have the cyclones become lame?

prezst · August 2008

went to a cyclones game at keyspan park the other night, and boy, have things changed since the first couple of seasons. excitement's given-way to ennui. party marty's genuine enthusiasm (he'd scream so loud i thought his head was going to explode) has been replaced by the buffonish 'king henry.' even the beach bums, who used to dance on the dugouts, have turned into benchwarmers, barely budging from their seats in the stands. and remember how people used to do (and have a love/hate relationship with) 'the wave?'.. these days, the only waves you see are the ones along the beach.

what went wrong? cyclones games used to be fun to attend.. now they seem lame, as though everyone's just going thru the motions. even the attempt at sound effects on the p-a system have become cliched, and ill-timed.

if there's any saving grace, you can buy a seat in the bleachers, and then move up to the good seats because hardly any of the season ticket holders ever show-up.

go ahead: call me nuts, but that's not going to stop me from hurling the worst possible epithet at the cyclones games. not that they're 'lousy,' that they're 'dull.'

veets · August 2008

To be honest... The last time I went to a game was season 2 and it was lame even then.... I spent the time grooving on who else was there and that was just terific since it was a broad cross-section of Brooklynites. The game itself way way boring. It was a double header and we didnt make it through game one. Honestly, except when it is played on the higest level////baseball is boring to watch and that is why the antics in the stadium become diversionary.

The stadium is just glorious.. especially at sunset... It it what is be!

new2hood · August 2008

we just went a few weeks ago and had a BLAST...maybe my expectations are low, but food was decent, beer wasn't a zillion dollars, kids were happy, we got a huge kick out of the informal fun-ness of it all. And he stadium is amazing.

homeowner · August 2008

Mod Note: Hey guys, this is not PS specific so I'm moving it into the Lounge. Thanks.

veets · August 2008

Hey, the moderators of this site have an absolute right to move a posting any place they want or to make is disapear completely however... the OP was obviously living in PS and posted it on that forum and I really believe that it should have remained on that original track. Having been born and raised in Brooklyn and 59 years in to it at this point I have a feeling that the reaction of a current PS resident to the very existence of the Cyclones is from a PS perspective. If this thread were started in any other neighborhood forum the reaction of that neighborhood would be the driving force behind the responses. Hey... just my opinion and there it is.

dailyheights · August 2008

That is an excellent point. Moving thread back to Park Slope.

veets · August 2008

dailyheights wrote: That is an excellent point. Moving thread back to Park Slope.

Thanks for understanding the point I was making and moving the thread back here.

garfunky · August 2008

If one finds baseball boring to begin with , its no surprise if they dont have fun at a single-a game watching players theyve never heard of.

For me, I enjoyed going to quite a few cyclones games.
Ive seen a few players whove made it to the bigs,
including minor league phenom Joe Smith, who rocketed thru
from minors to the big club in his first pro season.

That said, it is no longer "new". (yay baseball is back in BK lets go !!)

Ive also found an increase in the loud annoying drunk types that HAVE to hurl obscenities at the "just out of college" players as if they fighting for the WS rings.

or in simpler words -
the old (alcohol ok)
Yankee Stadium Right Field Bleacher Creature vibe.

Havent gone this year ...

turtle95 · August 2008

I had a ticket package for a couple of years and then had season tickets for a couple of years. However, I stopped going because it was actually getting hard to watch the baseball game. As Garfunky mentioned, there were some out of control drunks who made it unpleasant to watch the games. Additionally, the beach bums used to move around alot, but in an annoying rather than entertaining way. Then there was the monkey lady who sat a few rows behind me who blew a freaking whistle all during the game, and believe me when I say it got annoying after the first few minutes.

To cap it off, I cannot tell you the number of times I went there straight from work hoping to get something to eat only to find out that they ran out of hot dogs and ice cream. How do you run out of hot dogs at a baseball game? It didn't happen just once either.

I called the Cyclones ticket office and let them know why I didn't renew my tickets. They called for the next two years and tried to sell me more and I explained to them each time why I wouldn't go back. I know they were trying to create a fun family experience, but it would be good if you could actually watch a baseball game there too. I haven't been back in 3 years.

garfunky · August 2008

turtle95 wrote: As Garfunky mentioned, there were some out of control drunks who made it unpleasant to watch the games.

Nice to know I am not the only one put off by this.
I was especially surprised by the 4 wheelchair drunks
who were screaming all sorts of deragotaries
at the dancin disco fool dude, while a security guard laughed along.
I biached calmly to a dude who appeared to be managerial,
and who didnt care, and havent been back.

nyco · August 2008

Jesus.

