Let me preface this post by saying that I think Ben is a morally serious person, when I repeat his claims I take them seriously, and if he's willing to put himself on the line by claiming definitively that X is true, I'm willing to trust him. This is still a rumor as there has been no formal investigation, but it's the kind of rumor I take extremely seriously due to the source.
The story is that the Redskins are allegedly breaking the rules. You can find the rules here, the specific ones prohibiting the piping in of crowd noise are below, emphasis added:
(1) Club-Controlled Sound: The home club does not have the prerogative to decide if such sound hampers signal calling. While spontaneous crowd noises may be beyond immediate control, noise of any kind (music, horns, gongs, drums, etc.) that is under club control must cease when the play clock (40 or 25 second) is running and the visiting team is in possession of the ball. Flagrant attempts by cheerleaders, mascots or the public-address system to encourage crowd noise for the purpose of disrupting the visiting team's offense while the play clock is running is prohibited.
I guess one could argue that actually contributing artificial noise might not be an attempt at "encourag[ing]" crowd noise. But I wouldn't buy that argument. Also, God help you, NFL franchise, if you try and start the Wave:
(2) "Wave": Club-controlled efforts to start the "Wave" cheer, through the use of cheerleaders or message boards -- even if the actions are stopped when the visiting team breaks the huddle -- are a violation of the crowd noise policy.
Here's what Ben says:
I attended the Redskins-Eagles game last Sunday and I can tell you the rumors are true. The Redskins play crowd noise through the stadium PA on crucial downs. This is in violation of NFL rules, the NFL must take action and the team must be stopped.
He goes on to provide video and picture evidence of that accusation. It makes clear that the times when the noise was piped in were during those times prohibited by the above rule. I think his most prescient comment, however, came after the post:
[T]he crowd has been neutered of much of its real 'football spirit' as the Redskins have moved up the economic foodchain from inner city dwellers in the 60s to the 'wine and cheese' suburban Dan Snyder crowd. Economically speaking many of the new era of Redskins fans that attend games have little to want for in life which translates to a blase' attitude about everything. Redskins tickets is just another status symbol and not necessarily a gameday ritual.
Washington is an entitlement town and fans feel an entitlement to a football team but not to have to do the 12th man work of making it hard for the other team to play. In the same fashion just watch how Washington demanded a baseball team but how putting fannies in the seats will be someone else's problem. Washington is entitled to a baseball team but the baseball team is not entitled to a fanbase.
Pretty damning stuff, though I'd like to get reader(s) thoughts as well. I'm of the opinion that, if true, it's an embarrassment for the franchise and for Redskins fans. I doubt the penalty is that severe so this concerns me not over the general health of the franchise. What concerns me is the general health of a fanbase that needs artificial assistance to intimidate an opposing offense, along with the chicken-shit kind of decision making that would encourage the use of artificial fan noise in a stadium, period, even were that not prohibited. If you want your fans to cheer you need to give them a reason to do so, not simply replace them with a glorified answering machine:
The fans aren't here right now but if you'd like to false start and delay the game we'd be happy to penalize you at our earliest convenience. Anyone up for a wave?
by Skin Patrol on Nov 14, 2007 4:18 PM EST
in News
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