on the game being the secondary part of the experience, or worse...

[acroyear]

It's a Ballpark, Not a Theme Park:

what really may keep us from renewing those season tickets is the sad fact that the Lerner family, whose members just signed the papers to officially become the Nats' new owners, shows all the signs of wanting to create the same kind of "fan experience" Redskins owner Dan Snyder provides at FedEx Field. It's an experience that, years ago, made me vow never to set foot in that stadium again.

Time was when the fan experience was the game, not the irrelevant sound and fury off the field: live pre-game shows, fireworks and sizzling graphics on large-screen displays, snippets of classic rock played at eardrum-destroying volume, hokey contests in which fans answer baseball trivia questions or guess the day's attendance.

It's all about economics, of course, about putting bodies into the seats to pay player salaries and stadium rent. But is it really necessary to have music accompany every pitching change or catcher-pitcher conference? Are we so mentally impoverished, our attention spans so diminished, that we require distractions like a soundtrack that disguises the meretriciousness of a movie?