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Originally Posted by SAR I

You're referring to me, so be a man and just say it.

And since you seem to care about my opinion on the matter, I can sum up why many people disliked Fireman Ed quite succinctly: He came across as an artificial "fan" and not a honest one.

The guy at Yankee games with the stick and the drums and cowbells on it. Or the dancing guy at Rangers games. These are fans that we love simply because they're just in it for the team, it's not about them. And their schtick is something benign, something that just involves them.

Fireman Ed was a brand, not just a fan. And his job was basically to guilt us into standing up and chanting over and over again every game. And if we didn't want to, just didn't feel like doing the chant at that moment, we'd get the "oh, I'm so disappointed in you" face and feel coerced to participate.

As for the new stadium, it has a major impact on Ed's act but not because you perceive us to be wine-sipping elitists. Rather it's that we don't get a moment's rest during the game anymore. Used to be in Giants Stadium that when a play was over you'd get a moment of silence. Might get 40 whole seconds to think or say something to the person sitting next to you.

In MetLife Stadium, every second of downtime is a bombardment of the senses by the PA staff. Cheerleader calendars, emergency exits, "MAKE NOISE" videos, game highlights, TV commercials, items on sale in the Jets shop, death metal music, helmet races, tee kids, and on and on and on. Go to a game, you are just bombarded with noise. In fact, the only time you get some peace and quiet is during game action.

Fireman Ed used to be a quaint add-on during a drive when the stadium got quiet amongst the important 40 second breaks between every play. But in today's MetLife atmosphere, Ed was the straw that broke the fans backs, just another thing asking for our attention and our time when we'd like to have a moment to ourselves.

SAR I

First. I was just busting your chops, I know you were the most outspoken about him, thats why I did that.

Second, I do agree about the "fabricated" fan experience at the games now. They just cant let the games have a life of their own, and have fans react naturally.