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View Full Version : My biggest gripe about Opening Day...



paulrichjr
04-04-2006, 12:56 PM
OK maybe Dunn's defense was the biggest problem but to me one thing that really stood out was the poor and I mean poor design of the stadium when it came to bathrooms.

The men's bathrooms were backed up and I mean backed up the entire game. I'm not sure about the ladies but I don't believe I saw many lines at all. If you had to go (and I did because I had 4 boys with me under the age of 12) you had to miss at least 1 to 2 innings just to stand in line to go.

The disgusting thing was that many people and I do mean many were going in the sinks instead of waiting. People were actually going in bottles...I saw it with my own eyes.

The second time I had to take the boys I got the bright idea to go to the family rest room...well that line was also long with guys who was tired of waiting in the men's line. Family meant nothing to these guys. One guy even went in with two ladies in the family one and I don't believe that both of them was his wife. I only saw one person besides myself in the family line that truly had a family. It was crazy. The team cannot and I mean cannot grow to 35,000 people a game with the current setup. (I know many will say that this happens at big crowds but not small ones...Yea but what about when the Reds want to start drawing more than 20,000 a game?)

I noticed at Adelphia (Titans) that my wife never had to stand in line for the bathroom but the mens rooms were always full and out the door. It looks like a trend to make it more fair I guess by making the same amount of places for women even though there are far fewer women at baseball and football games than men. It is a big problem that I am not sure can be fixed.... Going to the game and standing in line for 2 innings to go isn't going to happen to many people more than twice....

TeamCasey
04-04-2006, 01:03 PM
Usually it's the opposite and there are long lines for ladies rooms. (Not necessarily at GAB, just in general.)

redsfan30
04-04-2006, 01:08 PM
I think a big reason there were so many lines for the bathrooms was the weather. Outside-cold, bathroom-warm=people taking their sweet time in the bathrooms.

I noticed that the concources were generally more crowded than they usually are and I think it had to do more with people just trying to get out of the brutal cold/wind.

KittyDuran
04-04-2006, 01:13 PM
Usually it's the opposite and there are long lines for ladies rooms. (Not necessarily at GAB, just in general.)Usually around the 6th, 7th or 8th innings at GABP - I guess us women don't drink as much or can hold it longer. But there always seem to be a line at the 7th inning stretch. :laugh: I actually remember leaving the ballpark and driving all the way to my work just to use the restroom, because I couldn't get in. Also, I notice later in season that some of the toilets clog more, so they're unusable. :thumbdown

rf30 - I think there is somewhere on the Reds' website that lists where all the restrooms are.

Oh, another thing is that I noticed that in a family outing (Mom, Dad and small kids) that it's the Mom that takes the kids in the women's restroom so that backs it up as well.

KittyDuran
04-04-2006, 01:15 PM
I think a big reason there were so many lines for the bathrooms was the weather. Outside-cold, bathroom-warm=people taking their sweet time in the bathrooms.

I noticed that the concources were generally more crowded than they usually are and I think it had to do more with people just trying to get out of the brutal cold/wind.That's true as well - I noticed that at football games as well. Can you believe how many people were wearing t-shirts, shorts and flip-flops??? :eek:

Joseph
04-04-2006, 02:05 PM
The stadium grows on me with every visit. I think it's one of the better newer stadiums going because it's designed for baseball first, everything else is secondary. Sure Cast will improve and upgrade and better use some of the big empty spaces, but all in all it's well done.

The bathroom thing was exactly as stated above, it was warm there, people were taking extra long just to be out of the weather.

TeamBoone
04-04-2006, 02:13 PM
There are a lot of rest rooms at the GAB. I would have tried another... they're not that far apart.

paulrichjr
04-04-2006, 02:56 PM
There are a lot of rest rooms at the GAB. I would have tried another... they're not that far apart.

Everyone I saw had a long line. And as far as the waiting thing...I didn't see a bunch of people wanting to "wait" in line to pee. Maybe the cold made people more likely to have to "go" but no one seemed to want to stretch it out for any longer than necessary.

Big Klu
04-04-2006, 03:01 PM
Ahhhh, the advantage of having Club 4192 Seats! No long lines, and some of the cleanest restrooms in the entire ballpark! :D

Yachtzee
04-04-2006, 03:37 PM
Ahhhh, the advantage of having Club 4192 Seats! No long lines, and some of the cleanest restrooms in the entire ballpark! :D

Fascist! ;)

RBA
04-04-2006, 03:53 PM
You people don't have a right to complain until you have to stand in line for 20 minutes outside in the 120 degree plus Baghdad heat to use a port-a-john that you need to don a gas mask to use. (the stench and smell is that bad) And once you're in there, they may or may not be Army Form 1's available (toilet paper).

I wonder if the President had to wait in line? ;)

Just kidding, you're paying good money for game tickets, you have a right to whine. ;)

creek14
04-04-2006, 04:52 PM
I heard more than one person talk about going to the restroom just to warm up. And there was a long line at the air dryer every time I went in. Nice warm air on those cold hands.

I wore a turtle neck, sweater, coat and gloves. I bought a long sleeve tee shirt at the game and put it on under everything else, got a free blanket for sigining up for a MasterCard, and I was STILL cold.

