ATTENTION ALL WASHINGTON NATIONALS FANS: IT’S TIME TO TAKE BACK THE PARK!

[InsaneBoost]

Do I need to make some of you all do the chicken?

[PANatsFan]

Agreed.  I've seen so much "hide the women and children" talk.... I don't know I don't find Phillies fans scary or intimidating.  I've been a STH since 2005 and been to numerous Phillies games and other than the Phillies fans cheering loud and talking a little smack I've never had a problem with them.  The only fight I ever saw at a Phillies-Nats game was in 2005 and it was between a guy wearing a Caps jersey and a guy wearing a Flyers jersey.  The guy in the Caps jersey started it. 

Bottom line: The only way to keep the Phillies fans out is for Nats fans to buy the tickets and go to the games.  If Nats fans don't step up or wimp out, hard to blame the Philly fans.

Bartenders and park employees have told me it's not exactly fun and games for them.

[The Chief]

Bottom line: The only way to keep the Phillies fans out is for Nats fans to buy the tickets and go to the games.  If Nats fans don't step up or wimp out, hard to blame the Philly fans.

I don't know how it's possible for anyone to have missed this point by now but NATS FANS CAN'T DO THAT WHEN THEY SELL BUSLOADS OF TICKETS TO PHILLIES FANS FIRST!!!

The issue is not the Philly fans, it's the policies set by our FO.

No

Yes.

[wpa2629]

Yes.

No

Try reading what I wrote.

I'm done with this thread. It's pointless and painful.

Carry on all, have a good day.

[ouij]

I have one small suggestion, the charts would be a little easier to follow if you used two axes instead of combining the data on one.  Not sure what charting software you used, but Excel handles this easily.

I hadn't figured out how to get two vertical axes/scales for Google Docs, and I was trying to get the post up before I went down to dinner.

[The Chief]

No

Try reading what I wrote.

I read what you wrote.  I still disagree.  If you can't see how the FO's policies have made things worse, I don't know what to tell you.

[InsaneBoost]

Agreed.  I've seen so much "hide the women and children" talk.... I don't know I don't find Phillies fans scary or intimidating.

I agree with this entirely. Philly fans live more of the reputation they have than what they actually do. Of course some of their fans naturally are good-hearted fans and just get caught up in the few scum as well.

I've personally talked a whole lot of crap to their fans when they wanted to get mouthy. Usually don't do it because there are other fans who will faster than myself (I'm like a ticking time bomb, I can take so much, but then I finally get set off), but NOBODY at Nationals Park seems to want to stand up for not only the team, but their home stadium.

So naturally I took it into my own hands and let them know just about how everyone else felt about them, their team and the city of Philly entirely. Of course after that I was expecting somebody wanting to throw down with me or throw something (this is what they're known for, right?). Well the Phillies fans behind of me was like, "damn man." Others shut up real quick and the rest were either laughing or just watching the game.

That's when I realized they aren't anything to be scared of (not that I ever was), but for those of you who are or who are some what intimated by them.

Of course we got killed  11-1 or whatever it was that day, but I stayed till the end.

[Coladar]

What I saw mentioned once, and ignored, is the worst part of the group of 80 non-fans coming... Their chances of ever coming back are nil to none, which sucks, for obvious reasons. No matter what, an undeniable fact is the concourses are filled with drunken Philly louts who shout and curse and god knows what else. All this take over the park nonsense is well and good, until you consider people like these 80 coming to one of these games for the first time. A Philly game = nightmare fan experience. Any other night, it's nice, family oriented, and these people are likely to come back again. I don't think subjecting 80 potential future fans to a Philly game should be considered a positive at this point for any reason, as the odds of them having an unenjoyable experience and not coming back are insanely, infinitely higher than if they have a group outing during nearly any other matchup.

[InsaneBoost]

LOL, just realized the tickets my friend gave me are to this game. Hilarious.

[The Chief]

LOL, just realized the tickets my friend gave me are to this game. Hilarious.

