The fan will also be paid $12,000 for legal fees.Yankee fans are now at liberty to go to the bathroom during the playing of "God Bless America" during the seventh-inning stretch, thanks to a settlement reached yesterday in Manhattan federal court.
Signing off on the deal were the Yankees, the New York Civil Liberties Union and Queens resident Bradford Campeau-Laurion, who was thrown out of Yankee Stadium last year after trying to hit the head midtune.
Campeau-Laurion, a Red Sox fan, will also get $10,001 in a separate deal reached with the city because he got the boot from two uniformed cops -- one of whom allegedly told him, "Get out of my country."
This is one of the rare times I will side with a Sox fan. Not allowing fans to move around during a song, any song, reminds me more of Nazi Germany or Russia under Stalin than of the good ol' US of A.
Agreed
ReplyDeleteI agree but it doesn't make the guy any less of a scumbag for doing it.
ReplyDeleteSome respect for the country and those who served it would be nice.
The guy was getting up to pee. That's hardly disrespecting the country.
ReplyDeleteUnless he was creating a disturbance during God Bless America, he should be able to do whatever he wants to do.
ReplyDeleteThis is the good ol' USofA, where we defend to the death the right of any person to disagree with us.
I mean, we allow people to be Red Sox fans, right? It doesn't get any senseless than that.
....any more senseless.....
ReplyDeleteSo I guess that means "the courts" now own ANOTHER "private business," the Yankees.
ReplyDeleteHow much did the courts pay Stein for the right to intrude on "private affairs?"
If you want to pee during OUR song at OUR stadium--then stay the fuck home!
Yankee fans will kick that ass if they see u dispresct America in THEIR HOUSE.
How about fans act like adults and hold it?
ReplyDeleteSeems like this fan just wanted attention. Come off it; he sued!
Typical leftist.
I'll be at thestadium and would "advise" fans to please respect 9.11 and those who responded, world wide on behalf of NYers and This Country.
God Bless America--all but those leftist dirt bag Commie Lovers.
:v/
Come On, NY--act like you have a set.
Can't have enuff respect to hold it during God Bless America? Even as soldiers put themslvs out for you EVERY DAY?
Really?
if i gotta pee...i gotta pee...
ReplyDeletethere should be no rule that you have to stay still or that you are allowed to move during the song it should just be common courtesy to pay your respects to our soldiers. if you have to go to the bathroom theres no crime in that though sheesh.
ReplyDeleteIf a Dad wants to take advantage of shorter lines during 7th inning stretch to get ice cream for (or with) his kids, why should he have to worry about being hassled? The Bill of Rights protects the innocent as well as the guilty.
ReplyDeleteAlso- you can't hold 'civilians' to the same high standards as our wonderful men & women in the armed forces.
Respect? Guys you're overreacting with blind patriotism. If a person has to use the bathroom, it's no disrespect for the troops, this country, anyone. They just have to pee.
ReplyDeleteI respectfully disagree Greg. The fans are simply asked to take two minutes to show respect for the soldiers and the country.
ReplyDeleteMany soldiers are serving as we speak and many have died so that we may enjoy such freedoms. I don't believe waiting a moment to show respect is asking too much.
If it can't be helped, that's one thing. But otherwise I think it is 100% disrespectful.
This isn't blind patriotism, it is open eyed respect for those who are willing to fight to defend this country even to the point of giving their lives.
I do respect the right for people to do it anyway but I will always feel that anyone that does is disrespectful.
If you know anyone who has served in the military or a family that has has someone serving and ask them what they think about it.
Crossfire, you're entitled to your opinion. We'll just agree to disagree.
ReplyDeleteI'll just leave it at that before this gets too political.
We all have the right to our own opinions and I respect the right to have them even if I disagree with what is believed.
ReplyDeleteHow about if they take two minutes to show respect AFTER they pee? Then everyone's happy.
ReplyDeleteIf the whole point is to remember the troops, there's no point in dictating when that remembrance is going to be.
As long as he wasn't peeing on the flag I'm alright with it. When you gotta go you gotta go.
ReplyDeleteI went several times last year because that is when the lines were shortest, no one stopped me. I remember correctly because I sang the song midstream a couple of times and I was not drunk once... just REALLY had to go.
