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Thursday, April 3, 2008

Arrested Development

Two Yankee season ticket holders attended the home opener the day before yesterday. At some point , they decided to take part of the Stadium home with them. Their attempts to carry out their nefarious scheme proved unsuccessful. They were caught stealing bunting and were arrested. Does anyone else see the incredible irony in their actions ? If they had planned it, they could not have possibly envisioned a more perfect metaphoric failure. Baseball terminology and real world collide and leave them out in the cold and in shackles.

There are certain parts of history that belong to all of us. There are buildings, like Yankee Stadium, that are more than brick and mortar, or whatever building materials that went into its construction. This is a monument that is being torn down.There are some memories that are meant to be shared and disbursed, without cost. There are some things that have no price tag and shouldn't. Yankee Stadium is one of our treasures and it is part of the public domain, not the possession of its temporary holders. The Yankees are merely the lucky ones asked to care for this monument during her existence.

When the time comes for the wrecking ball to perform its intended task, this should not be the signal for the Yankees to conduct an auction of its pieces. This is not to be a picking over the cadaver and an opportunity for the corporation that pays a quarter of a billion dollars a year to its players, to profit from our attempts to own our memories. Let this be a time when loyalty and passion are rewarded . Let this be a moment where charity begins at home. Let this be the day when the Yankees look back and say we gave a proper thank you to everyone who has walked into these hallowed grounds. Let this be looked back upon as the hour when the Yankees did the right thing.

There should be millions of items that can be given away. I don't need a seat from the Stadium, although I would dearly love one, to be thrilled with my prize.Memories can be preserved in the tiniest corners of our homes and still be kept as a cornerstone in our hearts. Just let me have something, anything , to look upon and know that this is my part of history. There is no money that can or should pass hands for my acquisition . Let the corporate engine show its heart and its recognition that it exists only because of what we have given it, and not the other way around.

So, as the Stadium nears its end, the scoreboard actually counts down to 0. When the Stadium is no more, then the time will have come, for better or worse, to take out the old and bring in the new. When we walk into a different home in 2009 let us carry with us a piece of what we leave behind. We will thank you for it , and you will be the better for it. We should not have to worry about whether we will get caught stealing bunting. For us, it cannot be stealing because it is already ours.

2 comments:

Morts said...

I am afraid the only piece of will free will be your memories. When have you know Steinbrenner ever do the right thing. Look what he did to
Torre.

Mort

Robert said...

The piece was more fantasy than reality in its viewpoint. Corporate greed has little room for actions based on anything other than the bottom line.

In my fantasy world, the people push the issue to the point where there is a necessity to give us what is ours, free of charge.

However, you are not the first to write that my hopes are not going to come to fruition.