The loss of formerly defining American freedoms is steadily continuing (in particular the First Amendment right to free assembly).
The NFL has historically been one of the first groups to restrict public access to ‘their’ football stadiums (often paid for with public funds), and continues that ‘leadership’ role by now prohibiting the carrying of bags into stadiums where their games are being held.
Effective immediately, the NFL now limits fans to only what they can carry in their pockets, plus what they can carry in their open hands. If you want to carry a blanket, you are required to ‘sling it over your shoulder’. You can also carry assorted other items either in a tiny clutch purse measuring no more than 4.5′ x 6.5′, or a 1 gallon (ie 12″ x 12″ x 6″) clear plastic bag.
No briefcases, fanny packs, cinch bags, luggage of any kind, computer bags or camera bags will be allowed.
Maybe this policy is workable if you park your car right next to the stadium, but what if you are not parking right next to the stadium? What if you want to combine a trip to the ball game with some shopping or a meal or something else? What if you are a woman with a capacious handbag full of ‘essentials’? 🙂
And also, what if you have valuable items you don’t want to leave in your car?
Our country continues to retreat into obsessive paranoia, sacrificing sense in the interests of an illusion of ‘safety’. To give an example of the nonsensical nature of this new bag ban, fans can still take whatever they like into an NFL game, just so long as it is in the pockets of their clothes. This has predictably created a press release from the ScotteVest people, known for making jackets with a huge number of pockets (I think their record is 37 pockets) and an enormous amount of storage space.
Apparently, the public safety is not threatened if you have a bulging jacket full of everything, but it is threatened if you carry such things in a handbag or other external carry bag.
The only way that lunacies like this make us safer is by causing the terrorists to become temporarily incapacitated by laughing so hard at us.
Also with a smile on their face are home theater salesmen and bar owners. This provides one more reason to stay away from stadiums and to watch games at home or in a sports bar, instead.
To use a term the NFL managers might understand, they’ve scored another ‘own goal’.
The best way to protest the NFL and its exorbitant ticket prices, ridiculous rules, etc. is to not buy tickets to their games. The owners and players win and the fans lose.