Final Blog Assignment

Dallas Morning News Blog Site:
http://rangersblog.dallasnews.com

Texas Rangers Press Release:
http://texas.rangers.mlb.com/news/press_releases/press_release.jsp?ymd=20070502&content_id=1943367&vkey=pr_tex&fext=.jsp&c_id=tex

Last night I attended the Rangers game in Arlington Texas. About an hour before the scheduled starting time, park officials began warning of severe weather conditions upcoming and advised all fans to move to the ground level of the stadium. In about half an hours time I was standing thirty feet from the entrance watching a sixty foot tall metal light pole nearly be blown over. The rain and wind were so strong, you couldn't see the pitchers mound from behind the batters box. Winds of eighty to one-hundred miles per hour were reported, and every county within a thirty mile radius was under a tornado warning. As the weather worsened, more and more park employees could be seen running around franticly. Eventually, the decision was made to move about 10,000 remaining fans down under the stadium to what they were calling "the tunnel," via two stair ways at opposite ends of the park. Being as Rangers Staduim is completely open, everything was drenched in rain. There was water, sometimes at much as three inches, rushing down the cement stairs as 10,000 scared fans pushed and yelled to try and find safety. The Rangers staff did a fairly good job of attempting to keep things under control, but everyone seemed to understand how dangerous a situation it really was. So why is this not being mentioned anywhere?!

Both the Rangers site and the Dallas Morning News site, above, make mention of the postponed game due to weather conditions, yet neither mention the on-the-fly duck and cover tornado drill that 10,000 soaked and frantic fans took place in last night. The management of this crisis seemed to have been handled reasonably well, but it was obvious that most of the staff was just as clueless as the fans. From a attending fan's perspective, it would have been much more comforting had the Rangers staff all been prepared and on the same page.