Beer “played a great role” in the affair
Posted on June 5th, 2007 – 11:03 AMBy Michael Rand
A great many thanks to Stu for passing along this link from the excellent blog Lawyers, Guns and Money. It seems Monday marked a very special anniversary: 33 years ago that day, a game between Texas and Cleveland was enhanced completely marred by a little promotion called “10-cent beer night.” Now, you can read the retrospective at the above link for the details. What we’re more interested in is a bigger-picture question. Joesportsfan.com had an interesting piece recently titled, “Five Things I’m Glad Happened Before the Modern ESPN Era.” We’d like to take things a step further and wonder how past events like 10-cent beer night would have been covered had sports blogs been around for the past 50-100 years. Because any discussion of the “modern” era of sports that doesn’t include the immediacy and the one-upsmanship of sports blogs is a little bit of pot-and-kettle treatment. From 10-cent beer night, there would have been pictures of fights in the stands (With Leather definitely would have had pictures of the topless streaker). There likely would have been some sort of live blog. There would have been immediate A-Rod jokes about the father-son duo who dropped their pants in the outfield. Deadspin’s headline would have read something like, “But officer, I only spent $3 on beer.” The Big Lead would have tried to post, only to have its server crash. In essence, everything straight-laced about the account (i.e. beer “played a great role” in the affair) would have been played for either a laugh or a deeper search for understanding. The point (or something resembling one) is this: we remember things differently based on the way they’re covered. And it will be interesting to see how blogs (and, yes, the ESPN modern era) shape our recollections of the events of this generation.
28 Responses to "Beer “played a great role” in the affair"
There definitely would have been at least one blogger at the event who would have told the entire story first-person.
The ESPN/blog way of shaping how we view and discuss sports is an issue worthy of further debate.
However, I think the overriding story here is that the mid-to-late 1970s were completely insane. The thought of throwing ESPN (“Tonight on SportsCenter: What Catfish Hunter Was Doing at Studio 54 the Night Before the All-Star Game, and Merlin Olson enters the Schmidt Wildlife Can Hot Zone”) and blogs (I was going to liveblog the game last night, but I spilled cocaine on my wife’s laptop during my girlfriend’s key party”) into the mix? Egads. The universe would have collapsed in on itself.
Stu:
First, +3.
Second, on behalf of everyone who was never alive during the 1970s: damn, we really missed out.
Ha! Good stuff… I especially like the mock Deadspin title. 
I think realistically, most likely ESPN would have devoted most of their Sports Center that night to the Yankees 9-2 loss to the White Sox, the Red Sox 4-3 win over the Twins, and a 12-year old Roger Clemens striking out 9 little leaguers from nearby Vandalia, Ohio in just 4 innings before going home and fatiguing his groin.
10-cent beer night probably would have garner status on the scrolling bar, and maybe a web gem when Jeff Burroughs had his glove stolen.
Next on “RandBall Cleveland Memories Week”: the merger of the Barons and North Stars; Ahmad Rashad’s catch against the Browns in 1980; indoor soccer with the Cleveland Force; and more Flipnosis.
[…] [Randball]: How would a riot caused by 10-cent-beer night in 1974 be covered today? […]
If only we could get 10-cent beer night to make a return for this anniversary. As even 10-cent Paps tastes better than $9 Bud Lite.
[…] If there’s ever a promotion we could get behind, it’s 10 cent beer night. (Randball) […]
[…] If there’s ever a promotion we could get behind, it’s 10 cent beer night. (Randball) […]
[…] Here in St. Louis, we’re lucky enough to be close enough to GNC Park - home of the Gateway Grizzlies…as well as the deep fried White Castle burger. Yes, stadium promotions are certainly hot these days. Ever wonder about the repercussions of a 10 cent beer night? [StarTribune] […]
BD, I think you meant Pabst. I don’t know anyone who wants 10-cent Paps.
[…] Posted by Signal to Noise on June 6th, 2007 1) Some of my fellow News Team members are going negative in this Hot Blogger Bracket thing. [The Extrapolater, Run Up The Score] 2) On LeBron’s out-of-wedlock fatherhood. [FreeDarko] 3) It’s a night at the batting cages. In this case, an unexpected observance of training vs. talent is only display. [Strike Zones and End Zones] 4) Attacking the ref at a soccer game and then apologizing because you had 15-20 beers. [The Beautiful Game] 5) 20 Questions with the Big Lead. [The Commission] 6) New Stanford football coach Jim Harbaugh is pulling a serious douche move by making Cal fans buy season tix in order to go see the Golden Bears beat up the Cardinal this year. [Larry Brown Sports] 7) Another good interview — this time, a two-parter with Furman Bisher of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. [Stiles Points] 
Could the Hawks trade for Kobe? [Leave the Man Alone] 9) Mike Modano’s gotta play damage control when fiancee Willa Ford spouts off. [WBRS Sports Blog] 10) And finally, a reminder of a promotion the likes of which we’ll never see again: 10 cent beer night. [RandBall] […]
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