Fan Dead After Falling Over Rangers Ballpark Wall

[AOII Angel]

Originally Posted by christiangirl

With that barrier in place, the visiting announcers likely couldn't see how far down it was or that there was no safety net. Once they realized (by the crowd still looking down) that Stone wasn't getting up, they started expressing concern. I'm not saying it's okay to laugh at ANYONE who falls but it's a learned reaction for most people who have no reason to believe the person isn't perfectly fine.

What got me are the people who made fun of him, saying "it's his own fault." It was an accident. People are just...ugh, let me not start.

Everyone knows how far the fall is and that there are no safety nets at these stadiums. These announcers are professionals who are very aware of the logistics and layouts of baseball stadiums.

[christiangirl]

That's as much as an assumption as saying they were clueless to the height of the fall. So my point still stands. While it's not "okay" to laugh at anyone who falls, regardless of the distance, it is the first reaction of many if not most people to whom it is not obvious the person is fine. I don't think it's right (especially for the announcers, part of a professional staff) but with AFV and other blooper shows that tend to condition people to laugh at potentially injurious situations, I wouldn't expect anything else. Should they be fired? No. Should they act more sensitively to similar incidents from now on? Yes.

[DrPhil]

...anyway...it isn't natural to laugh at someone falling in a baseball stadium.

Falls in stadiums are hit or miss. Some people survive and some people don't. A man survived a 30-foot fall about a year ago. People can choose to laugh...whether nervousness or humor...but that doesn't make it natural to laugh.

[christiangirl]

Originally Posted by DrPhil

People can choose to laugh...whether nervousness or humor...but that doesn't make it natural to laugh.

Okay. With this I can agree. I can't imagine how horrible that must've been for his son to watch that and agree with the request to stop playing the clip. Some say it should be left up as a "lesson" for others but no one needs to see that to learn something.

[DrPhil]

The morning news showed excerpts of Shannon Stone's memorial service. Rest in peace.

On the same day as this memorial service, a complete idiot named Keith Carmickle was saved from falling head-first.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/allsta...ory?id=6759862

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/0..._n_895355.html

The morning news showed the clips of Carmickle being grabbed and saved by his folks. Scary stuff but I consider this almost freak accident to be more preventable than what happened to Stone (still preventable but he wasn't being a complete idiot--perhaps careless--but not a complete idiot).

[AOII Angel]

Originally Posted by DrPhil

The morning news showed excerpts of Shannon Stone's memorial service. Rest in peace.

On the same day as this memorial service, a complete idiot named Keith Carmickle was saved from falling head-first.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/allsta...ory?id=6759862

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/0..._n_895355.html

The morning news showed the clips of Carmickle being grabbed and saved by his folks. Scary stuff but I consider this almost freak accident to be more preventable than what happened to Stone (still preventable but he wasn't being a complete idiot--perhaps careless--but not a complete idiot).

They showed that on the news here in PHX last night. Seriously...just let the ball go! It costs like $2.50. No one cares where you got it.