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11-01-2013, 10:26 AM | |
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Coomer The Hot Dog Douche Is At It Again!
This guy is the biggest douche in Overland Park... and that's saying something!
http://news.yahoo.com/fan-injured-ho...155248090.html KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — If it had been a foul ball or broken bat that struck John Coomer in the eye as he watched a Kansas City Royals game, it's unlikely the courts would have forced the team to pay for the surgeries and suffering he's endured. But because it was a hot dog thrown by the team mascot — behind the back, no less — he just may have a case. The Missouri Supreme Court is weighing whether the "baseball rule" — a legal standard that protects teams from being sued over fan injuries caused by events on the field, court or rink — should also apply to injuries caused by mascots or the other personnel that teams employ to engage fans. Because the case could set a legal precedent, it could change how teams in other cities and sports approach interacting with fans at their games. Coomer, of Overland Park, Kan., says he was injured at a September 2009 Royals game when the team's lion mascot, Sluggerrr, threw a 4-ounce, foil-wrapped wiener into the stands that struck his eye. He had to have two surgeries — one to repair a detached retina and the other to remove a cataract that developed and implant an artificial lens. Coomer's vision is worse now than before he was hurt and he has paid roughly $4,800 in medical costs, said his attorney, Robert Tormohlen. Coomer, 53, declined to discuss the case. His lawsuit seeks an award of "over $20,000" from the team, but the actual amount he is seeking is likely much greater. Tormohlen declined to discuss the actual amount. The Jackson County jurors who first heard the case two years ago sided with the Royals, saying Coomer was completely at fault for his injury because he wasn't aware of what was going on around him. An appeals court overturned that decision in January, however, ruling that while being struck by a baseball is an inherent risk fans assume at games, being hit with a hotdog isn't. The state Supreme Court heard oral arguments last month, but didn't indicate when it might issue its ruling. Few cases had addressed the level of legal duty, or obligation, a mascot owes to fans, so Coomer's case is being closely watched by teams throughout the country, said Tormohlen. "If a jury finds that the activity at issue is an inherent and unavoidable risk, the Royals owe no duty to their spectators," Tormohlen said. "No case has extended the no-duty rule to the activities of a mascot." The Royals, whose spokesman declined to comment on the case while it is pending, have argued that the hotdog toss has been a popular fan attraction at Kauffman Stadium since 2000 and is as much part of the game experience as strikeouts and home runs. From mascot races and T-shirt cannons to free Wi-Fi and stadium sushi stands, teams have been doing everything they can to convince fans that the live experience is worth the high ticket and concession prices and is better than watching games on television. "You have this competition with teams engaged in pushing the envelope trying to make the experience at the event better than what you can experience at home," said Jordan Kobritz, a professor in the Sports Management Department at SUNY Cortland. "You also have the fan mentality in which risk today is more tolerable than it's been in our history." A ruling in Coomer's favor, or one that at least assigns partial blame to the mascot, could force teams to rethink their promotions, or at least take additional measures to keep spectators safe, Kobritz said. Bob Jarvis, a sports law professor at Nova Southeastern University in Florida, said a 1997 California case set an important precedent when a state appeals court ruled that mascots are not an essential part of a baseball game. In that case, a minor league baseball team's dinosaur brushed against a fan, distracting him right before he was struck by a ball that broke several bones in his face. The court said mascot antics aren't essential or integral to the playing of a game. Furthermore, not all courts have treated the baseball rule as sacrosanct. Earlier this year, the Idaho Supreme Court allowed a fan who lost an eye to a foul ball at a minor league baseball game to proceed with his lawsuit against the team. The court said that since baseball fan injuries are so rare in Idaho, there didn't seem to be a compelling reason for the court to step in. In the Kansas City case, a ruling in the Royals' favor would indicate that mascots are, indeed, an essential part of the game experience, Jarvis said. If that happens, the Kansas City case would likely supplant Lowe's as the one attorneys look at when deciding whether to file a lawsuit on behalf of an injured fan. "If you could get a court to go the other way and say in-game entertainment is a natural part of playing baseball in the U.S. in the 21st century, that would be a tremendous precedent that could cut off future lawsuits," Jarvis said. |
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11-01-2013, 02:05 PM | #61 |
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11-01-2013, 02:06 PM | #62 |
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Just call Slugger. He can fire a hot dog in your direction at 2,200 feet per second.