Red in Chicago
04-04-2006, 05:04 PM
during one bathroom visit, i saw three american flags laying on the floor covered in urine...it was disgraceful...i realize these weren't quality flags, but come on, can't you treat it with a little respect...

also, in the bathrooms by my seats, there were many men just standing around keeping warm...this really doesn't go over well for someone like me with a shy bladder:thumbdown

paulrichjr
04-04-2006, 05:10 PM
I heard more than one person talk about going to the restroom just to warm up. And there was a long line at the air dryer every time I went in. Nice warm air on those cold hands.

I wore a turtle neck, sweater, coat and gloves. I bought a long sleeve tee shirt at the game and put it on under everything else, got a free blanket for sigining up for a MasterCard, and I was STILL cold.

Women maybe not men...Men do not stand in a stinky bathroom unless they have to. Men were not washing their hands and not drying them. Why? Well most of the time men don't anyway but mostly because the bathroom was horrible. When guys are using the sink as a toilet most guys are not going to wash their hands...I would take my chances with my own germs.

OldRightHander
04-04-2006, 05:33 PM
Maybe I'm in the minority, but I don't leave my seat during a game for anything less than a full blown emergency. I had to go like a racehorse by the end of the game and by then there weren't any long lines anywhere in the park. I just don't like to miss any of the game.

919191
04-04-2006, 06:37 PM
I am in the restroom alot, because of my 8 and 4 year old. I noticed several times the restrooms had quite a few guys just standing around talking.

Red in Chicago
04-04-2006, 06:45 PM
Maybe I'm in the minority, but I don't leave my seat during a game for anything less than a full blown emergency. I had to go like a racehorse by the end of the game and by then there weren't any long lines anywhere in the park. I just don't like to miss any of the game.

orh, i'm with you...i go once before and once after the game...that's it...i don't keep getting up and down from my seat, which gets on everyone's nerves...

TeamBoone
04-04-2006, 07:46 PM
Maybe I'm in the minority, but I don't leave my seat during a game for anything less than a full blown emergency. I had to go like a racehorse by the end of the game and by then there weren't any long lines anywhere in the park. I just don't like to miss any of the game.

I envy you for being able to do that. Those of us with small bladders and/or small children are not afforded that luxury.

Caseyfan21
04-04-2006, 08:43 PM
I encountered much of the same problems, I just happened to go to the bathroom during the 7 run inning so I'm a little thankful it took so long. I think the problems with the bathrooms were caused by a few things:

1.) Opening Day = over capacity crowd. All of the standing room only tix were down on the lower level so the lower level concessions and bathrooms were swamped. Also, (I had SRO seats), a lot of the SRO people out in right field were actually people that were cold because of the wind in the upper deck. They just came down and joined in the SRO crowd. This created even more people.

2.) The gates opened at 10 am. I'm sure they had to have set a record for beer sold at this game. I think a lot of people just started and drinking at 10:30 (or earlier at the bars) and kept drinking as the day went on. Some people behind us were completely trashed and kept drinking "to stay warm." :laugh: In retrospect, probably not a bad strategy.

3.) The men's restroom nearest me (out down the first base line) was packed the entire day. To make matters worse a beerman seemed to be hovering by the line selling to people in the line. This created an even bigger mess as people were joining in the line to buy beer. Probably a good strategy for him though.


I guess if the bathrooms were a huge problem for anyone, just pick a different game out of the 81 remaining. I'm sure once we get into the season the crowds will drop off and you will have a 0 minute wait to get in.

KittyDuran
04-05-2006, 10:37 PM
2.) The gates opened at 10 am. I'm sure they had to have set a record for beer sold at this game. I think a lot of people just started and drinking at 10:30 (or earlier at the bars) and kept drinking as the day went on. Some people behind us were completely trashed and kept drinking "to stay warm." In retrospect, probably not a bad strategy.
The funniest/interesting part of the day was standing in line trying to get in for about 2 hours. Once in a while a chant of "Who Dey..." went up. Somebody was lighting up a joint. :pimp: Some ladies were throwing schedules into the crowd. Some guy was asking for a empty beer bottle [I guess to take a leak]. A few funny quotes about the President with most of them ending with "...and I voted for the guy." Even one person asking who was throwing out the first pitch...:bang: When the helicopters flew over (couldn't see them) someone asked if they were black helicopters [sure!!!]. A guy asked me for my opinion if he looked like a terrorist... [I wanted to say no, only redneck! :devil:] Then someone said lets rush the gates :help: - that's when I started to move a little away from the tall people surrounding me.

That's all I can remember - it was very loud with people talking all at once.

Chip R
04-05-2006, 11:08 PM
3.) The men's restroom nearest me (out down the first base line) was packed the entire day. To make matters worse a beerman seemed to be hovering by the line selling to people in the line. This created an even bigger mess as people were joining in the line to buy beer. Probably a good strategy for him though.


That is genius! You stand in line to go to the bathroom cause you have had some beer and while you are standing there, you get more beer. By the time you get out of there, you finished your beer and you have to go again and who is there but friendly beer man. Plus beer man does not have to brave the elements.