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Will Someone Take Up The Case Of "Grandpa Bullet"

This was an interesting story that I found in the Comics section of the Washington Post as I left town on November 1. If you've ever been at a Bullets game in the lower section, you may have seen an older man with a fancy cane. His trademark harrangue of the refs is: "That was a baaaad, baaaad, sorry call." That man is David A. Register, aka Grandpa Bullet, and he may be without his seats for the first time without 1978.

Bob Levey, the columnist in the Comics section, wrote the sob story. Basically, David is a 78-year old widower and retired government social worker. He is on a fixed income. For many years, he paid full price for his two center court, 3rd row seats. When ticket prices started to climb, he agreed to move to cheaper seats on the concourse level. Eventually, the team started subsidizing those seats, as ticket prices creeped ever higher.

This year, the Bullets wanted him to pay an additional $20 per seat per game, which would have totalled an extra $1,640 for the season. David can't afford it. The Bullets refuse to subsidize him any more.

Say no more. The Bullets are definitely in the wrong on this one in their whole attitude. Said Bullets spokesman Matt Williams: "...if he comes to us and wants to buy seats, there are some seat available" and that some are in sections close to the court. He added that the Bullets "are not in a position right now" to accept contributions from the public on behalf of David Register.

Say what? Who cares who pays for the tickets? That's poorly worded if what he meant is that they won't collect the money from multiple contributors (some of which have poked their heads up). He's got tickets for the first six games of the season, as of Levey's column on Wednesday, November 6.

But I also don't have much sympathy for Mr. Register, either. He has a budget he must live on. We all do. Maybe he can only get a half-season package. But you make sacrifices based on what you are earning. So my sympathy only goes so far. However, the Bullets need to work on their PR.

This gets back to another pet peeve which I recently saw emphasized on SportsReporters a couple of Sundays ago on ESPN - the price of tickets. Most games are no longer affordable for moderate income families. That is going to kill the fan base for many sports and turn them into hob-nobbing sites where only the rich can afford to show up often. (It's tough enough for me as it is.)

The only way many kids are experiencing the games is on TV. And we all know that that is no way to experience a game. Live is the only way. That's why things like CWebb's Crib (a small section at USAir Arena where Webber pays for all of the tickets so low-income families can attend a game) are crucial to the future of any sport, including basketball. Come on, owners, let's keep the interest going and stop pricing families out of the live market. It's bad enough now to see all of the suits attending games in my section now (it's all full season ticket holders, unlike past years).

wtf 11 November 1996

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