Chicago Cubs manager Joe Maddon is, to say the least, an interesting person. This spring, Maddon and members of the Cubs started wearing t-shirts with the phrase “Try Not To Suck” on them, which were later made available for sale to fans. This apparently caused some issues at Busch Stadium this week for the Cubs-Cardinals series because of a policy prohibiting t-shirts with the word “suck” on them.
This really is a thing – Busch Stadium doesn’t allow any t-shirts in with the word “sucks” on them because the ballpark doesn’t want to force ushers to decide what is or is not offensive.
After a T-shirt controversy this week at Busch Stadium, the St. Louis Cardinals intend to re-evaluate their “long-standing policy” of disallowing shirts with the word “suck” on them, according to their head of security.
“It’s not targeted at any one shirt,” Cardinals spokesman Ron Watermon told ESPN.com Thursday afternoon. “We should have a new policy in place by next homestand.”
[…]
Watermon said the team didn’t want to put ushers in the position of deciding what’s offensive and what’s not so they kept a strict policy until now. Even shirts with the words “Cancer Sucks” were met with resistance.
In the year 2016, who’s actually offended by the word “suck” anyway?
The t-shirts are available online and proceeds benefit Maddon’s Respect 90 foundation, supporting children’s athletics in inner city Chicago.
On Wednesday, Maddon talked about how silly the ban was and wanted an explanation.
“A guy came in with the shirt on and he told me he was denied access at the ballpark, so I was debating all kinds of methods to combat all that, but then I decided to let it fly,” Maddon said. “If the fans are responding, that’s the best way to indicate how foolish it is.”
[…]
“I’d love to know why they’re offensive in any way, shape or form,” Maddon said of his shirt before Wednesday’s game. “Anyone that thinks it’s offensive has a dirty mind.”
Maddon considered wearing the T-shirt during warm-ups before games but took the high road instead. He said he figures the publicity will only sell more shirts.
“The message to the ushers is ‘Why do you think it’s dirty?'” Maddon asked.
I wonder if Busch Stadium ushers are that strict when they hear fans yelling the words “suck” to describe a player or team. Or is it only important if they can actually read the word? At any rate, it’s pretty ridiculous, and it’s not as if modifying the policy is going to result in every third fan coming into the ballpark wearing a t-shirt with “SUCKS” emblazoned on it.
[ESPN]
