Baseball tunes of the past don't sing as fluidly when updated to the high-tech present, but the New York Yankees are in the process of doing exactly that— changing the tune and high tech tone of the stadium experience for Yankee fans for the 2009 season.
Cisco Systems, the high-tech behemoth, has partnered with the Yankees organization, also known as the most expensive franchise in American sports, and wired the new Yankee Stadium with the latest informational and video-enhancing wizardry that is sure to make waves across the spectrum of 21st century stadium planning, design, and construction for many years to come.
The new Yankee Stadium will boast an astonishing array of newly acquired technologies, including the ability to program 1,100 high-definition TV monitors with live game coverage, statistics, highlight video, promotional messages, and weather and traffic updates which will be broadcasted to virtually every imaginable niche of the new ballpark. Luxury and party suites will be outfitted with special touch-screen phones, enabling company-sponsored attendees and well-off fans to order food and merchandise without ever leaving their seats. Each player will also have a computer installed at his locker that will be fully linked to Cisco's video-conferencing technology installed in the new stadium's business conference center. Although some elements and features of the new high-tech system will take some time to go operational, Cisco claims that the driving force behind the implementation and integration of these technologies at the new Yankee Stadium is their desire to elevate the fan experience.
One fan, who we'll call Joe the Fan because he wishes to remain anonymous, voiced his vehement disagreement with these changes: "The smell of hot dogs and cheap beer will be replaced with a DVR / TiVo mentality. The Yankees might as well partner with major pharmaceutical companies to prescribe drugs at the gate that will enhance the fan experience!"
It is apparent that Joe the Fan here is not the alone in his criticism of a high tech experience at the new Yankee Stadium. Many Yankees fans in fact have responded harshly to the announcement regarding the high-tech wizardry of the new Yankee stadium, complaining that they don't go out to the ballpark to watch the game on a flat-screen TV. Others have expressed concern that the employment of such technologies will make already prohibitively expensive tickets even more expensive, and have suggested that the ultimate goal of the $15 million cooperative venture between Cisco Systems and the New York Yankees organization is to not just to elevate the fan experience, but to elevate the price of attending games in the brave new world of their Yankee baseball future.
In recessionary times Joe the Fan's response reveals a deep-rooted concern that the game experience is being fundamentally changed for the worse. Joe thinks he knows what Yankees ownership has in store for Yankee baseball fans these days: "The Yankees ownership is sticking it to average guys like me. We're asking the baseball higher ups to mellow out, let us watch and cheer like always, while ownership is basically saying that in the future, along with this TiVo mentality, we're supposed to drink champagne instead of beer, eat crepes instead of hot dogs. That's not baseball, that's boardroom."
Photo Credit: NYC.com, All Rights Reserved ©2008
Tags:
2009 season, cisco systems, flat screen tvs, high tech, new yankee stadium
© All rights reserved.
Posted on 11/20/2008
(
Permanent Link
)
 Send to Friend
|
Last year's American League last place and worst record Tampa Bay Rays upset the Boston Red Sox for the American League Championship. If I had stated this publicly in June, I would have been committed!
Who would think that a team with one of the lowest payrolls in baseball could defeat a team with one of the highest? Rays manager Joe Maddon was confident the Rays would be able to win before the game when he talked to the media. So last night they won at home with their quirky field, where they compiled the best home record in baseball this season. Who would figure!? Ex Red Sox Manny Ramirez and the current Red Sox players all hail the new kids like BJ Upton and Matt Garza. The Rays have established themselves as the new face of baseball just as perennial leaders like the Yankees and Angels have faded.
Another year has to go by for the Yankees and Red Sox—and poor David Ortiz has to wait all winter just like Jeter. The Rays to baseball is what Obama is to politics—a breath of fresh air!
Tags:
joe maddon, red sox, tampa bay rays, yankees
© All rights reserved.
