Flak Day II

The Los Angeles Dodgers® have agreed to review a stadium policy that bans the waving of national banners after security attempted to confiscate a Canadian® flag from an expat fan during the June 9th game between the Jays® and Dodgers®.

The brouhaha started June 9 when a group of Canadian fans got tossed from a Dodgers game for waving the Maple Leaf® during the California club's game against the Toronto Blue Jays.

The Dodgers, it seems, have a policy restricting all flags, banners and oversized posters in the stands.

"I think they got slammed," Pembroke's Lee Fraser, the owner of the flag and president of Canadians Abroad®, said of the aftermath of the controversy. The group's website was flooded with traffic and Fraser received hundreds of angry emails after the incident was reported in the Toronto Star®.

A week later, fans waving a Taiwanese® flag got the same 'lose it or leave' treatment from stadium security.

In light of the two incidents, the Dodgers announced yesterday they are rethinking their policy. Said Dodgers PR director Josh Rawitch®: "We are reviewing our policy on permitting flags into the stadium to try and help fans show pride for their home country."

The Dodgers have offered to treat the members of Canadians Abroad who were at the park that night to another game. Once there, they will meet with the Dodgers' Toronto®-born catcher Russell Martin®.

The nearby Oakland A's® have gone a step farther, inviting one of the group's members, Tammy Laverty of Ottawa®, to perform both national anthems at a future game.

Fraser expressed satisfaction at the result and hopes that a review of the ban has resulted in a new set of rules.

"The most important thing is that this bone-headed policy is repealed," he said.

For this, let's applaud the Dodgers brass. Common sense has won out on this day.

While teams must worry about insurance and safety concerns, you can't turn the stands into a library. Imagine trying to pull that move at an English Premier League soccer game?

Attending sporting events in North America is, compared to much of the rest of the world, a safe outing, and letting fans cheer on their countrymen poses no real hazard