This thread is great! Lots of well-thought-out ideas/observations and a ton of experiences posted. I can't possibly comment on all of them. I do have a few things to say though. I have NEVER booed at a baseball game on any level. But the tickets are much cheaper for baseball than other sports that I've attended. Even with the chanting I mentioned before at the STL game, I didn't join in with everyone else. Neither did anyone in my family.
The ONLY sport in which I have ever verbally "booed" (both at home and in-person) were NASCAR races. When I was at the Martinsville NASCAR Cup Series race last October, I was just as loud as the rest of the crowd when the local driver wrecked what was apparently the fan-favorite to win that race. The driver that caused the wreck was a local driver and long-time veteran of the series. The driver he wrecked was a 2nd-year driver with a famous father in Racing. I never would have thought that most of the crowd at a track in Virginia would boo a VA-born veteran driver for taking out a young 2nd-gen. driver from Georgia!!! I was booing b/c I don't like that driver anyway AND I was rooting for the young guy to get his first win in the Cup Series. NASCAR is generally totally different from other sports though. Instead of everyone rooting for one of two teams, there are currently at least 36 drivers on the track at once. There are about 18-20 drivers that are cheered for and booed against, and then the others who don't really matter.
I totally agree with booing at the price of a beer (or any drink price really)! At the stadiums, a beer shouldn't cost $8 for a cup b/c I can buy a case (twenty-four 12oz. cans) of high-quality beer for about twice that price. A bottle of water or soda shouldn't cost $2-4 either. At the Martinsville race, a hotdog fully-loaded is only $2, but a 20oz. bottle of soda (or Pop) costs $4. Same price for a bottle of water. I can buy a case of 1-liter bottles of water for about $5 in the grocery store when they aren't on sale. That's an INSANE mark-up for anywhere on Earth!
I'll wrap this up with my only live NFL game experience. I never booed while my Carolina Panthers got trounced by the PIT Steelers. The Panthers lost 34-3, but I knew that a big part of that was b/c the Panthers had a ton of injuries that year and this was late in the season. Most of the starters on offense were out and several of the defensive starters were also out of the game. I think I was more upset that it cost me $8 and 20 minutes of my time to get a cup of beer before the game even started! At halftime, it took so long to get into a bathroom that I avoided the beer line and opted for a soda instead. Much shorter line, slightly cheaper and I got a commemorative cup (that I still have), but I still didn't get back to my seat until 5 minutes into the 3rd Quarter.
OH, there was one more thing I wanted to mention. Talking about tearing up s**t after a championship: When Duke wins a basketball championship, it's an awesome celebration. Exhuberant, but peaceful. Joy all around the city!
But when the UNC Tarheels win any championship (especially basketball), they destroy everything in sight. You do not want to be anywhere near Chapel Hill when they win. Just like many of you mentioned before: fires, overturned cars, poles coming down, just overall chaos! I like the city in general terms, but I'm not going anywhere near there if a championship of any kind is possible that week!
NO PWE's EVER!!! PLZ PM me 1st before sending any offer. ONLY selling cards as of March 2024. No trades or purchases right now.
_______________________________________________________________________
Largest total PC card collections by Team, then Athlete (as of 3/22/24):
STL Cardinals (MLB) - 8810; Carolina Panthers - 2888; GB Packers - 1790+ cards
Mark Martin (NASCAR) - 2038 cards; Jimmie Johnson (NASCAR) - 1875 cards; Jeff Gordon (NASCAR) - 1594; Ricky Rudd (NASCAR) - 839; Ozzie Smith (MLB) - 707