Yesterday, on Monday, I mentioned that the Fort Worth Star-Telegram did not report the Party Pass Riot that occurred at the first regular season football game in the new Dallas Cowboy stadium.By Tuesday, apparently, the Star-Telegram decided that an out of control mob scene, with beer bottles being thrown, was newsworthy.
The Star-Telegram even somehow found a photo of the Party Pass Riot. The photo does not quite show how rambunctious the riot actually was. For that you had to see the video evidence on CBS Channel 11.
Arlington Mayor Cluck told the Star-Telegram, "They put up barricades and the people ignored them. There were beer bottles flying around and a lot of pushing and shoving. I don't want to see a repeat of that."
The first game in the new Dallas Cowboy stadium broke an NFL attendance record of around 108,000 attendees. However, of that large number, only some 78,000 actually had a seat. The 30,000 Party Pass people are what pushed the total to the record breaking number. 30,000 Party Pass people, less the number who gave up, in frustration and anger, and went home.
Many of the Party Pass people arrived early, hoping to get a good place to stand. Some had been standing for hours without being allowed into the stadium. The bottleneck grew as kickoff approached. Police and Fire Officials attempted to restrict entry to just a few football fans at a time, trying to make sure there was enough standing room for those they were letting in.
And then, as the game grew closer and those left outside grew more anxious, the roof and end zone glass walls were opened, with a rush of cold air and loud cheering hitting the angry Party Pass people.
At that point the Party Pass people began to push up against the barricades. As beer bottles flew and the mayhem reached riot level the Police decided to lift the barricades and let the Party Pass people flood in.
Video screens were set up outside the stadium at both end zone plazas, for the Party Pass people. I don't think it was ever considered that all 30,000 of the Party Pass People were going to be inside the stadium. The Cowboys must have figured some of those thousands would be perfectly happy standing outside for several hours looking at video screens.
When it was first announced, months ago, that tickets would be sold so people could stand on the plazas outside the stadium, to be "part of the excitement" of the game, I thought that sounded nuts and wondered who in their right mind would pay to stand outside a stadium during a game.
Great. You can't get Texans to be irritated about anything the government does (like drilling holes and piping gas through their neighborhoods), but take away their comfortable football expectations and they riot.
ReplyDeleteIn the rioters defense, in addition to desperately wanting to watch some football, they were desperate for restroom facilities, the use of which they were also denied. They were being sold beer by the money-crazed Cowboys, but were given no place to get rid of the beer once they were done drinking it.
ReplyDeleteWhen you plan to take a stroll through the desert, you don't do it without water.
ReplyDeleteWhen you plan to drink beer, you don't do it without available restroom facilities.
They were rioting because they forgot to insure the presence of an available tinkletorium before they filled their bladders?
Did anyone say, "There used to be a bush here when it was my front yard. I do believe I'll relieve myself behind the bush like I used to."
Geez, I'll have to ask my friends if they made it into the stadium...
ReplyDeleteWill Mayor Cluck actually have a say if this will happen again?
Mayor Cluck says he wants to limit the # of Poverty Party Passes to 10,000. The Cowboys say they are evaluating the situation. Mayor Cluck is already on the Cowboy's badside due to refusing to go along with any more eminent domain abuse.
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