Oh What A Night

Believe it or not, it's the 40th anniversary of Disco Demolition Night.  For those of you who missed it, it happened during a doubleheader between the Chicago White Sox and (my team) the Detroit Tigers in Comiskey Park.

Chicago deejay (who'd formerly worked in Detroit) Steve Dahl came up with the idea.  A lot of rock fans were tired of so much disco on the radio, so Dahl and his station sponsored a special night where people could bring disco records to the stadium and have them blown up en masse in between the games.

The promotion worked and the stadium was packed.  After Dahl blew up the records, fans rushed the field and ran riot.  They did damage to the grounds and had to be dispersed by the cops.  Tiger coach Sparky Anderson refused to let his team back on the field, claiming it was too dangerous, so the second game was canceled (though I'd say the fans got their money's worth).  The game was forfeited by the host team the White Sox.  Since Detroit had already won the first game, if nothing else, it was a great day for the Tigers. (Though Tiger great Al Kaline, broadcasting the game, was not happy, I believe, seeing the whole event as a desecration of the sport he loved.)

Commentators have read a lot into what happened, but they tend to overdo it (just as they do today--in fact, it's often the same people making the same arguments). Mostly I see it as youthful antics gone too far.  As bad as it was, I don't think it compares to some of the soccer hooliganism we've seen around the world.

Hey, how about for nostalgia's sake we go to a game tonight armed with thousands of digital downloads of our least favorite music.  During the seventh-inning stretch toss it onto the field and see what happens.