Saturday, October 20, 2007
Ok, Enough is Enough
We know we've harped on more than a few inconsequential things in our years here, and you, Poor Readers, have been more than indulgent -- particularly when it's involved things sports-related, which (and let's be honest) are about as familiar and interesting to our normal, politically-minded readers as Conversational French is to George W. Bush.
But enough is enough.
Harp Alert: We took our seven-year-old to the Bruins/Rangers game this afternoon -- the second home game of the year -- because it had been pushed back to 4PM, thanks to the Sox game (meaning he could actually attend, for a change, since they have so few day games now.) The good news? The B's won, 1-0, in a shootout, thanks to the Mighty Pigmy, Phil Kessel. The bad news...
The bad news?
The bad news is that at the TD Banknorth Garden you now get exactly THREE "chicken strips" and "fries" for $7. Three crappy, cold, "chicken strips" piled on a heap of cold, disgusting "french fries" for $7.
A bottle of water is $4.
$4
When the guy slid the three "chicken strips" across at us we figured he'd either grabbed a tray that was missing a "strip" or two, dropped a couple along the way, or, for all we know, ate them himself between the heat lamp and the beer-soaked cash register, so we questioned him about it. Hey, this is serious business -- hockey and money -- and there's no room for squeamishness. But he explained that "they" had gone to three "chicken strips" this year, down from four last year -- on purpose. He was as disgusted by it as we were.
Our tickets -- face value -- are $102 apiece. This to see a team that placed 73rd out of 13 last year. The Boston Globe had to use longer paper stock for the NHL standings to fit the Bruins into last year's sports page. It was a fold-down section. Every NHL team and the girls JV from Our Lady of Perpetual Sorrow placed ahead of the Bruins. The team gave tickets to pan handlers on the street to fill the seats; we had to share our row with a guy named "Boxcar Winnie", who was sacked out across four seats with his kit and kaboodle strewn around him and a small fire going to warm his coffee and tins of cat food.
This is the organization that wants $11 for a kid to have three crappy, cold "chicken strips", "fries," and a bottle of water.
We pride ourselves on our restraint. This is not an area of inflammatory rhetoric, except where it concerns that lying dink George W. Bush. But for much the same reason that we call Dink George a Dink, we address the man in charge of our beloved Black & Gold:
Jeremy Jacobs, you are a greedy dink.
You may have all the money in the world, but you'll never be anything but a greedy dink. And don't give us any crap about the "free market." There's a helluva lot more to life -- and business -- than that. Just ask Robert Kraft or John Henry.
It's called the satisfaction of doing a good job, of creating something worthwhile, of building something that touches people, gives them joy, and that lasts.
Or, as we in the OTHER classes call it: NOT BEING A DINK.
But enough is enough.
Harp Alert: We took our seven-year-old to the Bruins/Rangers game this afternoon -- the second home game of the year -- because it had been pushed back to 4PM, thanks to the Sox game (meaning he could actually attend, for a change, since they have so few day games now.) The good news? The B's won, 1-0, in a shootout, thanks to the Mighty Pigmy, Phil Kessel. The bad news...
The bad news?
The bad news is that at the TD Banknorth Garden you now get exactly THREE "chicken strips" and "fries" for $7. Three crappy, cold, "chicken strips" piled on a heap of cold, disgusting "french fries" for $7.
A bottle of water is $4.
$4
When the guy slid the three "chicken strips" across at us we figured he'd either grabbed a tray that was missing a "strip" or two, dropped a couple along the way, or, for all we know, ate them himself between the heat lamp and the beer-soaked cash register, so we questioned him about it. Hey, this is serious business -- hockey and money -- and there's no room for squeamishness. But he explained that "they" had gone to three "chicken strips" this year, down from four last year -- on purpose. He was as disgusted by it as we were.
Our tickets -- face value -- are $102 apiece. This to see a team that placed 73rd out of 13 last year. The Boston Globe had to use longer paper stock for the NHL standings to fit the Bruins into last year's sports page. It was a fold-down section. Every NHL team and the girls JV from Our Lady of Perpetual Sorrow placed ahead of the Bruins. The team gave tickets to pan handlers on the street to fill the seats; we had to share our row with a guy named "Boxcar Winnie", who was sacked out across four seats with his kit and kaboodle strewn around him and a small fire going to warm his coffee and tins of cat food.
This is the organization that wants $11 for a kid to have three crappy, cold "chicken strips", "fries," and a bottle of water.
We pride ourselves on our restraint. This is not an area of inflammatory rhetoric, except where it concerns that lying dink George W. Bush. But for much the same reason that we call Dink George a Dink, we address the man in charge of our beloved Black & Gold:
Jeremy Jacobs, you are a greedy dink.
You may have all the money in the world, but you'll never be anything but a greedy dink. And don't give us any crap about the "free market." There's a helluva lot more to life -- and business -- than that. Just ask Robert Kraft or John Henry.
It's called the satisfaction of doing a good job, of creating something worthwhile, of building something that touches people, gives them joy, and that lasts.
Or, as we in the OTHER classes call it: NOT BEING A DINK.
