Dr. Lynn Lashbrook

There was a “shocking” development at the Phillies’ Citizen Bank Ballpark on Monday when a 17-year-old fan jump onto the field as the St. Louis Cardinals were up to bat, where, after a foot race with security, was tasered in front of a crowd of 40,000. The event was painful for many to watch, as the fan wasn’t targeting a player, rather, acting out of what can only be described a juvenile stupidity.

As the co-author of Fan Etiquette: How Did the Burning Desire to Win Become the Desire to Burn?, I always have said fans can use their cell phone to notify security of an anticipated event such as the unruly spectator running on the field! We could have used such action in 2002 when Kansas City Royals first-base coach Tom Gamboa was attacked on the field by a father and son duo in shocking fashion.

Maybe instead of the Citizen Bank Ballpark security using a taser, how about the Phillies hire some athletically-fit security capable of running down someone and tackling them? SMWW has hundreds of clients who did not make the NFL but are looking for a job and a free ticket to the game.

Like boarding on airplane, maybe the Phillies should choose healthy individuals that they would like to sit next to on exit rows.

Plain and simple, the only gun that belongs in baseball is the radar gun!

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As families around the country gather for their Thanksgiving feasts Thursday, they’ll likely gather in record numbers around their TV screens, too.

The technological evolution in television has been huge for sports. High-definition and larger screens are the norm now. You used to buy a new television set only when the old one gave out. Now, people are dumping those old sets to move up in quality, even in a bad economy.

And that means huge screens and beautiful high definition pictures that make you feel you’re at the game. And sporting events have never looked better. Or even sounded better — there has even been improvement in sound, too, where rich stereo is becoming the norm.

And so, with money tight — and much of it already spent on that gorgeous new television — fans are going to start to decide to stay home from the game. Why worry about weather, traffic or hassles of being there when you can watch that new TV — with its pristine picture quality and sound — rather than spend more money on tickets?

It’s going to change the dynamics of sports in a fundamental way. And also put a premium on people who can figure new, creative and effective ways of luring those fans out from in front of those plasma screens and back to the stadiums and arenas.

But in the meantime — enjoy the games on turkey day! And isn’t that HD picture beautiful?

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Well, not necessarily that the sports themselves are suddenly more popular than they have been. It’s that people, because of the economy, are finding themselves at home more often. They can’t afford to go out as often.

But they can afford those beautiful, big-screen, high-definition televisions! The growth of high-def TV has been astounding. And remember the days when a 27-inch television was considered big? Well, maybe you don’t but it wasn’t that long ago. Now, though, a 42-incher seems small.

And it’s as if those television sets were made for sports. There are still prime-time programs not showing in HD, but you can’t find a sports event that isn’t. And in a lot of cases, you now see the game better at home than you do in a stadium or arena. That’s great for the TV networks but not so good for the teams — who need full stadiums not only for the revenue but to make the TV show look better.

How does that translate to the business of sports? Quite simply, there is going to be more pressure than ever to sell tickets in those venues. Variable pricing, special promotions — and innovative ticket-selling methods we haven’t even thought of yet are all in our future.

And the time has never been better to get into the ticket-selling business. It’s going to become a huge part of pro and college franchises because no matter how many eyeballs are on TV screens, that stadium or arena must be full for everything to make sense.

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Talk about being good for the global reach of the game. Hideki Matsui put the “World” in World Series Wednesday night, becaming the first Japanese-born player to win the series’ MVP award.

They’ll be celebrating that for years over there. And really, it makes it even more imperative that MLB continue its excursions into a country that loves its baseball. And it shows once again why the future of American sports may well be outside this country’s borders.

Asia is an exciting market with a lot of available cash and someday I would expect baseball to add an Asian division — just as the NBA will someday at a division or conference in Europe and perhaps South America. There wouldn’t be an interlocking schedule in those sports, but expect one major trip abroad for all teams under that format. In many ways, such expansion is the only way to continue to expand revenue and branding opportunities for those leagues.

Congratulations, Yankees! And best wishes, MLB, for continued success in the global marketplace — which is very likely the future of major-league sports in America.

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