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Death to the Seat Poachers


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I have been to finals 15 times and no one ever poached my seat.  I think it has to do with the fact that I have always gotten there well before the first corps and stayed the whole time.  If I have to run to the rest room I leave something in my seat like a sweatshirt, hat, program, etc. and that has always worked.  Something is always in my seat, usually my butt.

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10 hours ago, cowtown said:

*Trigger warning to the entitled seat poachers

Perhaps death is a bit strong but a Pox; May the rude Seat Poachers never get a complimentary airline seat upgrade !!!

  When you pay for economy, do you help yourself to Business or first class seats merely because they are empty? Is this sort of theft acceptable in the new ‘share economy’? No, so why do it at a drum corps show. I don't care if you think I'm uncool, begone.

Normally, I have not minded the seat poachers in the past as they were polite and respectful, often keeping out of the paying customers’ way. This year, that was not the case.

Is this the entitled generation that I have heard of showing itself? Are the corps failing to instill those good, civic drum corps values? Was the lack of discipline I saw on the field a reaction to this generation and designing around it, ‘we cannot be taught to march forms but we can do our individual snowflake dance visuals’?

Usually, I can clear the seat, hit the washroom and make it back between corps. This year, not a chance due to Gate Lice and Seat Poachers trolling the aisles looking for a seat, blocking traffic flow. The Gate Lice were horrible, between corps they wouldn’t move or step to the side out of the way; instead they held their spot so only a trickle of the crowd could get in or out.

The Horror:  someone helped them self to a seat I purchased when I asked them not to as my friend was trying to get back in time. No mind to her, so my friend was doomed to became a seat poacher behind her for a corps. She was oblivious, entitled and completely disregarded me telling her 'no, the seat was not available' and then she was annoying watching the corps. Another: 2 seats over, their kids marched a 6-12 corps so they left to greet their kids at intermission, the Poachers quickly appeared and plopped in great seats for corps 6-1 and then when the parents returned for retreat, the Poachers refused to leave. The guy had to go down the aisle behind them and tap them out showing his ticket. And then…and then…the  Poachers showed such attitude, were so rude, it earned them my stabby eyes of death. The same Poachers returned looking to reclaim ‘their stolen seats’ for BD’s encore. Unreal. I know what corps you marched and will forever hate them.

And then there were the mass dinner parties plopped on the floor in traffic areas or the sudden stops in traffic to text that made getting around the stadium very difficult. How are you people so unaware of others around you and how your actions affect them? How are you so self- absorbed? Rude!

DCI need to limit the wrist bands to the upper-side sections and not let the Poacher interfere with the paying, ticket holders. Sorry, not sorry kids, you blew it. You abused your privilege and the good will, good nature of others. You get NOTHING! Current Marcher, I care about you even less now, drum corps has failed to make you respectful members of society, you have not been taught your civic duty or even how to respect your own corps while in public. Drum corps kids are not better.  Is this a good time to mention the marching member in uniform, well sort of in uniform, as he had his shirt off and his spandex trousers dropped as he was passed out in a urinal (semis)?

TL/DR: Cowtown rant against seat thieves, possibly smears an entire generation as entitled but left himself an out

My dad ran to the bathroom after Crown, got to the door in time to get to his seat to watch SCV, and the gate lice blocking the stairs wouldn't let him up. I felt so bad for him, because he had to watch it on the screen. 

 

Security NEEDS to be at every entrance asking for tickets in the better seats. Annoying, but completely necessary.

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9 hours ago, jeffmolnar said:

Have you never attended a major sporting event? This is not an uncommon thing. It's certainly not a new thing started by a younger generation. This has been going on for decades.

If you're too special of a snowflake to be able to tell someone that they're in your seat, maybe you shouldn't be going out in public?

I'm glad you say something about telling people they are in your seats, but.....it doesn't matter whether it's the first or 500th time at any event, there should be consideration for someone that pays for that seat.  If you didn't pay for it, get your butt out of it.  I've taken kids on all kinds of trips in my 31 year career as an educator and administrator.  We made sure our students understood what was right and what was not right and if you couldn't follow what was given to you, even as a suggestion, then you were either going to be talking to your parents on reverse charges (roaming charges are just as good) about your unwanted attitude and behavior.  if you couldn't understand that, then you were going home on your parents dime.  I don't care if someone else is letting you or the people you are with be unaware of respect to those who paid for those seats or respect for your elders (adults, the ones older than you), it shouldn't happen.  There is no way this person who wrote the OP is in the wrong and never said a thing about not standing up for themselves, and there are people who have a hard time doing that.  So why not be the one who stands up for them, instead of telling them to stay home.  Maybe the example you set will be the one they follow next time!

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8 hours ago, CrownBariDad said:

All 3 days -- no one asked to see tickets except entering the stadium.  There were several MM looking for seats and all were polite and respectful.  If I could help with a temporary seat (when the family was elsewhere for a while), I did. 

odd.  i saw two sections where a gent came up between corps to ask to see tix in the 100 level.

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3 hours ago, garfield said:

It's no secret how I feel, and I literally put my money where that feeling is this year.

Our pink-shirted gate guard on Thursday was masterful and calmly told everyone entering that the sections were reserved for Friends.  Most everyone was a little taken-aback, and some gave us the death stare as they left.  I promised the guy I'd give him $1 for each poacher he booted out between shows and he kept it so clean that I stopped counting at 20.

