Jilted ticket holders sue NFL and Jerry Jones

As George W. Duke says in Rocky V, "Touch me and I'll sue! God damn! Only in America!"

Newstory headline at CBSDFW.com reads,

Denied Super Bowl Ticketholders File Class-Action Suit

Click for here story while it lasts.

The NFL and Jerry Jones should have seen this one coming. Who can I sue and how much can I get is the new American Dream. It's no longer the "Dream" of olden days.

Now, don't get me wrong. I think the NFL and especially Jerry Jones make too much damn money and stick it to the fans as much as possible and probably more than any sport but a $5 million lawsuit? Really?

My thought is if the league or Jerry pays me triple the amount of my ticket costs, pays for my travel and lodging and gives me souvenirs from Super Bowl XLV and as long as they also pay for my new ticket costs, travel and lodging and something like $2,000 for spending for Super Bowl XLVI, I would be more than happy. Heck, maybe even just give me like $20,000 or enough for reimbursement of my costs plus an "NFL and Jerry are sorry for your inconvenience" stipend (I'm not a huge football fan so the game isn't as important to me as what I do with my money but fans may think differently). Either way, I think this is closer to a "reasonable reimbursement" than $5 million.

The lawyer seems to me to be of the ambulance chaser type. He says let's sue for $5 million because $3.5 million will be his percentage of the take. If any court judge or jury finds for $5 million, our country is falling further into ridiculousness. Lawsuits like this are no different than the Ponzi schemes, the bank/housing loan debacles, and Enron-type scandals. It's about ultimate profitability. True that's what Jerry wanted but is his desire to boast a record attendance worthy of $5 million? I'm not sure it is.

So, these people will file. It may even go to court. They may even win a settlement. But who do you think will ultimately suffer? For sure if it's a $5 million payout, it will be the one-time fan, the football fanatic or the Cowboys season ticket holder. Jerry probably has that in his back pocket but the person who buys a ticket will pay. It will be done by increasing the ticket price, the handling/processing fee or higher over-pricing of concessions.

I'm not saying they shouldn't complain, get something in return or even sue. But who really decided that $5 million was the amount to go for...the people or the lawyer?

Oh well...

The NFL Experience 2011

I'm not a football fan. I can watch it. I understand the game. I don't really care who wins...although I do get agitated at stupid play calls and piss poor performance when I watch a game especially when it's the Cowboys. I've watch the Cowboys almost my entire life in some form or fashion, from my Dad being a semi-fanatic to my roommate total fanaticism in the sense that he COULD NOT miss a broadcast of a Cowboys' game.

Anyway, a coworker/friend of mine came in Friday morning excited about something she heard about (and I actually heard a commercial on the radio a few days earlier). It's called "The NFL Experience 2011." Apparently it's a pretty big deal and real football fans are already in the know. She's not a huge football fan but like all sport fans, she is into it especially when it's in her (our) own backyard AND it's not a huge dent in the pocketbook.

So, the commercial I heard I have already posted about it here. Well, I ended up attending this "experience" but I did not buy the tickets. My coworker offered and I said, "Maybe." I almost didn't go but then it rained Sunday morning and I could not play tennis so I called her and said I could.

She was excited as she didn't want to go with just another coworker who just happens to be an equal title to my friend/coworker and my immediate boss. I don't mind hanging out with my boss except for when she talks really loud even in the quietest of rooms, she complains about work issues which are mostly her fault because she works at work and then at home until she falls asleep, and....well, she's my BOSS. It's not horrible but at the same time I've just got to keep myself under control (because I lose that so often). It's more like I can't just let it all hang out and be myself entirely. I have to filter some of the things I say...sometimes...because I didn't invite her and it isn't a work function so if she can't separate the two, then we'd have issues that I'd have to take up with her.

So the tickets were only $25 for adults and $20 for kids 12 and under. That's not too bad but I'm sure the ticket counter is not where they planned on making their profit. The 20oz bottles of Pepsi products were something like $8...I'm not for sure as my coworker bought me one. I didn't check the food prices although I was getting hungry while there (we went at 11 a.m. on Sunday) but I thought we might go eat somewhere afterward on the way home. We didn't, which was okay because I saved money, but I was near starved once I got home around 2 p.m.

Basically, if you are a kid that likes football or a hard-core adult football fan, this place is the place for you. Personally, inside the convention center is overpriced NFL products and food. They did have some freebies like you could take a photo in a Steelers or Packers football jersey, alone or with friends, in front of a green screen and they would impose it on a Dallas News newspaper print. It was pretty cool to go to the website the next day and find our picture and download it to my computer for free. Truthfully, the process costs nil for them to make so I couldn't see why they would charge other than people would pay. They had a memorabilia section where you could get autographed photos, paintings, helmets, jerseys and things like team lapel pins. The pins weren't just the two Super Bowl teams but they also had historical Super Bowl pins from years past as well as all NFL teams. I purchased a Super Bowl XLV pin that had the Lombardy Trophy in the middle and the team helmets on each side with the date of the game. It was $8 and I think that was a little much but I have a pin fetish and I think it is important for me to have something to represent that I was at the "experience" for SB XLV.

I had a neighbor that went with her three boys and they were the for a couple of hours more than we were but they are teen boys. I asked the 13-yr-old how the "experience" was for him and he said it was pretty good and he felt it was very kid-friendly. I guess that's what it is for...the kids and the adults that are still kids.

I thought I'd share just a few pictures from my "experience." I didn't have a lot because I forgot to take my own camera and was using my coworker's. She probably wouldn't appreciate all the very random shots I wanted to take. I guess if I thought about it that I could take whatever I wanted anyway because it's digital. Duh! Anyway...

Super Bowl XLV

In case you didn't know, Super Bowl Ex El Vee or El minus Ex plus Vee or Forty-five or 45 is coming to Dallas—well Arlington which is a suburb of Dallas—to be played in Jerry Jones' dome castle! You can see it in my simple pictures from my point-and-shoot here.

It is about a week away and I've read/heard/seen lots of promotions for things going on in Dallas and Fort Worth every day/night until the day of. I'm sure there will be more the day of.

On the radio this morning, I heard that the Dallas Convention Center is having some big event where "you can meet NFL superstars!" What they failed to mention is that as long as they were former Dallas Cowboys. I don't know if there are more but the names they mentioned were Tony Dorsett, Drew Pearson, "Moose" Johnston, and Troy Aikman.

Now, don't get me wrong. I wouldn't mind meeting these NFL superstars. As a kid, I watched Dorsett and Pearson. As an early-to-mid-twenties adult, I watched Johnston and Aikman. I've never been a huge football fan. I'm knowledgeable on the sport and watched it with my Dad and friends but who wouldn't want to meet these guys? I'm sure it'll cost an arm and leg but obviously there will be people who can easily pay for it and those that are willing to sell their children to do it.

I guess that's about all I got on that. I just thought it was funny how they say "NFL Superstars" and then followed up with only listing former Cowboys players.