YOU BETTER GO AND TAKE 80 OF YOUR CLOSEST FRIENDS OR YOU'RE A BAD FAN

[PowerBoater69]

What I saw mentioned once, and ignored, is the worst part of the group of 80 non-fans coming... Their chances of ever coming back are nil to none, which sucks, for obvious reasons. No matter what, an undeniable fact is the concourses are filled with drunken Philly louts who shout and curse and god knows what else. All this take over the park nonsense is well and good, until you consider people like these 80 coming to one of these games for the first time. A Philly game = nightmare fan experience. Any other night, it's nice, family oriented, and these people are likely to come back again. I don't think subjecting 80 potential future fans to a Philly game should be considered a positive at this point for any reason, as the odds of them having an unenjoyable experience and not coming back are insanely, infinitely higher than if they have a group outing during nearly any other matchup.

Probably was just a made up story in an attempt to support an indefensible point.  I don't think that anyone would be dumb enough to set up an office outing to one of those games, unless of course if they are reserving the private party suites in which case they'll be fine.

[wpa2629]

I read what you wrote.  I still disagree.  If you can't see how the FO's policies have made things worse, I don't know what to tell you.

Yeah, pretty sure I've conceded that point. My point is it doesn't matter. They've been good, we've been bad. Their fans are going to come regardless. They're going to come as long as they are good and we are bad. How many philly fans do you think come if tickets aren't sold to bus groups? 15 K instead of 20K? Do you really think 15K Philly fans are any less horrendous than 20K?

It sucks that the FO has done this, it sucks that they did it again this year and yeah, I think the "take back the park" effort is a day late and a dollar short. But I applaud the effort to at least try and acknowledge and change a past mistake, however futile it may be. 

If in the future they don't sell to bus groups, all the better. But until we win more games than the Phillies, they will have an assload of fans in our park, buses groups or no.

I just find it amazing that we're using Philly fans in this thread to categorize what type of fans we are based on whether or not we go to a certain game. As if Philly fans are a benchmark of who we are and what we want to be.

Seriously, freak philly, freak their bandwagon whore fans. They are not a measuring stick for who we are as a fan base.

You care about the Nats, you're a fan. That's it. How many games you go to or how many philly fans you think you need to stand up to is completely irrelevant. Ugh I'm so over all the nagging and moaning.

Sigh

Now I'm going to be good to my word and be done with this miserable thread.

Apologies for the soap box all.

Have a good Sunday.

[PowerBoater69]

Do you really think 15K Philly fans are any less horrendous than 20K?

Uh, yeah, a lot of difference.  5K is about 12 percent of capacity, assuming a sell out that is nearly a 25% swing from Phillies fans to Nats fans.  15K is still a huge number but that is certainly less horrendous.  Another thing that would be good about ending group sales is that those 5K fewer fans would mostly disappear from the lower deck where they dominate the TV images and noise level.

[NATSCSMGR]

SCS?

I'm fairly certain that the Customer Service Manager would not be the guy to answer questions about ticket sales policies.  And based on how this thread is going, I'll speculate that he will  back to Nats Park Questions where there are some good questions about concessions availability on the Mezzanine level..

HA! It's going to take more than that to get rid of me! I knew what I was getting into before I joined this board.

[PowerBoater69]

HA! It's going to take more than that to get rid of me! I knew what I was getting into before I joined this board.

Did you see the thread below?  The guy is thinking about buying mezzanine level seats but has some questions about availability of food and drinks etc.  We took a shot at it, but you should be able to provide more solid info.

http://www.wnff.net/index.php?topic=25695.0

[CALSGR8]

HA! It's going to take more than that to get rid of me! I knew what I was getting into before I joined this board.

[MarquisDeSade]

HA! It's going to take more than that to get rid of me! I knew what I was getting into before I joined this board.

Good to know, thanks for hanging with us.

