November 20, 2007
Shameful. And I don't just mean the on-field play.
Apparently there is a culture of sexual harrassment at Jets games:
At halftime of the Jets’ home game against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday, several hundred men lined one of Giants Stadium’s two pedestrian ramps at Gate D. Three deep in some areas, they whistled and jumped up and down. Then they began an obscenity-laced chant, demanding that the few women in the gathering expose their breasts.
The Constitutional scholars, I mean, security guards, say they can't do anything about it:
Throughout halftime, about 10 security guards in yellow jackets stood near the bottom of the circular, multilevel ramp, located beyond the stadium’s concourse of concession stands and restrooms. One of the guards was smoking a cigarette; many fans do the same during halftime on the giant ramps, which are located at each corner of the stadium. Another guard later said they were not permitted to do anything about the chants at Gate D because of free speech laws. Yet when a reporter tried to interview two security guards after halftime, he was detained in a holding room, threatened with arrest and asked to hand over his tape recorder.
I guess when there's no game to watch, that's what happens:
But the Gate D tradition at Giants Stadium apparently is unique to Jets games; the Gate D ramps are comparatively empty at Giants games. Perhaps forlorn Jets fans, who have rarely had a winning team to support, are seeking alternative entertainment on game days.“This is the game,” said Patrick Scofield, a 20-year-old from Poughkeepsie, N.Y., who has attended several Jets games the last two seasons.
Some girls have no problem with the ritual:
Denisse Rivera, a 23-year-old from the Bronx, was on a first date Sunday. When she arrived at the crowd at Gate D, several men pointed at her, signaling men at all levels to chant in her direction. After a brief moment of hesitation, she flashed them. Then she took a bow.“I don’t care,” Rivera said when told that video clips of previous incidents, taken on cellphones, ended up online. “I love my body and I like what I have, so let everybody share it.”
I wonder if she's getting a second date.
Hat-tip SMVP.
Posted by Karol at November 20, 2007 01:26 PM | TrackBackTechnorati Tags: New+York+Jets
Those morons. It's private propery, so free speech does not apply. But they claim it does, so how about freedom of the press with the reporter?
As far as "Denisse" -- what a slut. Let's hope her date had the class to walk out on her right then and there.
Posted by: Perry Eidelbus at November 20, 2007 03:45 PMGiant's stadium is private property?
Posted by: E5 at November 20, 2007 04:20 PMYou know,this is just wrong. I mean, are the security guards waiting until we just proceed to the sexual assault followed by massive lawsuit phase? I think if I was the owner (be it private or public), I'd have a chat with the head of security involving terms like "family event," "head out of a**", and "termination of contract." Someone's gonna get sued--the only question is whether or not that will happen before or after there's a physical incident.
Uh...my eyes...my virgin eyes.
Posted by: Not Dawn Summers at November 20, 2007 11:58 PMI guess some of the fans need a distraction from all that sweaty man on man action going down on the field.
Posted by: Marco at November 21, 2007 12:46 AMMore like man-on-turf action.
This is the New York Jets we're talking about here.
Posted by: Gerard at November 21, 2007 08:18 AM"Perhaps forlorn Jets fans, who have rarely had a winning team to support, are seeking alternative entertainment on game days."
The Forlorn Apple is a Jet's fan. And a Met's fan. This explains it all.
Posted by: forlorn apple at November 21, 2007 12:47 PMAlbeit with lots of government intervention, but yes, E5, it's ultimately privately owned.
Posted by: Perry Eidelbus at November 21, 2007 01:29 PMI thought it's owned by the New Jersey Sports & Exposition Authority which is a public entity.
Regardless... even if the ultimate owner is public owner, it is probably privately leased or licensed to a private company for the games.
So your initial point was correct. It's a misunderstanding of who the Bill of Rights is aimed at (gov't).
A lot of people incorrectly believe that it was written to prevent a private landowner from only allowing people of certain religions onto his private store. (it was not... but is probably construed as such nowadays).
So the way things played out is actually 100% fine... it's the reasoning that the security guard used that was incorrect.
Correct answers should have been:
Q1: Why don't you stop them from saying what they;re saying?
A1: Because it's private property and we choose not to curtail such speech as a condition of granting access to our property.
Q2: Why did that reporter get detained?
A2: Because it's private property and we grant access only subject to some other restrictions on recording devices and other behavior that the reporter agreed to yet then disregarded.
Posted by: E5 at November 21, 2007 01:42 PMI'm confused - is the chant "J-E-T-S" or "T-I-T-S"?
Posted by: Radical Redneck at November 22, 2007 12:24 PMIn the UK, "Get your tits out for the lads" is sung to the tune of "Bread of Heaven". The police take the same view of this as racist chanting, and it'll get you chucked out of a match.
Posted by: bryan at November 24, 2007 07:28 PM
