Written by Isaac Barber and Media by Fallyn Paruleski
There is nothing like going to a live professional sporting event, whether it be at the 50 yard line of a Bears game, behind the foul pole of a Cardinals game, or even the infamous “nose-bleed” seats at the Bulls games. These games help drive the viewers’ excitement, and sparks passion in fans of all ages as they are able to watch there favorite teams live. Almost nothing can take away from the experience of seeing your favorite players play to win the game. Games typically take any where between 2-3 hours (Lets not even talk about the chance of an overtime). And that one thing that may put a damper in the Live Game experience, may just happen when your stomach starts to growl a little bit.
Living in Chicago, there are so many opportunities to go to live sporting events all year round. I once went to a baseball game as a child with a youth group, and like most great youth groups, students have to pay for their own food if they get hungry at the ball park. As I relayed this message to my parents, they gave me 10 dollars (the food dollar amount of most preteens around America), in hopes that I would be smart with my money and eat after the game. But me, being the genius child that I was, wanted that ball park experience. So after the 5th inning of the game, I went out to spend my 10 dollars, and for a hour I searched for that ball park experience. After that hour, the top of the 9th inning approached, and I sat down with 0 dollars in my pocket. And the only thing that I was able to buy was a cinnamon pretzel and a pack of lemon heads.
The price of food and drinks at professional sporting events are entirely too high. A person can pay 50 dollars for a ticket to a Rams game, and still have to pay over 20 dollars for food and drinks. (When we think drinks, lets think your soft drinks; remember we are Greenville College newspaper) The questions I ask are when will it stop, or will it get worse? Because at the end of the day, one must ask, is it really worth it? We sing, “Take me out to the ball game” and we shout, “Buy me peanuts and cracker jacks!” and you may have a 70-year-old retired accountant with a goofy striped hat, and a goofier striped shirt, asking you for 15 bucks, because if you want that peanut and cracker jacks experience, that is how much it is going to cost you. I’d mention the cost of parking and the hassle of finding a parking spot, but that is a different topic for a different day.
When is it too much, because the next thing you know, we are going to get charged for our use of Salt and Pepper.
