[valo403]

Originally Posted by Cecil Terwilliger

Let's go step by step through your version of the events.

"Taking the ball". Yes, anyone who is at a game is going to try and catch the foul ball. Kids, adults etc. doesn't matter. They certainly didn't take it from the kid. They caught it like everyone else around them who wanted the ball. You seem to think "catching a ball meant for no one in particular and up for grabs for anyone sitting nears" is equivalent to "they stole it from the kid, he had eyes for that ball from the first moment". That's bizarre.

"Laughing about it while a kid who wanted it cries". I would cheer if I got the ball too. Even as an adult I would feel kinda bummed if I missed it. The kid chose to cry. And? Kids cry all the time. It seems suspicious that the people didn't notice the kid crying but not impossible. The kid was facing away from the couple and the couple was facing away from the kid. Maybe they didn't hear him cry because of the noise. Or maybe he'd been whining the whole game and they thought he just started crying again. There is no evidence that their laughing and his crying are related. To suggest they're laughing at him is absolutely proposterous.

"Taking pictures of the ball in front of the kid." Well that's intentionally misleading on your part. They are taking pictures. The kid happens to be sitting next to them. It isn't like she got all up in the kids face and held the ball up while the guy took pics. A man was taking pictures of his excited girlfriend with a ball she caught. A kid was crying. These events are totally separate.

"Sucking up to the kid". I'm not even sure what you're talking about here. Yes the kid got a different ball. Good for him. So what? I went to a Jays game when I was 8. I didn't cry when I didn't get a ball. If I had cried would John Olreud have purposefully hit a foul ball to me and the entire crowd around me part like the Red Sea so I could catch it? Doubtful. Fact of life, not everyone who attends a professional sporting event gets a souvenir.

There is no indication in the video that anyone said anything to this couple. If they were oblivious it is entirely possible they didn't notice. When a person is excited about something like that their perception of what is going on around them is lowered because they are so engrossed by the event that captivated them. In this case the woman and her b/f seemed pretty damn stoked about the ball. No one in the section appears to say anything, be it the kids parents or surrounding fans. Should the couple have stood up and yelled "Are there any children in the vacinity who want this ball? I am obligated by baseball norms to give up this ball" Is it like finding money? If no one claims it within a certain amount of time could the couple have kept it? Or should they have continued looking for a kid until they gave it away?

What if the people the row behind would have caught it and the kid cried? Would those people have to give it up? What about the people 2 rows behind? 5 rows? A different section? What if there is a kid closer to them but he isn't crying? Which kid takes precedent? Is it based on proximity or the level of disturbance that determines who is worthy of the ball? What if they are both equidistant and are both absolutely bawling? Maybe some sort of tiebreaker based on the amount of team gear the kid is wearing?


I've heard soooooo many people, including the guys on Fan 960 morning show, say that giving a ball to a kid is rule #1 in any baseball stadium in the world for anyone who knows anything.

I attended countless Cannons games with my grandfather (RIP) and never once did I ever get the pitty ball from someone. Sometimes an older man or woman would give the ball away if they didn't want it but never, ever was it expected to be given to a kid.

I've also watched enough baseball to know that 99% of the time the person who catches it, keeps it. Ball boys are constantly giving balls to people who aren't under 10 years old.

Same with the mini footballs at CFL games. Those are often kept by adults and not immediately given to the nearest kid.

Moreover, the only ball I've ever gotten from a Cannons game was from my grandfather and I wasn't even there that day. It meant so much to me (I still have the ball) and now that I've read this story all I can think about are a bunch of judgemental pricks harrassing my grandfather because he wanted to save the ball for me and not give it to some little kid.

Likewise, my sister is about to give birth to her first baby boy. My brother in law is a HUGE BB fan. I mean huge. if I was to catch a ball at a MLB game or even Okotoks Dawgs game I would save the ball and make it a gift for my nephew. And yet I'd be worse than Hitler for not giving it to some kid who may be near me. He may not even like baseball and was dragged crying to the game.

Even a hockey example, if I got a game puck over the glass at a Flames game I would damn well keep it. Even if I got a ball at an MLB game I might consider keeping it (although I'd likely gift it to my nephew). Just because I'm an adult doesn't mean that I don't have a kid inside me who wants that ball.

For everyone saying these people are dicks, if Iggy's stick came over the glass when you sat lower bowl would you keep it? Or would you "do the right thing" and give it to the nearest kid. I sit lower bowl maybe once per year. For all I know the kid I would be giving the stick to sits there every night and has a dozen player sticks from all the suckers who give theirs up because he cries. For me, getting a puck or stick or ball would be once in a lifetime. Maybe for the kid it is old news. How do I know? Better be safe than sorry and give it away?

Why isn't Jersey Off Our Backs solely little kids? They get preference right? How come people that win don't defer their prize to a kid? I've never seen an adult get booed for keeping a stick or a puck or anything else free. Free hats, tshirts, jerseys, pucks, sticks are all given away. Whether they fly into the crowd as part of a free giveaway or fly off the playing surface makes no difference. Not all of them are given to children. This kid won't be the first and he won't be the last to not get a prize. What makes him so special?


tl:dr these people may be selfish heartless dicks who wanted to rub it in the kids face but IMO they could just as easily, or maybe even more likely, are just regular people who had a very exciting moment and weren't 100% clued in to their surroundings and now the media is making a mockery of them.

I haven't seen someone Flip out and go on a rant like this in a long time