Could've been that I was always wearing my Yankees gear and that guy was wearing Red Sox related paraphernalia and some cop got overly aggressive.
Actually, it is the time during the game designated by the Yankees to respectfully honor the servicemen and women of our military.
ReplyDeleteSo I guess if nobody should ever dictate when when respect should be give?
Hmmm...
Then I guess those that feel it isn't disrespectful wouldn't mind if somebody else played loud music and laughed and fooled around while they were at a funeral for a family member.
I mean, there's no point in dictating when that remembrance is going to be, right?
"Could've been that I was always wearing my Yankees gear and that guy was wearing Red Sox related paraphernalia and some cop got overly aggressive."
ReplyDeleteI agree that may well have been the case and that the cops were wrong. A lot of people obviously do it.
As for peeing on the flag or burning it, some don't find that wrong either.
Sorry that analogy fails.
ReplyDeletePaying admission to go to an baseball event is not the same thing as attending a funeral where the WHOLE point is to remember the departed.
But I will admit it is rude to play baseball at a funeral service.
Sorry but I think the analogy is just fine and your argument is the one that fails.
ReplyDeleteThe time is designated to honor the servicemen and women. That is the whole point of it.
Is it seriously too much to ask that people show respect for the military for a whole two minutes?
And as for your comment that as long as nobody pisses on the flag, then you're alright with it.
Without the servicemen and women who fought for this country, the flag doesn't even exist.
So why even honor it?
Now that's blind patriotism.
I have no problem with the fan having to use the bathroom. I wouldn't get up to go the bathroom because I feel it's in poor taste at that moment to start moving around, but the fan shouldn't be forced to stand there if he has to go. Allegiance is something from the heart born out of love and pride for your country not something mandatory or forced at the point of a gun.
ReplyDeleteThat aside though, have any of you ever seen or heard about what Boston cops do to Yankee fans at Fenway?
Well said Danny. I have personally never had an issue with the cops at Fenway but I have had an issue with a dumb ass red sux fan there.
ReplyDeleteAs a Veteran, I think things are getting a little out of hand here. It's one thing to "ask" that fans rise and pay respect to the fallen and the flag. Is another to "demand". I served to allow citizens the right to "ask" with the freedom for others to deside how they feel they should show respect. You pay your respects the way you want; others are free to do so how they feel. That's freedom!
ReplyDeleteThis John Wayne mentality that demands that all stand still is misguided. It's like the politician who poses for pictures with the troops in Iraq at Thanksgiven but votes to cut military pay or veterans benifits. If you want to honor the troops and the vets, do something constructive. Volunteer at a VA hospital, give to veteran causes, support those who support the troops and vets in Congress. Those are the concrete things we can all do.
Besides, ever watch to see how many players go into the runway toward the clubhouse (especially the pitcher) just before they "ask" fans and players to rise. If they can use the bathroom, why not the fans?
Relax and enjoy the game.
Very well said Raymond.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Raymond, from the bottom of my heart. You get it. We have a real problem in this country with many people valuing shallow displays of love of country instead of valuing and living the actual principles that make this country deserving of that love. A child may get ostracized or even punished in some places for principled refusal to say the Pledge of Allegiance, but that same child will likely never be required to take a Civics class. We've got to get our priorities in order.
ReplyDeleteI believe people can love their country more effectively with an empty bladder.
ReplyDeleteI’m going to take a neutral stance on the whole peeing during God Bless America issue although if it were me, I would have held it for the two minutes. About that fan who got kicked out the stadium for wearing a Red Sox Jersey: That’s despicable. A few years back I sported the Yankees while attending a Yanks-Sox game at Fenway Park and was greeted pretty rudely on several occasions throughout the evening. But at no point did it ever cross my mind that I would even be approached by a police officer let alone kicked out of the place. Although it is possible this fan may have been haggling or have been haggled and became obnoxious in which case, whatever Yankee fans that were involved should have received the same treatment. I don’t think this cop should be fired, but he should at least be given some form of discipline and be forbidden from patrolling in and around Yankee Stadium.
ReplyDelete