St. Louis Sports Online

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Eric Niederhoffer  St. Louis SportsOnline columnist & principal photographer

The Cost of Progress: Questions 24 April 2004

How much would you pay for a ticket to sit in the Dugout box seats at the next Cardinals game?

They are listed at $59.

Don't you think that is a lot of money to spend on a hot and humid and sun-blistering summer day in St. Louis? Is that too much to pay for 3 plus hours of entertainment by our local men in red and white? Is that too much to pay for the right to cheer for our MLB franchise? Too much to pay in order to participate in the hope that our home team makes it to the post-season? Too much for a chance at the World Series again?

Well, what are your options?

There are several alternatives that I can think of:

• Save and budget for those expensive seats.
• Choose to sit in a less expensive part of Busch Stadium.
• Listen to the game while standing outside the stadium.
• Listen to the game on radio.
• Watch and listen to the game on television, either cable or network.
• Listen to the game over the Internet.
• Read about the game in the next day's Post-Dispatch (hardcopy or online).

or

• Find something else to do for entertainment.

Do we get accustomed to how things were and are and fail to see how the world develops around us? Do we expect someone else to make decisions for us or to provide for us when we have real choices?

Or do we relinquish certain aspects of our daily lives to others? Do we entrust in strangers activities that we choose not to perform?

But above all of this, do we maintain our perceived right to micromanage the decisions made by other individuals? Do we obtain enjoyment acting as back-seat drivers? Do we act selfish? Do we enlist the aid of others to achieve our personal objectives and goals?

How many people would be in favor of ticket price controls by the federal, state, or city governments? Would you want your neighbors to help pay for your dugout box ticket? Would you find it more attractive to have visitors to the St. Louis region subsidize Cardinals ticket prices? Would it be fair to have the mayor of St. Louis divert funds from one local professional team in order to help another team? If not, when would it be fair to do so?

... coming soon ... answers.

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