Beer: $6.50, Hot Dog: $1,
Throwing them on the
Citizen’s Bank Park playing
field: Priceless.
On Wednesday, April 04,
2007, more than 35,000 college
students turned the
Philadelphia Phillies home
field into a warzone. The
Philadelphia Inquirer reported
more than 150 arrests for
underage drinking, not to
mention the number of fights,
injuries and emotional distressed
season-ticket holders
who feared the rambunctious
youth.
“The Phillies didn’t have
the muscle to break up the
fights or deal with the drunkenness,”
said senior columnist
for the Philadelphia
Daily News Bill Conlin. “It
was worse in some sections
than an Eagles-Cowboys
game with a 4 p.m. start.”
With mounting concern for
the safety of all attendants of
the now renamed “dollar dog
nights,” the Phillies decided
it was in their best interest to
cancel the ever-popular gathering
of college students from
around the Delaware valley.
In the past, the oldest sports
franchise in modern professional
sports history has done
anything but cater to their
unbelievably devout fan base.
In their entire 125-year history,
the Phillies have won one
world championship. The
Phillies are the first franchise
in all of professional sports to
record 10,000 losses and since
introducing the Philly
Phanatic in 1978, the youth of
Philadelphia aren’t exactly
embracing the red-pinstripes.
With all these negatives, the
Phillies had one idea that
sparked some interest. Two
years ago, the Phillies brain
trust decided to give special
discounts to area college students
looking for a good time
during the sometimes monotonous
summer months. With
the combined marketing
power of the infamous dollar
hot dog specials the franchises
public relations tagged this
idea as a can’t miss.
That was until they came to
realize they were dealing
with the next generation of
the worst fans in America.
Phil Sheridan, senior
columnist for the
Philadelphia Inquirer said, “I
guess I would say the college
nights were a well-meaning
idea that completely backfired
on the Phillies.”
Unfortunate isn’t it?
The Phillies finally make a
diligent effort to make baseball
marketable to young people
and they go and blow it.
This wasn’t some little confrontation
that went wrong.
This was a massacre. The students
transformed “The
Bank’s” 200 levels into a recreation
of Veterans stadiums
violent 700 level. At times, it
seemed as though a thick hot
dog rain cloud had fixed itself
upon the ball park and
wouldn’t move on.
Beer was being thrown in
others faces. Rival schools of
LaSalle University and St.
Josephs University students
squared off, and no matter
how many times Phillies
announcer Dan Baker asked
them to stop, they didn’t.
“I don’t like [the decision]
at all because we as college
students don’t have enough
money to afford the normal
prices,” said Brian Dolan
from Philadelphia, a nursing
major at Cabrini University.
“And not everyone is that
rowdy, I don’t like the fact
that a few bad eggs can spoil
it for everyone.”
But they do.
The Phillies must keep in
mind the season-ticket holders,
the need to offer a “family-
friendly atmosphere,” and
safety. Having 30,000 drunken
people in their 20’s fighting
each other and acting
obnoxiously does not promote
an overall good experience.
With the anticipated serious
effort toward claiming a pennant,
the interest in the
Phillies will no doubt sky
rocket. The reality is the city
will embrace this team. No
matter if the Phillies tell the
students the ticket prices
aren’t slashed or microwaved
hot dogs are no longer a dollar.
Philadelphia is a sports
town that loves to win, and
they will find their battles no
matter where they are.
Todd Zolecki, senior sports
writer for the Philadelphia
Inquirer said, “College kids
drink. That’s the reality. They
have fake IDs. So if I were
you and wanted to attend a
Phillies game on college
night, I wouldn’t sit in the
upper deck.”