I’ve been reading a lot about the beating of Bryan Stow after opening day at Dodger Stadium (March 31).
Stow, a 42-year-old Santa Clara paramedic and father of two who traveled to Dodger Stadium on March 31 in Giants regalia. Walking through the parking lot after the game, Stow was accosted by two men, who taunted him, punched him and kicked him as he lay injured. [Source]
His injuries were serious enough to put him in a medically induced coma. He is still in critical condition.
Like many fans, I’m horrified, disgusted and deeply saddened that some pendejos would do this. I pray for Stow’s full recovery and hope such violence never occurs again at Dodger Stadium (or any other sporting event).
Other fans have expressed outrage online or called in to talk radio shows. Many shared their own concerns about going to Dodger Stadium and some brought up the race element before sketches of the suspects were released. The suspects look like your average pelón gang-banger. The comments section of the LA Times were filled with racist and anti-immigrant remarks. I started reading “thug” as a code word for young Latino male. Honestly, I wasn’t surprised by the racism.
However, I am surprised by the number of levelheaded people I know who no longer go to games, worry for their safety and think the atmosphere is not family friendly. My personal experience is much different and I go to lots of games (even if I grumble about how much I hate contributing to the McCourts’ profits).
What do you think? I’ve written a survey about the atmosphere in the stadium, in the parking lot and the surrounding area. Fill it out and share it with others who go to lots of games or just a few every couple of seasons. I hope to share some of the responses next week.
Dodger Stadium atmosphere survey
Edit: The survey is now closed. You can chime in on the responses when I post about the survey results.
Disclaimer: I’m just a fan. I have no affiliation with the Dodger organization, LAPD or city hall. Thus, the survey is focused on experiences and opinions rather than suggestions for improvement.
Lotería Chicana 
LA is strictly dominated by Latinos/Chicanos. Not every Latino is a gang banger, but those who are are giving the remainder of Chicano LA fans a bad rep. I am not afraid to attend a Dodgers game, but if I am wearing my Teams colors and/or apparel gang bangers look at me like I’m fronting, which I am not, I just want to enjoy our nation’s past time sport without getting bottles thrown at me or harassed. Dodger fans need to learn to act with more class and represent their city in a more noble way.
A Dodger game attended by fewer than 40,000 fans is often delightful. One attended by more than 50,000 is rarely anything but a misery.
The only quality-of-life issue the stadium employees seem much concerned by is smoking, against which they are ever vigilant. I’ve heard that they’re also quite good at keeping cheap seat ticket holders from sneaking down to get a corned beef sandwich, though, so I guess there’s that.
This survey ignores some very important information regarding the general culture/atmosphere both inside and outside of the stadium. I am not a Dodger fan and i am not just being biased when I say that I cannot stand Dodger Stadium for many reasons. Statistics and experiences that only relate to violent acts (stabbings, fights, assaults, etc) don’t tell the whole story. When I go to Dodger Stadium, I EXPECT to see at least some people acting absurdly. With that said, I am keeping it real when I say that obviously there is that small percentage of folks everywhere that act stupid and ruin it for everybody else. When I go to other stadiums there is also some unfortunate fan behavior, but those are isolated incidents. You don’t EXPECT certain behaviors to be present when you go to a ballgame at other stadiums. Only at Dodger Stadium do I see people challenged to fights EVERY SINGLE TIME I AM THERE. Only there have I witnessed an entire section of fans throw food and beverages at an opposing teams’ fans on more than one occasion. Only at Dodger Stadium have I seen batteries and cd’s thrown at the players on the field on more than one occasion. Only there do you EXPECT to run into fans that will curse at you to your face. Whether these things happened to me or a complete stranger are irrelevant. Whether or not this behavior is kept in a statistical database is also irrelevant.The experiences you ask people to speak on in this survey lead us to a very incomplete conclusion as to what fan behavior at Dodger Stadium is really like. How many of the people who respond to your survey have ever been to more than 1 or 2 stadiums? Are all Dodger fans bad? No. But all the other crap that I mentioned are the real reasons I would not take my children to a game at Chavez Latrine. It doesn’t matter to me whether “swearing” “throwing objects” or “confrontational, verbal attacks” can be categorized as violent or not. The general culture that has been fostered and tolerated at Dodger Stadium is the problem, not how many people get attacked physically. This is clearly just a way to try and represent Dodger Stadium to be “just like any other ballpark.” Those of us that have been to a number parks know better. Dodger Stadium is garbage.
Sam: I’m unsure what you mean about Latinos and Chicanos dominating LA.
Andrew: They’re also pretty good at taking away beach balls.
Chaps: I wonder if you even saw the survey. I asked questions about witnessing fights (frequency), experiencing verbal harassment, experiencing physical harassment, personally knowing someone who had experienced either verbal or physical harassment. I didn’t ask about fans’ experiences at other stadiums, but some did comment on this when I asked if they had other thoughts to express. My objectives weren’t to understand what fan behavior is really like. That study is outside the scope of my little survey. I wrote the survey to try and understand what people have experienced at Dodger Stadium. As a Dodger fan who goes to lots of games, this concerns me. It’s also been all over the LA media. I’ve been to stadiums on the east coast and west coast (6 total) and the vibe is certainly different. They often lack personality and I find them boring. No survey is flawless and I have not made any conclusions. The only one making faulty conclusions is you.
the questions asked if we “know someone” who had experienced harassment, violence or physical threats ….. having seen many people experience those things, my answers would not be validated in your study because I don’t “know them”. When I bring up other stadiums, the purpose is to find a gauge with which to measure what “safe” means. If you’ve only been to one ballpark, you can’t truly compare what goes on there with any other places. It’s like asking a 5 year old if he liked his cheeseburger at McDonald’s. His answer will probably yes. A 30 year old will probably tell you McD’s is nasty compared to the cheeseburgers at a nice steakhouse or BBQ joint. I hope that makes sense. I’m not making faulty conclusions, I just question the objective of the study in the larger scope that is ballpark safety and fan behavior.
When are the survey results going to be posted?