Just enjoy the game. Who gives a s…t what the other fans are doing?
:roll:

garfunky · August 2008

When security is laffin it up with the loud obnoxious foul mouthed drunk who is sitting directly behind you ,

and you have to feel his spittle hit the back of your neck as he screams
"hey disco youre a fekiin f*g" at a FAN in the front row,

lemme know how ya feel then.

If the guy paid 100 buck at an MLB game to scream at players fine.
This is 7 dollar minor league ticket with LOTS of children in attendance.

It aint the frikkin world series.

grow the fck up

turtle95 · August 2008

nyco wrote: Jesus.

Just enjoy the game. Who gives a s…t what the other fans are doing?
:roll:

because when the fans are batting a beach ball in front of you and spilling beer on you, it can be difficult to even see the game, much less enjoy it. and I guarantee, if you had someone blowing a gym whistle as loud as they could for three hours 20 feet from you, the headache you got would inhibit your enjoyment of the game. One of the last games I went to, there were some older folks in wheelchairs (and limited mobility of other limbs) sitting right down front. The beach ball the beach bums and fans were batting hit one old lady in the head and knocked her glasses off. For her, she might have some concern about what other attendees are doing (and I won't call them fans if they don't watch any of the baseball game).

I tried to support the Cyclones for several years and if I had been able to enjoy the games, I'd still be going.

bklynbmt · August 2008

Subject: Cyclones Games

I went to my first game last night: Cyclones-SI Yankees. I was pleased by the prices for food and beer, but I was dissapointed by the crowd. Many of the people in my section were from Nassau County. One of the groups was a neighborhood outing of 5 adults and 15 or so kids. The kids were more interested in popcorn and ice cream and thundersticks than the game itself. The obnoxious group in front of me (2 middle aged men and one middle aged woman) made jokes about everything, but had no idea what was happening on the field. Across the isle from me, a dad sat down on the stairs with his toddler and let the kid beat the Hell out of him with a thunderstick. It was kind of cute at first, but then it got obnoxious when people couldn't get by--especially the soda vendor who almost stepped on the kid.

The best fan I could find was the elderly lady sitting right behind me. She was so tiny and frail, and yet she roared at the players with the force of a lion. She knew what she was talking about and never acted in a disrespectful way. She knew several of the players (I admit that I didn't know any) and followed every play closely. She accurately explained each play to the woman sitting next to her and added her own insightful commentary. This woman represents the BEST of Brooklyn sports fans: fiesty, knowledgeable, and respectful. She told me that she's a life-long resident, and I felt proud to be sitting next to her.

As for the Cyclones, the novelty's wore off and the games have gone "suburban." (I couldn't help but notice that the attendees were almost all white.) Many of the people in attendance were parents who want to take their kids to a baseball game for the stadium experience, but don't want to/can't pay for the Shea Stadium or Yankee Stadium experience; so they come to the Cyclones and fill their kids with ice cream and soda and hope that the thunderstick is an adequate replacement for David Wright, Jose Reyes, or Derek Jeter.

The best way to improve the games is to fill the park with fiesty, knowledgeable, and respectful fans of all races, ages, I don't know how Mets/Cyclones brass can get real sports fans back in the park; but until that happens, Cyclone games will continue to be a dull affair.

superjonbot · August 2008

some hard liquor or drugs make any event more fun, well, at least that is what works for me. But I don't know how anyone can get bored of cyclones, I totally stare in awe when I see them on battlestar galactica.

PS, the old show with twittie, not this new jack nonsense.

nyco · August 2008

Subject: Re: Cyclones Games

BklynBMT wrote: As for the Cyclones, the novelty's wore off and the games have gone "suburban." (I couldn't help but notice that the attendees were almost all white.) Many of the people in attendance were parents who want to take their kids to a baseball game for the stadium experience, but don't want to/can't pay for the Shea Stadium or Yankee Stadium experience; so they come to the Cyclones and fill their kids with ice cream and soda and hope that the thunderstick is an adequate replacement for David Wright, Jose Reyes, or Derek Jeter.

Clearly you don't have kids, and you don't place much value in the importance of spending money wisely.

Both of which are great criteria for generalizing a large group of New Yorkers whom you seem comfortable criticizing even though you don't know anything about any of them.

Bravo.

j0518 · August 2008

I went to my first a couple of weeks ago as well.

I'm familiar with the quirks with minor league baseball, but I actually don't think there was much respect for the baseball going on even by the people running the park. I was there for the SI Yanks, and I'm a Yankee fan. not one of the SI pitching changes, pinch-hitters, or any other replacement was even announced by the PA or big screen. that's just bush league to me.

i think it was fun to have some beers and have your attention come in and out of the game. i also got to try out all of the mexican spots in COney Island recommended by TONY beforehand, which was a blast. it's not something that even remotely approached the "fun," "you need to do this" experience that was described to me.

have the cyclones become lame?

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