Opening Day in Cincinnati has come and gone.

I love Opening Day.  It is the beginning of six (hopefully seven) months of Cincinnati Reds baseball.  It is nice to get back inside Great American Ball Park and see old friends.  The tributes on the field are always touching and well-done.  Introducing each staff member, coach and player is something you don’t see at any other regular season game.  The National Anthem and flyover are always special.

Believe it or not, there is also a baseball game.

The announced attendance figure of 43, 168 was the largest regular season crowd ever at Great American Ball Park.  I am not even going to speculate how many of them watched any of the game, stayed more than three innings or even knew there was a game being played at all.

Our seats are down the right field line in Section 136.  The couple times I left my seat to use the rest room or get something to eat, I walked near the open area in the right field corner (near Mr. Red’s Smokehouse).  The amount of alcohol being consumed at the prices that are charged is mind-boggling to say the least.  But what really puzzled me is that people were not even watching the game.

I know there were SRO tickets sold, so not everyone had a seat.  However, there are many places to stand and still have a view of the field.  I saw hundreds (if not thousands) of people standing around the concourse and even behind the sun deck hanging out and drinking as if they were at a bar.

The face value on my ticket was $51.00.  If I pay that much for a ticket, I am going to WATCH THE GAME!

Now, if you are of age and want to drink alcohol, I am in no position to tell you to do otherwise.  It’s none of my business, until it becomes my business.

I took the kids to the rest room late in the game and left a bag with our program and a couple other items sitting by our seat.  My dad was sitting about 5 feet away.  Some waste of life stumbles over and picks up the bag.  My dad informs the degenerate that it belongs to us.  She slurs, “Well, you should watch it.”  To which he replies, “I did.  I watched you try and steal it.”

Then Tommy Tough-Guy, her male companion (husband, boyfriend, baby-daddy, random drunk guy she will not remember the next day), decides to showcase his masculinity to the 64-year old man in the motorized scooter by incoherently shouting something before they left.

A lot of people have been talking about fans leaving the game early.  I think it probably started about the third inning.  There are always going to be exceptions (a small child that can’t handle the cold weather, etc.) but I don’t understand how someone could buy a ticket and leave.  Do you buy a movie ticket and leave with 20 minutes left?

Again, it’s none of my business until it is my business.  I had several friends who would have loved to be in the stadium and would not have dreamed of leaving early.

Oh well, at least we true fans don’t have to worry about these fair-weather fans again…unless the Reds make the playoffs.