If they threw out all the drunks the stands would be maybe half full.

That said, I often ask if this is a sign of a coarsening society. Maybe, maybe not. But as one example, did the Jerry Springer shows exist in the sixties and seventies? Did the "Ive got my rights" "in your face" everyday attitudes prevail in yesteryear's?

Football imitates life? Perhaps?

But if you want to go to a game just to enjoy a game, go High School. It is real football, played by real players, on a real field.

In all honesty while I see the appeal of seeing players live (which is a unique experience), the truth of the matter is that my comfy chair and HDTV no doubt provide a better actual viewing experience of the game (and the beer is cheaper and better).

Steven has a point--however, you can only get a limited view of how plays develop on the tube. The nice thing about being at the game is that you can focus on one matchup--I'm a big fan of middle linebacker play. To watch a good middle linebacker read a play, blitz, etc. in person is one of the things that makes the game fascinating to me.

While we're on the subject of TV sports--can we call for a moratorium on graphic clutter? For an NFL game, all you need to show is the score and the clock: not some swath of color, the NFL logo, and all the other crap. Furthermore, you should only show that stuff between plays--unless its like the last second of the game and you need to know that time is about to expire.

When its 2nd and 12 with 11:46 left in the 2nd quarter, you don't need to have that stuff on the screen when the play is being run. Put it up while they are in the huddle.

Don't even get me started with baseball and hockey.....

Furthermore, to equate a city of 3 million inhabitants to a few people in a 61,000-seat football stadium is stupid.

Typical cheesehead.

A couple of young men ended up threatening to beat up my dad for no apparent reason while they squeezed across in front of us, heading up to get another beer. As an 8-year-old, I couldn't stand to watch my dad (135 lbs wet) get roughed up, so I went off for a potty break until they would've returned to their seats. Well luckily I think they decided to split, perhaps fearful that we would have contacted security.

Anyway, I can only agree with Joyner's analysis. There's little point in changing things if they can make more money selling beer than worrying about families staying home due to the unwelcome atmosphere. There's always college football, which I enjoy more anyway. It's generally more family-friendly as long as you stay away from the student section.

The seats are better padded and warmer at home than my experiences watching the Iggles in person. The line for the bathroom is shorter, too. On the other hand, I am less likely to have my kids demand to be read to, or to change the channel onto something they want to watch when at the stadium.