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Greg Prince and Jason Fry
Faith and Fear in Flushing made its debut on Feb. 16, 2005, the brainchild of two longtime friends and lifelong Met fans.

Greg Prince discovered the Mets when he was 6, during the magical summer of 1969. He is a Long Island-based writer, editor and communications consultant. Contact him here.

Jason Fry is a Brooklyn writer whose first memories include his mom leaping up and down cheering for Rusty Staub. Check out his other writing here.

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Rollerball Anyone?

by on 26 February 2008 11:55 pm

The year is 2018. There is no crime and there are no more wars. Corporations are now the leaders of the world, as well as the controllers of the people. A violent futuristic game known as Rollerball is now the recreational sport of the world, with teams representing various areas competing for the title of champion.

That’s from the IMDb plot summary for 1975’s Rollerball. I have no idea why I thought to look it up ten seconds after taking in the updated Citi Field slide show on mets.com, revised to reflect the ballpark logo that was introduced yesterday. No idea at all.
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7 comments to Rollerball Anyone?

  • Anonymous
    February 26th, 2008 at 7:43 pm

    Greg I definitely get the feeling that you sense some kind of impending doom over this new palace by the dump..
    Am I wrong? Something is just not right with you?
    I know you will miss Shea terribly, but your not exactly embracing anything here..
    I cant say I'm really worried about you as much as I am about myself and how I feel about the direction the team(for that matter the game itself) has gone in recent years.
    I am struggling with this new era of the game. My detachment is becoming too comfortable at times. I should have been upset over last years collapse, but I flipped it off with a philosophy that never existed before in me as a fan of this team.
    And then theres this new damn place..I stop right at that sham facade and proceed no further and act like a spoiled child refusing to get a haircut..
    I feel I am losing my grip one finger at a time. Nothing seems familiar or inviting anymore..and Santana..well to me it's still just a rock band.
    Rich

  • Anonymous
    February 26th, 2008 at 8:18 pm

    Rich,
    It's the logo, nothing deeper, at least not tonight. I long ago accepted the name as a fact of the world we live in. But man, seeing it there, on the Mets' ballpark, not just as Citi Field in block letters as had been previously rendered (which looked all right) but with the actual Citi corporate logo and no effort to integrate it into the design as was done with Pacific Bell (before it was renamed) or PNC in San Fran or Pittsburgh. Never mind the Rollerball overtones. It just looks so bush league, so sell-our-soul, so mid-market. Those handfuls of times I've gotten off a SEPTA train in Philadelphia and walked to their ballpark, I pass whatever they're calling the new Spectrum. It always has some bank logo on it. Never seems to be the same bank either. That's what this reminds me of. Frigging Philadelphia.
    Uncomfortable to look at in artist's rendering, probably background noise by my third game there next year. But it's February. This is no time for what you admirably call quiet dignity.
    Don't know about your haircuts, buddy, but Santana does rock. And I'm not referring to Carlos.

  • Anonymous
    February 27th, 2008 at 5:21 am

    OK..Maybe it's just February talking..When the seasons finally comes I will fall in love all over again. I hope..I just had a bit of a panic attack..It is all just as you said,” so sell-our-soul”..
    Thanks..

  • Anonymous
    February 27th, 2008 at 12:49 pm

    They're obviously concerned about the inevitable name change. Wilpon didn't want to have to spend the money on taking down the five extra letters.
    I'm just gonna call it _____ FIELD.

  • Anonymous
    February 27th, 2008 at 3:10 pm

    Here's the problem. This field is still going to be second to the ballpark in the Bronx. No naming rights; no “Yankee Stadium at Budweiser Yards” or anything like that. I just noticed it taking the train in this morning. you can now see the new YS from metro North. it looks magnificient (much as it pains me). 12,000 more seats than Shea Jr…why did both of them have to open in the same year? Could we have ONE year of the newest bestest ballpark in town?

  • Anonymous
    February 28th, 2008 at 7:26 pm

    It's bugged me from minute one that the Yankees' new stadium gets to keep its Yankee identity, while we get this generic clone. Like Shea never existed, and we have no heritage of our own to celebrate. And I doubt their new stadium will stand as a testament to some other team, either. As much as I hate all their “Yankee tradition” claptrap, I find myself envying them a bit now. Who would have thought we'd be the ones to sell our souls to the highest bidder? Are we really that downtrodden, that we had to crawl to these corporations, cap-in-hand, and exchange our very soul for a few bucks? The Yankees may be cold, mercenary robots, but at least next year they'll be playing in Yankee Stadium.
    I just want one touch of authenticity, one nod to the Mets, in this impersonal, could-be-anywhere joint… which is why I want the original Apple. Can't help it, I'm a purist on this subject. I just can't see myself feeling much of anything passing this place in the offseason, like the knot in my stomach when I pass Shea… or even when I catch that first glimpse as I approach it on the 7. After all these years, after hundreds upon hundreds upon still more hundreds of days/nights spent there, I still feel it. The best and worst moments of my life have been spent in that place. The joy I feel when my little niece, with an excited shriek, immediately recognizes Shea both in person and in pictures will be ripped from me, too. THIS IS PROGRESS? IT LOOKS LIKE A GIANT ATM!!! >:-(

  • Anonymous
    March 1st, 2008 at 9:30 am

    I think we can't go wrong with “(Your Ad Could Be Here) Field.”