I attended the game last night.
Just me and my 4 year old.
Probably the 10th game he has attended.
Brought a back-pack as always.
Noticed that some people with bags and back-packs were being filtired to the side.
I got through the ticket gate, was not told to have my pack check, but walked over and willingly stopped to be checked.
I had 2 zip bags in the back-pack. One with 4 jelly beans, 1 with some kids cereal, and a small package of Scooby-Doo treats (parents know what they are)to keep my 4 year old happy for the game. I also had a sippy-cup with OJ.
I was told that there was "0" food and drink allowed to be brought in and that if I wanted I could take my 3 little bags of candy back to the car, and be allowed back in or I would have to throw everything in the garbage including the drink. Well walking another 1/2 mile back to the car, and back again was not an option. I told the guy/dope that my son needed a pill at 8:00 and needed the drink.
I was not granted that option.
I thought "should I seek a higher authority" but didn't.
Come on now, show a little P.R. skill. I have been coming to games for years, and this made me madder than a loss to the Argos.
Blue Jays don't allow food to their contests, but I have always brought little grab bags for my son with no issue.
I ended up waiting in a line 35 deep to get a water for my sons pill for over 30 minutes.
Boy is that a joke.
I am not waiting in line for 1/2 hour to by a couple of pieces of candy to keep my son amused.
Oh well I guess I will bring him back when he is 12, or maybe take him to a game in Argo-land. But I will make sure he wears his black-and-gold.
My son got busted bringing in a bottle of water last night.....so he chucked it in the garbage can....I told the security dude that I know he was only doing his job so he didn't feel bad.
I then told him he should come to Caledonia as he might inspire some uniformed personnel there to do their jobs too.....Two Hamilton Police Officers that were standing there beside us cracked up laughing and agreed.....hahaha :lol:
Anyhow, I'm ok with the rule.....The team needs revenues to survive.....it's a reality these days and we shouldn't despise them for it.
This is disappointing considering the organization's success in making the game day experience more 'family friendly'.
It is commonplace for parents to carry around their kid's stuff in a bag: including child friendly treats. Especially considering there are not a heck of a lot of healthy options for a young child.
Hopefully that was just a one-off situation whereby the staff member didn't have the common sense to recognize that what you were bringing into the building was not a threat to the revenue of the concession stands.
I’m ok with the “rule” as well but that is just ridiculous. The “snacks” aspect of it is silly enough since as Andrea pointed out there aren’t any healthy snack options for kids. But the juice? Come on. That’s crazy. It’s not like the guy was trying to sneak in popcorn/pop/beer or any of the other revenue making items they sell there. When I went in not only did the guy look in my purse but he make me open up my blanket and was going to make my sister unzip her seat cushions. What can you hide in a flat seat cushion?? I’m all for increased security and knowing that they’re just doing their job, but a little common sense is required. Are they going to be telling parents with small children that they aren’t allowed to bring in bottles of milk/formula??
Thanks for posting this story. It is one of the very useful roles for these forums. We not only get to hear the stories, but through follow-up posts we get to find out if they are one-off mistakes, or a common problem.
This is what exhibition games are for. We'll do a better job of discerning the difference between drinks for 4 year olds, and adults trying to sneak a picnic into Ivor Wynne, for the next game.
I went out and got a drink with my boyfriend…who needed sugar fast due to diabetes. we decided to go to the corner store because it would be faster that waiting in the half-time lines, but we weren’t allowed back in. We both had our tickets, and we brought no food with us, is this also a policy? we did find a gate where they did let us back in…but i’ve never heard of such a thing!
A few fans in our area were frustrated at losing some chips and water but in the end at least understood the reasoning behind it.
One woman did however bring up the point that as long as food stuffs were being confiscated maybe it could have a better destination than the garbage can.
I’m doubtfull a food bank would care for a garbage can full of chips and pop but maybe the girl guide sleepover could make use of all the confiscated items, assuming of course nothing had been opened or tampered with.
So im guessing this is some sort of new policy for 06' ? I know in previous years ive brought drinks in (usually a bottle of water and a gatorade) no problems, guess im going to have to spend a small fortune on drinks to keep hydrated
Ivor Wynne has always had a policy of no in&out privildges but I’d imagine that in special cases (like medical) a quick trip to the fan services booth in the south concourse would get your needs met.
I had a problem like this once. At the Labour Day game in 1999, I was bringing in some snacks for myself (I am a diabetic) when the security person stopped me and told me I had to leave it at the gate. I tried to explain to her that I was a diabetic and needed the food, showed her my MedicAlert bracelet as well. It did no good, I left the food there and was told by the person to take the matter up with the team. That is exactly what I did and received a letter stating that if I needed to bring food into the stadium all I needed to do was send them a doctor's note and they would send me a letter allowing me to bring food into IWS.
I have gotten a letter from them every year since then to avoid another incident like the one in '99.
With the prices so high, people will just find better ways of sneaking food in. It's a fact of life that people will aways try and get things past. If you get caught, then do not cry about having to dump it. It's the risk you took.. BUT with that said: Simple food for little kids should be allowed. We shall see what changes come to play for the home opener..
Sneaking in food and drinks (how many mickies do you find after the games?) is one thing, but not being allowed to bring in snacks and foods for kids is idiotic! What's wrong with a baggie full of Cherrios to let him/her munch on? Does the organization think that my son's sippy cup is full of alcohol? Come on Bob, you call that family friendly?
IMO, the major complaints could have been avoided if the Cats would have announced beforehand that food and drink (even water) would not be allowed into the stadium this year.
This seems like quite an oversight on managements part considering their apparent media and public relations savvy. Between CHML, The Spec, CHtv, this site and subsequent word-of-mouth, most fans would have had advance warning not to take anything with them down to the game.
I know I was PO'ed having to dump my (home filled) filtered bottle of water. But I'll be dam_ed if I'll pay $2.50-3.00 or more for water. Strange coincidence... the water fountain just inside the Balsam gate wasn't working either.
On the 5th Quarter, Bob was "challenged" about the increased price of beer and he basically said that's business and the way to pay for the quality of players that were brought in.
Seeing as this is the last year of the pre-agreed 3 year season ticket price freeze, I wonder what other surprises are in store come next years ticket renewal time !!??
I don’t mean any offence by this comment Bob, however that truly sounds like a cop out to me. People paid good, hard earned money to go to that game and the service should reflect it.
Pre-season games are for the players and coaching staff to gel. The concession and security staff don’t have any regulations on when they can start working together to get the bugs out. The players do.
If I went to a new restaurant and they had as many bugs (not necessarily the creepy crawly kind) as what seemed to have happened at Ivor Wynne last night I would never go back.
Security, concession and all other staff should have been in top form by last night. It sounds like everything was just thrown together in the last week or so. If so, that is unacceptable.
I wasn't trying to bring any food into the stadium last night but I was still asked for the inventory of everything in my pockets. I was specifically asked if I was carrying keys with me.....what they were expecting I might do with keys is beyond me. Thankfully my keys were not on my being....who knows if I'd have been allowed in with such a lethal weapon. Seems to me someone was definitely taking her job too seriously.