Sorry if some of us (i.e. me) have an axe to grind but I want to say the folks that I've dealt with in the ticket offices have nothing but aces to me.  My ticket rep (that I won't mention here) has got to be one of the best customer service people I've ever dealt with and has went way out of his way to help me out too many times to count.  When I was really large I always had to get standalone seats in the ADA section and everyone, from the ticket office folks to the ushers, were nothing but nice to me then and now.  For that I want to thank you and the rest of the team there. 

[KnorrForYourMoney]

No, the issue are Nats fans taking shots at each other in this thread like it's some blood feud. It's just a waste of energy.

Wrong.  It is a blood feud.  If you're making excuses for the pitiful FO and not holding them accountable, you're just as guilty of the ongoing Philly debacle as the nitwits in charge of these group presales.

[InsaneBoost]

YOU BETTER GO AND TAKE 80 OF YOUR CLOSEST FRIENDS OR YOU'RE A BAD FAN

Haha, I'll be there, just ironic.

[spidernat]

Meanwhile, real Nats fans don't seem to have that problem.

If anyone wants to know whether they are "real Nats fan" or not, just apply to BiL.

[spidernat]

That's when I realized they aren't anything to be scared of (not that I ever was), but for those of you who are or who are some what intimated by them.

Very well put.    It works the same way at Redskins games. When the team does their part they are as quiet as church mice. When the home team craps their pants they become like rats. When this happens you just need to stand up to them and, like all rats, they scatter for cover. Every now and then you run into some that believe the media hype about them being tough and intimidating and then you just have to call their bluff.

What I saw mentioned once, and ignored, is the worst part of the group of 80 non-fans coming... Their chances of ever coming back are nil to none, which sucks, for obvious reasons.

Also, a group of 80 may inevitably include philly fans that are getting to the game for free.

Uh, yeah, a lot of difference.  5K is about 12 percent of capacity, assuming a sell out that is nearly a 25% swing from Phillies fans to Nats fans.  15K is still a huge number but that is certainly less horrendous.  Another thing that would be good about ending group sales is that those 5K fewer fans would mostly disappear from the lower deck where they dominate the TV images and noise level.

Excellent point.

[Kevrock]

If anyone wants to know whether they are "real Nats fan" or not, just apply to BiL.

Yeah, dude is the official fan police.

[jhuterp]

I don't know how it's possible for anyone to have missed this point by now but NATS FANS CAN'T DO THAT WHEN THEY SELL BUSLOADS OF TICKETS TO PHILLIES FANS FIRST!!!

Yes.

Bartenders and park employees have told me it's not exactly fun and games for them.

I don't know how it's possible for anyone to have missed this point by now but NATS FANS CAN'T DO THAT WHEN THEY SELL BUSLOADS OF TICKETS TO PHILLIES FANS FIRST!!!

Yes.

We've gotten the point about the bonehead move by the FO to sell to Philly groups.  It's been beaten to death.  The opener a couple years ago was beyond ridiculous, that said I've seen Nats fans on this board declare they're not going to any Nats-Phillies games at Nats Park.  Really?  Fans on this board are going to avoid what will probably be the best home games of the year against a top division rival because some of the Philly fans got drunk and cursed?  This mentality will ensure the Philly invasions will continue.  Sorry, but there's no punishing the FO on this, if they don't sell the tickets to Nats fans they WILL sell them to Phillie fans.

The Nats look better than at any time during their existence.  Enjoy it, buy the tickets, the games against the Phillies will be some of the best match-ups of the year.

[OldChelsea]

They could always try mandatory segregation of home and away supporters, as they do in English footie...trouble is, quite a few STH would have to be relocated.

---

Really haven't had trouble with the Philly support in the neighbourhood of TBSITH, or even in the 300 level generally. We do of course get quite a few Philly supporters in that area - they've been enthusiastic but not over the top. Haven't seen anything happening in the 300's remotely close to Guins/Sabres/Wings fans at Cap matches.

[Obed_Marsh]

A bounty for phan scalps would go along way to restoring my faith in the big bad D.C smack talking.