Does the Season Ticket "Planholder Update" address leaners? Close, but no cigar...

This is what I do when I’m home sick from work.

I agree with both of you that the statement was not nearly explicit enough. It reminds of the “pass left, keep right” signs that were apparently designed so as to be invisible to Maryland drivers.

I love your idea of a PSA. I envision Slapshot leaning way up in his seat and Goat getting all irritated with him for it. I don’t really have an ending, I’ll leave that to your creative team. Maybe he leans forward and yells “LET’S SIT BACK!” in Slapshot’s ear. Then it’s all hugs and smiles, fade to black, or red, whatever.

Didn’t even see that in the update (tho to be fair I skim them at best). I’m pretty lucky in this regard, I have a pretty good group of STHs around me who don’t often sell seats. The one set of seats that do seem to be brokered are to my left and since (in my section) leaners block your view from the side and not the front, I have had very good response in politely asking them to sit back. That may be because they have to look me in the eye when the play comes to my side (not to mention I can block them back by leaning myself) as well as they have to walk by me everytime they want a beer.

It seems like the difference in responsiveness to being asked to sit back when in front of you versus besides you is analgous to the diference in politeness of people in their cars versus next to you in line.

As George Carlin (RIP) used to say, "the amount that somebody is an @$$hole is inversely proportional to the distance they are to you.

Thus, perhaps the answer, is POLITELY bridge that gap. Perhaps a walk back from the beer stand / bathroom at the first intermission should include a friendly conversation; eye to eye, on their row. Then again that might be a recipe for a black eye… hard to know.

That and everyone should be telling those buying your season tix to please be sure to sit back.

I also like the idea of a funny video… Being a former video professional, if I wasn’t so crazy busy in work and private life right now I’d make one of my own. Who knows, maybe if nothing is done by the time things calm down for me I might give it a go.

That could have been a deadly combination. I hope you weren’t carrying any firearms.

Wait. . . what?

no I am for sure joking about the whole “if everyone leans its all great, so you should just lean and stop whining”
sorry for not making the snark more clear.

Excellent point.

Is that better?

Most of the time people will lean back if you ask, but sometimes they’re beyond rude, and in my experience those rude ones tend to be visiting fans.

If people think this warrants it, I’ll send it directly to Ted. . . Thoughts? Suggestions?

The weird thing for me is that I sit on the aisle and the seats behind me are often empty. Like magic, though, if there are leaners down in front of me, there’s always a little kid sitting behind me.

You’d think you’re a vegetarian and we’re trying to forcefeed you gravy or something. Just sit back, that’s all we ask! It helps everybody enjoy themselves.

People will lean anyway, but maybe they’d be less pricky when you remind them of the (we hope upcoming) no-leaning policy as established in the silly video.

I’ve got to agree with Jordan here. I don’t know about you, but I remember when pagers and especially cell phones were relatively new inventions. Despite the fact that only about 10% of the population or less had a cell phone, hearing them go off in theaters was a pretty regular event. Those goofy PSAs have helped a ton.

but it’s also one of the irritations of a live game.

This is a legitimate question, not trying to be snarky:

Would you consider the photo at the bottom of the post to be a normal “irritation of a live game?”

I know that I don’t. I consider that about as bad as one of the seats in the old Boston Garden where you’re stuck behind a pillar. Or one of the seats at the “wrong” end of the old America West Center, where you couldn’t see the goal on your own end (CP2Devil knows what I’m talking about). That’s the kind of stuff we’ve got to put up with game after game. At some point, that’s just not worth $50 per game or more…

Now people in 400’s row A with elbows on the glass just need to be thrown over.

I’ve got one in my section. The dude also tucks his jersey into his pants though so he’s got even bigger issues.

I’ve noticed people sitting with me as guests in the past who have started leaning, but I know the people behind me quite well, and if they can’t see, they’ll say something. If it gets really bad, I definitely say something, but if they’re just edging forward, I’m reluctant to constantly harp on it. Thankfully, this hasn’t really been much of an issue this year.

If it’s a guy/somebody tall, I’m much more likely to say something even if they lean slightly forward.

I am glad this poster got the opportunity to vent and I hope he feels better. Self expression is good. So is primal scream therapy.

Ted’s got some snark in him.

(For some reason, it hasn’t shown up yet on the site, but I don’t want to double-post something so long.)

Ted,

I’m the semi-aggrieved author of the post in question. Apologies that it took me so long to respond, but I’ve been out of town/communication on business.

First, let me say that I think you are a fantastic owner and run a first-class organization. It took courage and foresight to tear the whole thing down and rebuild it, and now you (and we, the fans) are reaping the rewards. Kudos.

Second, thanks for the reading what I wrote and responding. I would, however, like to reiterate the gist of the post, which may have been lost in my attempts to convey my frustration.

The gist of the post was simply that I believed the message addressing fan behavior in the “Season Ticket Holder Update” was a tacit acknowledgment of the issue, but that by itself it was inadequate to fully address the problem.

There was an element of venting, to be sure, but at the same time, there was also a legitimate suggestion: a simple public service announcement shown before the game (like those shown in theaters reminding people to silence their phones) would, I think, improve the situation dramatically.

One suggestion made by a commenter was to have a video wherein Slapshot demonstrates bad behavior in front of the Goat or Horn Guy, and then one of the Caps players or coaches comes in and informs him (and the fans) about proper etiquette. Sure it’s slightly cliche, but it could be done quite easily and cheaply before the playoffs.

Another suggestion, made by me, was to empower the ushers to police behavior a little more stringently. I’ve gone to ushers and asked them to talk to people who refused to sit back in their seats and they always told me that they weren’t allowed to do that. This seems like a simple way to address the situation as well.

Thanks for reading and responding, and thanks for the all the great work you’ve done to give us an amazing hockey team. I’m happy to continue this conversation here, or via email. LET’S GO CAPS!!!

To Steve in Arlington,

If you took the time to read all 10 paragraphs, you’d note that I recounted many occasions where I asked folks to sit back nicely and had either no response or a negative response. Many people are quite polite about the situation but, in my experience, there are about 30% who won’t change their behavior regardless of how polite you are, and another 30% that make an initial attempt and then forget about it for the rest of the game. Additionally, there’s frequently a situation where someone two or three rows down is leaning forward, creating a domino effect. I’ve actually gone down several rows and asked people to sit back because the people in front of me were too timid.

For what it’s worth, if you knew me, you’d know that passive-aggressiveness is not something I suffer from – if anything, it’s quite the opposite. Every time there’s a leaner in my section, I politely explain the situation and ask them to lean back. If they refuse or respond rudely, though, what exactly am I supposed to do? Now repeat that experience 20-40 odd times a season and I think you begin to understand how the frustration could build up.

FYI, the name of the site’s Japers’ Rink, and it’s your loss if you write it off entirely just because you didn’t appreciate what I had to say.

It’s everywhere.