Posted on 10/20/2008
(
Permanent Link
)
Send to Friend
|
According to my research, the Billy Goat curse was placed on the Cubs in 1945 when Billy Goat Tavern owner Billy Sianis was asked to leave a World Series game at Wrigley Field because his pet goat's odor was bothering other fans. He was outraged and placed a curse on the team, saying there would never again be a World Series game played at Wrigley Field. His exact words: "Them Cubs, they aren't gonna win no more." So poor Cubs fans will never win until this famous curse is lifted. Perhaps they should do the New York City thing and just build a new stadium next to Wrigley field. Then they should charge a lot of money so the average fan can not attend any games (if they do their tab will be over $100 for a few beers and two bad seats). That's Yankee Stadium this past year—so just imagine next year. The Yankees were so concerned with a curse being placed on the New Yankee Stadium that after a Red Sox construction worker told the New York Post that he placed a David Ortiz shirt under the Yankees' dugout, the team had the shirt exhumed and the worker was fired. More security was called for to prevent future mishaps. Let us hope that the economy somehow survives and people actually buy tickets. The Yankees top brass can forget about the Lehman Bros. luxury box, along with many others. Maybe it will be very surreal as a team with a quarter-billion-dollar payroll plays while the world is in a economic depression. But let's be hopeful and equate the Yankees selling out next year to a stable global economy; after all, everything's connected—just like A-Rod's guaranteed salary and Wall Street golden parachutes....
Tags:
a rod, billy goat curse, cubs, david ortiz, lehman bros, wrigley field, yankee stadium, yankees
© All rights reserved.
Posted on 10/7/2008
(
Permanent Link
)
Send to Friend
|
The Yankees were officially eliminated from the postseason last night when the Red Sox won and cliched the American League Wild Card! Now the Yankees look at closure with some housekeeping—by Jason Giambi and several others and hello to the new Stadium and new beginnings. I went to the last game in hopes of some how getting tickets as the box office announced that some tickets will be available and released throughout the day. At 5PM I gave up as the line in front of me was long and the guy passing me who just got 2 tickets was on line since 6 in the morning! Many fans are not happy about the new stadium including myself. Yes the Stadium was rebuilt in 1975 but its the same field that Babe Ruth played and its sacred ground!!!
OK now to the races: The Mets won and the Phillies lost and the Milwaukee Brewers won in dramatic bottom of the 9th inning fashion. Translation - DOG Fight - the Mets are now 1.5 games behind the Phillies but just 1 game up on the Brewers for the National League wild card. The Mets and Brewers have NO bullpen and the Phillies are complete. The Mets and Brewers will fight for the wild card with no relief pitching like 2 bald men fighting over a hair comb! The Dodgers are still up in the National League West but they can not finish it off and the Arizona Diamondbacks are just 2.5 back. With a week to go anything can happen!! OK now to the only race left in the American League in the central division. The Chicago White Sox are playing the Minnesota Twins and the Twins won Tuesday night and are now just 1.5 games out with 6 to go - WOW. So there you go with one week left we have 3 intense dog fights - BASEBALL !!!
Tags:
arizona diamondbacks, mets, minnesota twins, red sox, white sox, yankees
© All rights reserved.
Posted on 9/24/2008
(
Permanent Link
)
Send to Friend
|
The Yankees post-season 12 year run is over. Not official, but when manager Joe Girardi talks about next year you know it's over. Let's look at this year - All teams have injuries and usually lose a star player or 2 for the entire season so losing Jorge Posada and Chein-Ming Wang for the season is no excuse. Seeing Alex Rodriguez homer in the bottom of the 9th inning last night with no one on base is an excuse. A Rod has become the poster child money player of MLB. He will hit over 30 homers and get over 100 RBI which is a great year for any player but not one making $25,000,000 a year more like $10,000,000 which still high and that's a topic for another day. We can say Robinson Cano is having a bad year and seems distracted but he's young and he's not even close to A Rod. Alex Rodriguez is doing all that's expected and nothing else and it's pathetic. He is not interested in the post season for this year. The Yankees finish the season at home closing out the old Yankee Stadium for the New One and A Rod wants to party in October and not play. He's divorced with a new Upper East Side luxury apartment and he's guaranteed $25 Million a year for the next 9 years so why not!
photo copyright Boston Globe
Tags:
a rod, alex rodriguez, yankee stadium
© All rights reserved.
Posted on 9/5/2008
(
Permanent Link
)
Send to Friend
|
