[BossHog]

Yes I know... watergate was one word. But this is a different kind of watergate, it actually refers to water.

Today the Washington Redskins took to Fed Ex Field to play the Baltimore Ravens in a scrimmage. The day was marketed as a scrimmage / fan appreciation day. The only problem is... I didn't see much real appreciation for Redskin fans at all.

For starters, there was a section reserved at Fed Ex Field for RAVENS fans. Yes, that's right... it was a free-for-all for Redskin fans to find a seat, but Ravens fans were treated to an entire reserved section in the lower bowl at center field... arguably the best section in the stadium. Fed Ex Field staff went to great length to keep Redskin fans out of the great seats… awesome.

But no Ravens fans showed up to sit there. To make it just a little more irritating, they kept the section EMPTY for the entire day. Seems like the Ravens appreciate their fans enough to ENSURE they have a good time even at an away game by securing seats for them. Heaven forbid that the Redskins take the opportunity to do something like, thank some of their bigger fan sites by giving them SOME kind of sectioned off area of the stadium, or some kind of acknowledgement for the THANKLESS work they put in supporting the team.


I didn't get as bent out of shape as some people did about the $25 parking. Last year I went to M&T Stadium and I paid $20/ticket to watch the scrimmage... so paying $25 a car didn't seem that bad to me. I do know however that a lot of the people that showed up today had a few things to say about it; and most of it wasn't very flattering. I figure they didn't have to come if they didn't want to pay, but plenty of people had a few whines in my ear at Fed Ex over the course of the day regardless.

But this has nothing to do with water gate. Water gate is actually about WATER.

Who knows how hot it was in the stadium today... 100 degrees plus I'm sure... a day in which all of the 47,000-plus fans in attendance would need liquid replenishment and need it all day long. I guess that's why a bottle of water was five dollars.

Yes, that's right folks... water was a walloping five dollars a bottle today at Fed Ex Field. If you brought a family of four with you to the scrimmage, you could treat your family to a round of water for the low, low price of twenty bucks. I find it odd that I asked for a four-dollar milkshake instead (as listed on the menu) but was told that it wasn't available. I also found it odd that the menu was in order of price all the way down to the bottom where you reached water and the price suddenly went back up again. I swear it looked like a water might perhaps normally be three bucks but had been bumped to five.

Does 'ouch' even cover it? I know that as I walked back to my seat with that liquid gold that looked a lot like a bottle of water, I hardly felt 'appreciated' as a fan. As a matter of fact, I actually felt totally exploited. Please don't misunderstand, I'm used to exhorbitant arena and stadium food costs, but I'm pretty sure I've never paid five dollars for a water. You can rest assured that were it not for the fact that I might have dropped dead of heat exhaustion out there, I wouldn't have today either. But there was a real threat of sunstroke or dehydration for all in attendance today, and most of us had to take the plunge.

Of course fans aren't allowed to bring their own food and drink into the stadium - not even on Fan Appreciation Day. Who cares if a lot of the people there were there only because they can't afford to go to a regular season game, that's no reason not to rape someone's pocket at every turn, right?

There may not have been a 'Deep Throat' today at Fed Ex, but almost 50,000 Redskin fans had to dig deep into their pockets all day long… and most of them just to keep from passing out. If we had passed out, who knows how much we would have had to pay for a little first aid.

It wasn't until late in the day that I realized the error of my ways. I actually felt kind of stupid once I figured it out too. Fan Appreciation Day apparently isn't about the team showing you how much they appreciate you... it's just another day that Redskin fans got to show and how much they appreciate the team by paying five bucks for a bottle of water.

As we figured out in the jersey blog, apparently KY jelly has become a staple for Redskin fans.

[Jake]

Amen to that.

It's very sad that even on ONE day of the year they couldn't give out or reduce the price of water for the fans that are actually supporting their team and desperately NEED the replenishment.

Another thought that should have gone through upper mangament's minds is that, like you said regarding the fans attendning this scrimmage because they can't afford game tickets, the fans attending may not be able to afford to hydrate themselves the whole game either.

Yeah, the teams are playing in this hot weather but they also have HUGE fans that spray mist on them. I'd like to know when the fans will get those.

[Fios]

I am really starting to regret having written this ... even if we do allow for the fact that Snyder doesn't manage every detail of a large business, the message that is sent to the fans isn't a positive one.

[Redskin in Canada]

Another public relations success of the Danny and his marketing/public relations staff. How many such -unappraciation- initiatives and actions have we witnessed in the past?

Actually, BH got it wrong. It is not about how the team appreaciates the fans, or the fans appreciate the team. It is about how the business side of the operation does -APPRECIATE- the fans' money.

There si little to support this team morally above Joe Gibbs, guys. Come to grips with it. For us winning is about the people. The personal and collective success stories of sacrifice and pain. For the Danny, winning is about THE MONEY. It is a VERY PROFITABLE BUSINESS for him.

Any suggestions on how to squeeze up to the the last penny out of fans' pockets, please e-mail them to Redskins Park. Chances are, those about the only suggestions they might wish to pay attention to.

[tcwest10]

At Yankee Stadium, I could've sworn they lowered the price on salty stuff on a recent sweltering game day...while maintaining the same $4.75 for bottled water.
Unreal...but it makes sense. Put the tails in chairs, and then go for the wallet.
Somebody has to pay for Abreu.

[REDEEMEDSKIN]

I, too bought ONE bottle of water following the scrimmage, and I did notice the hefty price tag on the stuff. I wasn't aware that that was not the normal cost, as I usually don't buy water at FedEx.

I will say this about fan appreciation day at the stadium: I loved it. I think it was a perfect venue to host that many people. From the reviews I read from last year's F.A.D., the Skins were able to control the crowds better in the comforts of their own stadium. I certainly don't like the prices of the water, but I can certainly say I enjoyed my time there.

Hopefully they work out the kinks for next year.

[UK Skins Fan]

$5 a bottle?!! Why not just drink the tap water, or is it poisonous?

[SkinsChic]

[SkinsFanInHawai'i]

[Jake]

I went into a gas station today and saw a 24 pack of the SAME Dasani water for 5 friggin dollars!

24 for 5? Or 1 for 5? Can someone say screwjob?

[Deadskins]

Do they not have water fountains at the stadium?

[tazlah]

[UK Skins Fan]

Well, perhaps nothing will change unless someone is selfish enough to die from dehydration, because they spent their last cash on car parking.

You'd think that the NFL, with the tragic training camp incidents of recent years, would take more care of its fans in these circumstances. Then again, it hasn't become the most successful sporting organisation in the world by being charitable (or even fair minded).

[FiveWidez]

I don't think it would be realistic to hand out free bottles of water. First, they would have run out and then people would have been even more angry. Can you imagine 50k people going nuts over free water. Chaos

[UK Skins Fan]

Well, I say again: is the tap water over there poisonous?