August 24, 2021: Facial Recognition

I was reading a Sports Illustrated article the other day… yeah, the actual magazine, that I held in my hand, and read on the train. It’s funny… back in the day you see old pictures with everybody reading the newspaper on the train; nowadays you look around, and everybody is on their phone. I guess it’s the sort of the same thing right? Anyways, yes, I still get that magazine delivered to my house. I think it was a gift from my parents. Most times I just breeze through it, reading 1-2 articles. But this time around, I was especially interested; it was the Gambling Issue.

Before I dive into gambling, because I have, and I will, I wanted to talk about another article about facial recognition software. They talked about how many stadiums are starting to adopt this technology; maybe not many yet, but they’re on the path. Of course, the possibilities with this are endless, but the one thing they wanted to use it for was to recognize people who aren’t supposed to be there. You know, the folks who get the “lifetime ban” from the stadium. I always laughed when I heard that, figuring, how the heck can they enforce that. Short answer is, they cannot. I learned that first hand many years ago in LA.

I’ve written so much on here, I sometimes forget what stories I’ve shared; I know I’ve mentioned this, but haven’t gotten into too much detail. But yes, many years ago at a Cubs Dodger game in LA, I was arrested, thrown in the stadium jail cell, and given a one year ban from Dodger Stadium. The only problem with that “one year ban” was that I had tickets for the next day’s game as well, that time with my future wife; they were good seats too. No way I was missing that game because I was unfairly arrested…

But back to how we got here… of course we were doing some pre-gaming. I went with my friend from LA, who is actually a Reds fan. We went to this Mexican restaurant just down the hill from Dodger Stadium called El Compadre. That was our spot out there. My wife and I discovered it on a fluke; many good times there, including this Cubs game. Of course when we walked in, the place was full of Cubs fans, who were all willing to buy us shots of tequila. Yeah… those shots get you in trouble; I still haven’t learned that lesson completely. Anyways, we were feeling good as we walked up to the stadium. Of course I had my Cubs jersey on, but no hat this time; instead, I was wearing the Fukudome headband. I couldn’t wait for the game.

Now I’ve been to many of my teams’ games on the road. I like to talk crap back and forth within reason. I’m not going to walk in, talking all big and bad, ripping on your team, but I’ll go back and forth with you if you want. Well, that’s what happened for the first couple innings. The thing is, this other guy didn’t stop; he wouldn’t shut the hell up… I was being heckled pretty much, and my drunk self could only take so much. Finally, I stood up, taking the Dodger dog I had just bought, placed it by my crotch, and told him to… Yeah, well, some other Dodger fans reported me, and I was escorted out. It was bullshit; I was drunk, and yes I was at fault too, but… Anyways, I really felt it was unfair at that moment, so after they escorted me out, I was bound to find a way back into the stadium. As I wandered in the inner workings of Dodger Stadium, I can only imagine security watching me on camera and laughing. I know this, because when I burst through a door, and ended up by the left field foul pole, they were waiting for me. That was a fun night…

So back to this facial recognition stuff… it wasn’t around back then let me tell you. I laughed when they gave me a one year ban. I did tell my future wife, but told her don’t worry about it. Just to play it safe though, I shaved my face and wore some sunglasses when we went back the next night; no tequila that evening. We did enjoy the game, hassle free. I really like Dodger Stadium… their so called “fans”… not so much. You’ve seen the videos from out there, right?

Anyways, we live to tell these stories, and laugh because everything ended up being OK. I don’t plan on getting any more “bans” from stadiums, but I can’t promise I won’t take any more tequila shots, and I definitely know I’ll be watching my teams in other stadiums, so…