. hell, there’s a merry-go-round at the Tigers’ stadium. at least we don’t have a huge plastic and concrete coke bottle in left field like in SF or Atlanta!
September 18th, 2008 at 3:10 pm
Ditto. That seems to be the trend now - will Shea’s replacement be any different (he said that he’s a Mets fan)?
September 19th, 2008 at 3:21 pm
I love the Nats park — it’s better than suffering at RFK!!!
All parks cannot be Fenway or Wrigley ..