Chalk this next item up with the ridiculous.
Ready for this? Baseball fans can now sue if they are injured by a foul ball around the concession areas in New Jersey’s minor league ballparks.That’s right. The New Jersey state appeals court overturned an earlier ruling last week allowing a Newark man who was hit in the face by a ball while at a concession stand to sue the Newark Bears and the food service companies that service the Bears at Bears and Eagles Riverfront Stadium.
The appellate panel said that while fans who attend sporting events assume some risk of balls flying into the stands, that standard should not apply while they are at concession areas.
The judges said fans in those areas should have more protection because they can “let down their guard.”
Louis Maisonave, a 46-year-old resident of Newark, had a bone in his face broken when he was struck by a foul ball during a Bears game on Aug. 26, 1999, while standing in front of a vending cart.
He sued the Bears and Gourmet Dining Services of South Orange, which provides concessions at the Bears’ games, saying he didn’t receive proper protection from the foul ball while purchasing his food items.
Foul balls are a part of baseball. Everyone knows that. Everyone has to pay attention to the balls coming back no matter where they’re located. What are teams expected to do? Build caged-off areas in order that people can get their hot dogs and beer without danger?
The attorneys for Gourmet Dining Service plans to appeal the decision to the New Jersey State Supreme Court. Let’s hope that stronger heads prevail in this matter, because this suit might start a trickle down effect to lawsuits popping up all over, even at Little League games. It could start a seriously ridiculous trend…
Speaking of foul balls, I was flipping the channels last Sunday afternoon and stumbled across the Yankees-Tampa Bay Devil Rays game for a few pitches. When former Yankee Tino Martinez laced a line foul down into the right field stands, a tall gentleman stood up and made a fine catch.
At closer view, the man making the great catch in the stands was a familiar face, none other than former St. Dominic Academy girls’ basketball coach and Jersey City health inspector Mike Perchun.
Perchun, attending the game with his son, Michael, reached up and snared the viciously smacked liner, using his son’s mitt, which really isn’t supposed to be used to catch hard line drives.
The announcers on the YES Network, namely Michael Kay and Ken Singleton, both gave Perchun credit for his catch, although they recognized that Perchun “was paying the price for his fine catch,” by waving his hand in pain after acknowledging the crowd.
Perchun said that it was his proudest moment since he married his wife, Christine. Yeah, right…
Maybe Ira Guilford’s days at Ohio State aren’t as done as what were originally thought.
The Columbus-based sports website, www.buckeyesports.com, is reporting that Guilford’s attorneys are working to get Guilford’s felony robbery charge either reduced or thrown out altogether, so the former Hoboken High School grid standout can return to school and play once again for the Buckeyes.
Although school officials determined after the arrest of Guilford and OSU teammate Louis Irizarry on charges that they beat and robbed a fellow student in April, that neither would ever return, perhaps this latest information is a sign that the school is softening its stance toward Guilford. We’ll have to wait and see what transpires before getting too excited…
St. Anthony standouts Sean McCurdy and Ahmad Nivins participated in the ABCD Camp last weekend at Fairleigh Dickinson University with 200 of the other top high school basketball players in the country.
But it was a culture shock for McCurdy, who is used to the team-oriented and defensive driven style of basketball. The selfish attitude of the campers got to McCurdy.
“I can’t wait to get back to play with my teammates,” said McCurdy, who averaged five points per game at the camp, while trying to deal with the shoot-first, pass-second mentality of the others. “I’m kind of disappointed. It was real hard to try to run this team. I’d give the ball to one of the wings and he’d end up shooting a 30-footer. I almost never saw the ball again. Sometimes I found myself forcing shots just to stay involved. A lot of kids are out for themselves here. At St. Anthony, no one cares who scores 20 points. We care about doing what it takes to win games.”
That was proven a year ago, when the Friars posted an undefeated 30-0 season, winning the NJSIAA Tournament of Champions, with no player averaging more than 12 points per game.
While McCurdy felt out of place with the selfish mentality at ABCD, he shouldn’t worry about his future. Maryland and Indiana are among the schools recruiting the sharpshooter, with Maryland his top choice…
Jersey City lost a great friend and a true sports fan last week, when Lou Laico, the long-time owner and proprietor of the popular Laico’s Restaurant on Terhune Avenue, passed away at the age of 88.
“Sweet Louie” was one of the nicest men you would ever want to meet and a huge help to many different youth athletic organizations and teams. He was a big supporter of St. Peter’s College athletics and always wanted the best for the kids of Jersey City. He was a dear friend who will be sorely missed…
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