As I was leaving, I shoved a $20 bill in his hand and patted him on the back for an excellent job, over his protestations.

The next day, I found out he's also a corps board member and he put my $20 into his corps' fuel fund.  Over salad he told me about his adventures in volunteering during Finals week. 

Friday and Saturday, the gate was monitored by one of the long-term volunteers who's in her 60's (or 70's :-)) and still rides her Harley.  She did a great job both nights, and it helped that, by that time, DCI had put signs up on the entry door showing exactly the type of plastic ticket needed to get in.

Here's my opinion:

The Friends program is a very worthwhile and enjoyable club, and everyone should join.  You get a little "inside baseball", you get to attend a pretty fancy breakfast and hear from the execs of the activity.  I joined in 1984, just a couple of years after the group was founded.  For perspective, my first membership was the $25 basic membership and I sat on the perimeter of the Friends section (the first year I was in the endzone!).  Today, I pay 100 times that amount and have been sitting in the same 10 seats in LOS since 2009, right smack on the 48 yard line, mid-way up in Sec 240.  My name shows up in the program just like all the other Friends, albeit a little higher up the list.

In the end, the Friends program survives on the notion that its block are the Good Seats that everyone covets.  I'm sorry if it ruffles some feathers that the seats, at $150 each, are outside the budget of many fans, but that shouldn't stop DCI from charging the highest that the market will bear for those premium seats and not a penny less (I hope Dan isn't reading!)  It is those who can and will pay those ticket prices for their experience that are exactly the same who pay many times that for premium seats at premium sports events, and DCI is no different.

If DCI is going to charge what the market will bear, it is to their great advantage to protect those Friends seats from poachers to retain their coveted position.  One person here already was prompted to join Friends specifically for that reason, and many came before him to get the "Good Seats".

They're not going to be the Good Seats if one has to constantly do battle to be able to enjoy them.

I don't look down my nose at those who don't have my seats, so l don't expect others to look down their nose because I do.

 

 

As a former member of a friends group, and probably again some day, I couldn't agree more

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2 hours ago, Jim Schehr said:

I'll keep this simple. I don't care where people sit as long as they don't sit in my seat. Two choices after the usual "you're not so stupid to think someone didn't purchase this seat" then I give them two choices; One - get up, apologize, leave and never come back. Two - I throw you over the railing and you have to explain to the usher how you got on the field. 

and knowing you, they'd get serious air on their way over the rail

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2 hours ago, Kyle B said:

I don't think you know anything about sporting events.

 

Sitting in the wrong seat would never result in an ejection, let alone being forcibly removed.

well if the poacher was an ### about it, it is possible

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2 hours ago, Bobby L. Collins said:

I take it you've never been to Philadelphia.  Or Los Angeles.  Or Pittsburgh.  Or Houston.  Or Cincinnati.  

You're not dealing with band parent volunteers at pro venues.  You're dealing with the guy who took a swing at Tim Snyder x 20.

I've been to Philly, as a fan of 3 of their teams, and the mortal enemy of the other, and I've only seen people tossed for being an ### to security...even at a Dallas/Eagles game.

I've been to a flyers game with a friend dumb enough to wear a Devils jersey ( Stevens no less) and see security pull him aside and let him know if people started stuff to get them.

I was at game 4 of the 2008 series in seats behind the Tampa friends and family section getting catcalled....and saw security tell them to shut the #### up.

I've been to a Dallas Eagles game where I saw people get tossed for trying to start fights. I've even been to a KISS concert in the Center and saw someone refuse to sit down, blocking the view of others all the way in the back of the arena and get told to sit....and then get tossed when becoming abusive to stadium personnel.

 

the key every time was the fan being an idiot back to the stadium folks or not. if they weren't, no one was tossed.

 

 

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1 hour ago, Trumpet2 said:

Security NEEDS to be at every entrance asking for tickets in the better seats. Annoying, but completely necessary.

I honestly couldn't agree more with this. I said this at finals this year. After the intermission I came back to my seat to find a teenager sitting there. I told him politely that the seat he was in was mine and he was like, "oh, okay," looked at me, and continued sitting in the seat. Frustrated, I repeated, "hey, this is my seat," a little more firmly and he said, "oh." And got up and left. Didn't apologize, didn't look like he was going to move if I had sat on his lap. I'll never understand why kids do this. I paid high dollar for my seat and I wasn't about to let some teenager take that. 

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8 minutes ago, ripchops said:

I honestly couldn't agree more with this. I said this at finals this year. After the intermission I came back to my seat to find a teenager sitting there. I told him politely that the seat he was in was mine and he was like, "oh, okay," looked at me, and continued sitting in the seat. Frustrated, I repeated, "hey, this is my seat," a little more firmly and he said, "oh." And got up and left. Didn't apologize, didn't look like he was going to move if I had sat on his lap. I'll never understand why kids do this. I paid high dollar for my seat and I wasn't about to let some teenager take that. 

There was one in the seat behind me for Madison through Phantom this year, and he would comment during shows "oh #### that was insane. That was insane" he ran out a couple of times in the middle of a show, and finally the owners of the seats got there and he left and I said "Thank God!" 

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