An open letter to Arthur Blank

10 years is a long time.

Today, I did something I never thought I would do. I gave away my Falcons tickets.

Why, you ask? Allow me to clarify...When my wife Liz and I bought our first season tickets in 2000, we did not have any idea what the future would hold for us, or our venerable team. In the last 10 years, we saw a drama unfold and a city fracture.

I respect and admire Arthur Blank. I truly believe he is a good and honorable man. When he purchased the team, we were very excited and when the team drafter Micheal Vick, the city came alive. Little did we know the horrors in store for us.

By now, Mr Vick's story is well known. Here's our story, and the reason I am giving up my tickets...

In 2007, after the dog killing episode, and the birth of our first child, my wife had officially 'had it'. She informed me she would not be going with me to any Falcons game, and it was up to me to find a friend to go with if I wanted to continue supporting the team.I asked my handicapped friend, Jerry to be my new football buddy. And for the most part, the organization was very helpful. I took my 'cheap seat' tickets to the ticket office and asked if I could switch them out for one's with handicapped seating. They complied, and Jeery and I spent that year watching the games from the endzone, in a lower level. In 2008, I renewed, and once again went to the ticket office to inquire about getting available handicapped seating. I was told that there were no 'available' cheap seat handicapped tickets, but if I chose to 'upgrade' ( spend 45$ more a ticket!) I could get those same tickets that in the previous year they had provided. However, if I renewed in 2009, and made a notation in my renewal for a 'seat change' they would see 'what they could do'. I did just that, but surprise, suprise, there were no 'available' handicapped seats in the 'cheap seats'. Facing this, I opted to pay for a couple upgrades and Jerry and I only got to go to a handful of games together, but I was beggining to get discouraged.

I renewed again this season, and found once again that there were no 'available' handicapped seats. That is, unless I wanted to pony up the cash. This was very frustrating, as it always appeared there were not only available seats, but in many cases, the people sitting in the handicapped section were not even handicapped!Nevertheless, I once again paid to upgrade a few choice games to take my buddy. Here's where it gets interesting.

The very first game Jerry and I went to, we found out that we were seated next to an African American 'gentleman' sporting a black Vick#7 jersey and a couple rows up from a redneck with a jersey that had been modified to read 'conVICKt'.

http://www.youtube.com/user/theotherstuff1#p/u/30/CEj1DW1bUtQ
http://www.youtube.com/user/theotherstuff1#p/u/28/m43oVRAAOUI

Needless to say, the 'commentary' bewteen these two geniuses was entertaining, but hostile. In the last 2 games, the guy in the Vick jersey, who was seated in a handicapped seat, became pretty aggressive and at one point made a scowling veiled threat to me (sporting my new Matt Ryan jersey). At this point, I had it.

It's hard to have faith in the ticket office when they tell me year after year that there are not lower priced handicapped seast availabe, when they are selling said seats to people who are clearly not handicapped.

A note about Jerry. Jerry is a true fan. He has MD, and is poor. Mr Blank, we are both very fortunate people. Jerry will never know the special bond of marriage. He will never have a career. For Jerry, going to sporting event and concerts IS the highlight of his life. That is all he has. And, Jerry knows this and is a real fan: always cheering, always in the seat at kickoff, always vigilant.

Now some may say I should have just texted the dome about the guy next to me, but why? It's not my job to make sure the handicapped seats are going to real handicapped people. I also understand that Mr Blank is looking to put the team in a new home, and I dont fault him for that. I have great admiration for Mr Blank, and his partner Mr Marcus holds a special place in our hearts as we are parents of an autistic child. But if the only option I have to take Jerry to the game is to 'renew' and have faith that the ticket office will do thier best to accomodate a poor crippled man, who has been a vociferous and loyal fan, or just to dig in my bank account and spend 65$ a ticket vs 29$ a ticket, then I dont have that faith anymore. And that is a sad thing.

And I wanted to write this letter today, as we sit at 6-2, poised for the playoffs and awaiting the Ravens tonight on national TV. I will be watching the game, just not at the Dome. And I feel like next season, I might just save the hassle and buy the NFL ticket instead of having to deal with idiots who pine for a player that pretty much destroyed our franchise and think the Mr Blank is somehow 'the bad guy'.

I hope the Falcons win, but I am sad that Jerry and I cannot be there to cheer them on.