FUNNY SPORTS QUOTES \ Source: shreveporttimes.com

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BASEBALL HUMOR
Minor League Baseball Promotions
July 8, 2008
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Kathy Petty took her dog out for an evening of entertainment on Monday — she and her 3-year-old rat terrier Sam watched the Sports game against St. Paul.
"I wanted him to see the other dogs," Petty said.
There were dogs to see at Fair Grounds Field on the second of four "Mutt Monday" promotions for the team.
The dog day games are just one example of the creative lengths minor league sports teams will go to draw fans.
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"It's something unique and something different," Sports general manager Terri Sipes said. "You wouldn't normally bring an animal to the ballpark. It might entice someone who normally wouldn't come out to the baseball game. They can bring out their favorite friend and spend a nice, warm evening outside along with their dogs."
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The promotion is a fairly common one around minor league sports. The Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs have allowed fans to bring their dogs to the CenturyTel Center. The Sports, though, are having the promotion each of their four Monday night home games this season.
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The minor leagues have long been home to the wacky and creative.
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Almost five years ago, the Altoona Curve baseball team held an "Awful Night" promotion. The promotion was an attempt to produce the worst atmosphere ever at a baseball game.
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The Curve may have succeeded with music from William Shatner and Milli Vanilli as well as well as a pregame autograph session with non-celebrities.
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Pre-planned funeral nights have been a hit in the minors since the Hagerstown Suns gave away a full pre-paid funeral in 2003. The Grand Prairie AirHogs have done the same thing this season in the American Association.
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The Nashua Pride took advantage of the "Who wants to be a millionaire?" craze in 2002 and held a "Who wants to be a Turkish millionaire?" night. The team gave away a million Turkish lira, worth about $1.16, to fans who answered a variety of questions.
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"Part of it is to draw the fan that isn't necessarily the hard-core baseball fan," Sports assistant general manager Michael Beasley said. "But because they've got a dog and they think it might be fun to be at the ballpark, they might like it.
"The other part of it is just to have fun. There are very few hard-core baseball fans who will watch every single pitch intensely. I think everybody else has a desire to be entertained. You've got to do that in different ways. And I think that is where you come up with these zany and different type of promotions."
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Earlier this year in the af2, the Bossier-Shreveport Battle Wings had a wedding at halftime of their game. The wedding was complete with a minister.
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Some of the promotions, though, take a harder edge.
Last August, the Savannah Sand Gnats had "Lindsay Lohan Drunk Driving Awareness Night."
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The promotion occurred on a regular "Thursday Thirsty" when beer was half-priced. A blood alcohol testing van was at the stadium along with a wrecked car from a drunken driving accident.
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Such promotions bring into question where the line is drawn by minor league sports teams.
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"The general rule of thumb that we have here at the Sports is legality and morality," Beasley said. "Keep it legal and keep it moral. Outside of that, we're just about willing to try anything.
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"That said, we try to reflect what the community might find entertaining. If I think someone is not going to understand 'Tribute to Toilet Paper' night, some of those are a little too far out. You have to keep in mind the core person we're trying to attract to the ballgame is Mom.
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"The reason we're trying to get Mom to come to the game is, by and large, Mom makes the decisions on what families do. Mom wants it be to safe and clean and affordable and kid-friendly. So we try to remind ourselves of those things.'