Thoughts from attending NLDS Games 1 and 2

I'm going to start right out with it: I HATE RALLY TOWELS!

I get that they look good on TV, but they are hell to anyone inside the stadium this is actually, you know, trying to watch the game. They consistantly blocked my view of the field. They are in every single one of my pictures. They're stupid.

They also prevent people from clapping and I think noise is a much more crucial aspect of a large crowd. Even with the towels, D'Backs manager Kirk Gibson said that noise was an issue during the games at Miller Park. He couldn't even talk to his pitching coach in the dugout. Imagine how much worse that would be if everyone in the stadium wasn't just "woooooo"-ing, but also clapping.

Plus, you don't "wooo" all game long. When the game is close and you're hanging on every out, clapping gets the fans into it and can pump up the team. Sure, home runs are great and we all scream and yell, but clapping for the pitcher when he's got two outs and a 3-2 count is crucial. And there were times where Miller Park was simply quiet. I blame the stupid towels.

Looking around message boards, it appears this happened after the games in the final week of the season, but after both Games 1 and 2, bike cops and cop cars came through the parking lots about an hour after the game and told people to go home.

We were told very nicely and at the time we were told, the congestion had just started to clear up, so we didn't mind. But on Brewerfan.net, people said they witnessed meanness from cops and issues where cops were harrassing folks who were tailgating after the game.

In the Giants/Molitor lot near Bluemound on Saturday, it felt like no one was leaving. Post-game tailgating was in full effect. I can see where the police could be concerned about drinking and driving. Additionally, someone got injured in the lot post game, necessitating an ambulance.

There were posters on Brewerfan that felt it wasn't right or approrpiate for the cops to tell people to leave. Most of the folks who relayed their experience said they were asked once to leave and didnt, then were asked a second time and that's when they left.

I'm of an opinion that one admonishment from the police is enough - they shouldn't have to come back and tell you again to leave and exit private property. Folks seemed to think they had the right to be there and no one should be able to tell them to leave.

One of the posters claimed they were told to leave as there was still a long line of cars. No one else corroborated that story and that certainly wasn't our experience. If that was the case, asking folks to leave was wrong - forcing people to go sit in line in their car sucks.

Another complaint about the games was the cost of parking. One person went as far as to call it "price-gouging."

The Brewers did everything they could to encourage fans to buy parking advance.

If you were a season-seat holder and bought your playoff ticket strip in advance, you could buygeneral parking for all possible posteason games at a price of $15 a game.

If you went to the Miller Park box office prior to either game, you could buy general parking for $20. If you called the box office prior to the games, they told you that you wouldn't be able to buy parking day of and needed to have a parking pass in hand ahead of time to be able to get into the lots.

If you didn't heed any of those warnings and went to MP on Saturday or Sunday, it cost you $25 for general parking.

Since the Brewers pretty much begged you to buy parking ahead of time, I'm going to use the $20 as the assumed price for parking.

For a marquee regular-season game, general parking was $15. That means NLDS parking was just $5 more. Sure, compared to weekday regular-game parking at $8, $20 does seem a bit high. But this is clearly bigger than that. It's clearly bigger than a marquee game and the price is only marginally higher.

When the first two rounds of the NCAA basketball tournament were at the Bradley Center last year, there were parking garages in the area charging up to $75. Parking during Bucks and Marquette games usually starts at $20. And those parking spots don't come with the ability to tailgate. They're in parking structures that can take you hours to exit.

I just think accusations of price gouging are ridiculous. My terrace reserved NLDS tickets cost me $15 each. My NLCS tickets are face value $40. The prices of those tickets are set by the Brewers. World Series ticket prices are set by Major League Baseball - and the face value on my seats is $150 a ticket. Market says the Brewers could have charged way more than they did.