As a long-time ticket plan holder (since the 1st season), I
registered a loud protest at this. And I am still so angry I might
reluctantly boycott the season.

Usually politics at the ballpark is left to things like having an
elected official throw out a first ball or some recognition not
involving the actual game presentation. If the Cyclones wanted to
do something pre-game to acknowledge the election of America's first
African American president (Jackie Robinson, after all, did break
baseball's color barrier in Brooklyn) I could have lived with that
even though I did not vote for Mr. Obama and will probably not
support much of what he proposes to do over the next four years.

But this promotion has a real nastiness to it. People named McCain
or Palin are "banished" to the bleachers. Ha, ha. Very funny. And
there is an "exit strategy" where you get a flag when leaving the
ballpark. So the message is it's patriotic to "get out" - but out
of what? Iraq? Afghanistan? These are questions that a sports
team has no business pushing on its patrons.

And the decision to put Obama's name right on the uniform? Well,
what if one or more of these young players doesn't like Obama and
doesn't want to be a walking billboard for him? Can they speak up?
Of course not, not if they want to remain in the Mets' employ. And
as I pointed out to the Cyclones, it is unlawful for an employer in
the State of New York to adopt a "dress code" which forces an
employee to endorse a particular elected official or political
party. That violates New York's Labor Law, the NYC and New York
State Human Rights Law and the constitutional rights of employees to
free speech and association.

For those of you who support this promotion, how would you feel if
you showed up for work one day and your employer forced you to wear
a t-shirt, a button or a hat endorsing a particular elected official
or political viewpoint that you don't like and don't support?
Wouldn't you be a bit angry? You certainly wouldn't say, oh, it's
just for fun, ha ha. How would you have reacted if
after 9/11 the Cyclones played in uniforms scripted the "Bushlyn
Cyclones" to show support for George Bush? That would have been
equally appalling. And most of you who like
this "Baracklyn" promotion would have been -- correctly -- crying
foul. (Remember Larry Brooks and Al Trautwig who both went
ballistic just because Ed Snider asked Sarah Palin to drop a first
puck at a Flyers game.)

And Jeff Wilpon's reaction really put me off. After getting some
criticism, he told the Post maybe we'll just have a whole Obama
week. Now I know I might not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but
isn't the first rule of good business that you don't intentionally
set out to piss off a significant number of your own customers?

As far as I know, no professional sports team at any level has
actually changed its name - even for one day - to that of an elected
official. (Correct me if I'm wrong on that.) But to me this is a
real big break with tradition and way over the line.

And what's to stop another team from using its players to openly
promote other elected officials or political causes? What's to stop
a team from "renaming" itself for an elected official just before a
primary or an election? That's pretty good advertising, huh? Lots
of eyeballs seeing the politician's name for two or more hours.
Indeed, doesn't this current promotion constitute a political
contribution in kind to Mr. Obama's ongoing fundraising activities
that - depending on the assessed value of the advertising - might
require reporting?

All in all, this is just one horrendous mess. And it can't just be
waved off as a "fun" promo like superheroes and frisbee chasing
dogs.



--- In brooklyncyclones2@yahoogroups.com, "dspecoraro"
<dspecoraro@...> wrote:
>
> Trying to say that there has been some wall between politics and
sports
> ignores reality - especially the reality of the last 8 years.
> Whether it was the lies over the friendly-fire death of Pat
Tillman or
> the false patriotism of the Yanks & SI playing God Bless America
after
> 9/11 when they did not do it before then, or even the Olympic
Games,
> politics has been part of sports in general and baseball in
particular.
> Our team honors baseball pioneer Jackie Robinson as one of it's
retired
> numbers. It is fitting that for one day we celebrate the hope that
we
> have been waiting for during the 8 year long nightmare that ends
> Tuesday. It is a fun bi-partisan promotion that gave a laugh to my
> staff members. We'll be there - I hope you will too. And for those
who
> don't want the bobblehead, I am sure I can find a good home for it.
> By the way, I liked the Parrot-head Night Jerseys - they are the
jersey
> my son & I wear to KeySpan most often + they work on Hawaiian
shirt
> days at school.
>