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11-01-2013, 02:08 PM | #63 | |
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it is someone elses fault, you don't expect flying ****ing hot dogs at a baseball game. The guy isn't looking to get rich here, and if anyone should be accountable, it is the mascot. it is very unfortunate. |
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11-01-2013, 02:10 PM | #64 |
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This thread is great, you guys are really on a roll. Is it cause it is friday? |
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11-01-2013, 02:10 PM | #65 |
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Have you ever been to a baseball game? Teams do promotions like this all the time. If you don't expect it, the announcement should clue you in...so should the guy in a giant Lion costume preparing to toss hotdogs.
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11-01-2013, 02:11 PM | #66 |
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11-01-2013, 02:15 PM | #67 | |
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At the drag races, they often shoot T-Shirts to the crowd out of a giant cannon thing, and I just can't imagine someone not being aware of it. However, I bet there are people looking at something else at the time, just like this guy obviously was. I think the bogie here is that he is not trying to get rich, just basically get his medical bills covered. |
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11-01-2013, 02:17 PM | #68 |
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He's asking for "over 20k", the exact amount isn't specified.
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11-01-2013, 02:24 PM | #69 | |
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The mockery you're making of somebody freaking out about a hot dog promotion is exactly my point. People bring baseball gloves and are always alert during an inning for fear of getting hit with a bat or balll. Nobody expects to get hurt during a hot dog promotion, so why do you keep putting this ridiculous idea into people's heads that people should be paying close attention to a hot dog promotion so as not to get hurt? How about not doing the promotion at all -- is that going to change the outcome of the game? What are some of the Royals' duty of care? How about insuring that hot dogs are wrapped in something that can't hurt anyone? How about instructing the mascot to lob hot dogs? How about instructing your mascot to lob it to someone who's paying attention, instead of carelessly flipping it behind your back? |
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11-01-2013, 02:24 PM | #70 | |
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11-01-2013, 02:26 PM | #71 |
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Sluggggrrr is going to need some sympathy lap dances to get his groove back on...
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11-01-2013, 02:26 PM | #72 | |
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Why would there have to be some absolute rule making all incidents liability? Or, the converse rule that all incidents equal no liability? IMO, it ought to be a matter of fact depending on what happened and the matter of law should not be absolute either way.
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11-01-2013, 02:26 PM | #73 | |
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I sympathisize with the guy. I really do. They Royals should pay for his medical bills, but they shouldn't be legally obligated to. There was nothing dangerous about what they did. It was a freak accident that couldn't have been reasonably anticipated, and this guy could have protected himself by doing literally anything to avoid it. Going to a Major League baseball game is different than going to the library. It's an interactive experience with tens of thousands of people there to be entertained by not only the game itself, but by the fountains, the food, the music, the carousel, the hot dog race, the kiss cam, and...yes...the mascot tossing t-shirts, hotdogs, etc. to the fans. If those activities are so dangerous as to present an obvious threat, reasonable people should not be there in the first place.
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11-01-2013, 02:33 PM | #74 | |
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It isn't "clearly dangerous" just because someone got hurt. It took a freak accident by an idiot to get hurt. It's possible to get hurt by any number of things if you're the person who is both dumb enough and unlucky enough to find yourself hurt in a hotdog toss at a baseball game. The possibility that something could hurt someone isn't enough that a reasonable person should anticipate it happening.
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11-01-2013, 02:37 PM | #75 | |
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Could it be that he threw it too hard and too low for the people that wanted to catch it to catch it?
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