The NOG Should Do The Right "Seating" Thing

Many of us who have reserved our full support for the New Ownership Group (NOG) have done so for one simple reason: that the fans of this franchise deserve a 21st Century ballpark—not a botox-laden centenarian, groaning under 10 decades of use. We need a truly new Fenway—with all the idiosyncrasies but none of the idiotic lack of legroom.

Recently, the NOG has intimated—through the estimable Janet Marie Smith—that an upcoming goal is, according to the Worcester Telegram, "the replacement of the cramped grandstand seats with wider chairs." If this is true, it argues for a larger mission—replacing all cramped seating (bleacher, grandstand, "loge" box) with ergonomically reasonable seats that match 21st century bodies. Is this really such a stretch? So, they may lose a couple of thousand seats. I think I speak for most fans in stating that we'd all be willing to pay a little more to make up the difference. Hell, we pay the highest prices in baseball as it is anyway!

If the NOG took this step, I predict that virtually all the griping would cease and the calls for a new park would end. Then, they would truly take their rightful spot in team history as the greatest owners ever. I'd even be willing to refer to them as the COG—the Current Ownership Group.