Violence at Dodger Stadium is not exactly a well-kept secret in Los Angeles, unless you own the team. After a Giants fan was brutally attacked on opening day (Bryan Stow remains in a coma), Dodgers chairman Frank McCourt first minimized the incident, preferring to extol the virtues of the glorious weather and a Dodgers’ win on opening day. Then as pressure mounted for him to take it more seriously, McCourt ponied up $50,000 to help capture the suspects, and hired a consultant to advise the team on ways to improve security. That’s a start.
But now McCourt has taken another step backward with this interview on KCOP-TV today:
McCourt told FOX 11 News that Dodger Stadium is not the only sports facility in the nation where violence has occurred.
“This is something that is happening in venues all around the country and it’s time we take our venues back and make sure they are safe havens for our fans,” McCourt told FOX 11 News.
From SportsbyBrooks (whose managing editor lives in Los Angeles):
On McCourt’s watch, Dodger Stadium is now the most notoriously dangerous venue in all of professional sports. Since McCourt took over the team in 2003, Dodger Stadium has become a magnet for innumerable crimes committed by local gang members on innocent citizens, including multiple murders.
During the same time period, there isn’t a pro sports venue in the nation that has seen the level of brutal, consistent criminal activity against its patrons as McCourt’s Dodger Stadium.
So after the most recent, unspeakable crime against a Dodger Stadium patron, a crime in which the now-comatose fan had a portion of his brain and skull removed thanks to a brutal attack on the grounds of his own ballpark, what does McCourt do?
He attempts to distract from his own lack of action to stem the criminal issue over the years. Inaction that set the scene for the opening day attack. The same lack of action that L.A.P.D. Chief Beck implied Thursday led to the most recent fan attack.
But according to Frank McCourt, attending a Dodgers game is no more dangerous than attending a Mariners game or a Cardinals game. Someone needs to bang his head with a shoe to see exactly how wasted he is. Attendance has suffered, and you can’t blame Dodgers fans, the great majority of whom are good people who only want a safe place to enjoy their team.
Anyway, since McCourt is to the Dodgers what George McClellan was to the North in the Civil War, the LAPD has taken it upon itself to declare martial law at Dodger Stadium. Police Chief Charlie Beck is promising a significant increase in the number of off-duty police security personnel when the team returns to Chavez Ravine on Thursday. Sounds like fun. I’ll bring my Kevlar baseball mitt.
But there were other stories this week. Let’s take a look.
- The Name of the Year competition is here, and Vernon Lee Badmarriage Jr. is looking very strong.
- Despite saggy shorts and terminal shortness, Justin Bieber impresses some observers while working out with FC Barcelona.
- Royal wedding prop bets! Throw that bouquet in there, kid. Humm baby!
- The Week in Fake Sports: David Stern Chainsaw Massacre!
- Never say no to Panda.
- New Ole Miss mascot, Rebel Black Bear, makes his official debut. Afterward he is tranquilized and moved further back into the woods.
- The Michael Jackson statue is unveiled in front of Fulham’s soccer stadium. We should find out soon if it’s flammable.
Thanks for reading, and stay safe, baseball fans. Now to go check out the Giants-Rangers series I recorded. From November. Don’t tell me who won!
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