Entertaining some of their thoughts

To: Paul Tagliabue, Gary Bettman, David Stern, Bud Selig

Gentlemen: I have received more than 300 responses to a recent column decrying the hijacking of pure Sport by a predatory entity known as Entertainment.

You might take a moment to read what concerned customers, many of them now ex-customers, have to say.

"What happened to our `sporting events' that the powers that be think we need to have our interest kept at a fever pitch? Isn't the product enough?"

"Every time I go to a game at present, I am bombarded with music, neon signs urging me to cheer, and all kinds of gimmicks. I pinch myself and ask, `Where am I?' "

"I'm 25 years old, which would seem to be the perfect age for those television and advertising executives . . . Enough is enough. The game itself is [or should be] entertainment enough. I buy a ticket or tune in at home to watch the game, not some gyrating hips and lousy singing."

"I attended the Bruins-Atlanta game Tuesday night . . . the noise and `entertainment' were intrusive, unnecessary, and, frankly, nearly ruined the game for all of us."

"All the nonsense is also insulting [as it suggests the crowd is not mature enough to enjoy the sport] and driving me [driven me?] away from professional sports."

"Made me think of Bruins and Celtics breaks in the '40s and '50s when I would read a paper, study a program, or talk about the game during intermission. I won't go with today's flow."

"I am a professional musician who happens to love football . . . Watching the game is enough for me, and though I played rock for years, I hate the blaring AC/DC songs at every break in the action."

"I fear that my children, when we attend games, will be distracted by the furry lump of a mascot, timeout dancers, and blaring music that makes the nuances of what they are seeing impossible . . . They will never develop the wonder at the odd bounce of the football or the pass that led to a basket."

"I was at a Bruins game at the Fleet last year when there was an apparent `Jumbotron malfunction' for a period or so. The crowd came alive with that thing shut down. I'll admit it; it reminded me of days of old in the Garden, and it was great."

"I recently took my 9-year-old son to a Celtics game and at one point he put his hands over his ears because the noise was so loud."

"In pro sports, we've noticed how the game is no longer the event. We can't talk to those around us at Patriots games because of the booming music."

"What is a shame is that the kids of this country are growing up expecting [demanding?] to be entertained in a way that deprives them of the experience and values that you and I grew up with. That's the real issue."

"The assorted stunts and continual noise only detract from the product on the floor, and, for people like me, convince me not to come back."

"Either the Jumbotron is inciting the fans to clap/yell or there is hard rock music blaring into the rink, or an announcement is being made at deafening volume. It is impossible to turn to my girlfriend and/or buddy and talk about what just happened in the game."

"I went to see a Celtics game and it was louder than the rock concerts I attended in the '70s at the Garden . . . I will watch from home from now on."

"I am 29 . . . I have sent e-mails to the NBA asking why [WHY?] do they play music during [seemingly] every possession, of every game, in every NBA arena. I never got a response."

"I have gone to the FleetCenter two or three times for a Bruins game and, to my regret, I was unable to hear the person next to me. Maybe I am old [36], but I long for the days of the Garden organ player and the ability to discuss the game with the person next to me during play or intermissions."

"I HATE the music being played constantly at the games. You can't have a conversation during, between, or at any time during the event."

"Everything is choreographed, nothing spontaneous. Every time there is a timeout, some fool runs onto the court. It's like a three-ring circus."

"I'm 30 . . . I no longer enjoy going to Celtics games because the noise-to-quality-basketball ratio is too out of whack for me."

"I remember the first time I went to Fenway with my dad . . . There were no Wallys, no people to take my food and drink orders, and, thankfully, no .406 Club. Just me, my dad, a nice day, and a baseball game. I wish every kid would experience that today without all the other distractions. You know, they might like it."

"I love sports. I love to watch sports. The sport itself is entertainment enough for me."

"I am 24 years old, but I guess you would call me old school because I can't even stand going to the FleetCenter anymore for what it has become."

"I remember being at the Celtics games in the '80s and being very entertained by talking to all the people next to me during halftime about what we had just witnessed. Games today? Yeesh. Not even a 30-second timeout is sacred."

"I'm 28 years old . . . I went to a Celtics game last Friday night and was completely shocked by the amount of noise at the FleetCenter . . . The Celtics really stunk it up that night. That, combined with the constant barrage of noise, made me leave early [something I would never have done in the past]."

"It makes me feel like I'm sitting among a bunch of brainless lab rats responding to their master's commands. Mr. [Richard] Krezwick [FleetCenter president], please understand that people go to hockey/basketball/football games because they actually like to watch hockey/basketball/football games."

"I won't even attend hockey or basketball games anymore . . . They're nothing more than rock concerts with athletic intermissions."

"Can you imagine John Kiley playing any other song than `Hallelujah Chorus' as Carlton Fisk ran those bases in Game 6? I shudder to think what the DJs who seem to select music at today's ventures would have chosen: `Who let the Dogs Out,' or some similar inane offering."

"The Jumbotron is just for exhibitionists. Eventually, women will strip on it and men will reveal themselves."

"There has been an insidious paradigm shift away from the game and toward stupidity, banal music . . . and I'm a musician!"

"I like my sports straight up and I like my pizza with cheese. Anything on top of either is just a distraction."

"NBA basketball? Yecch! I will never, ever set foot in any NBA arena and I have turned down many a free ticket. The noise, the thumping, the ear-splitting hop. I despise it. They have even ruined my Bruins."

"Fenway Park is still Fenway Park, but somebody had better tell [Red Sox executive vice president] Charles Steinberg that we don't like mascots on our baseball fields."

"Trust me, this isn't old school versus new school as it is real fans versus people who only go to games because the company is paying or they want to be seen . . . I've seen Metallica in concert on three occasions, great shows, might I add, but that doesn't mean I want to hear their music at volumes louder than the concert itself when I'm at a hockey game."

"Is the NBA really that awful that they need to play music during play to keep the fans entertained?"

"I get free tickets every now and then to Celtics games and sometimes turn them down because of all the peripheral things that are going on. The whole `game presentation,' to me, is an abomination."

"Hope the next generation of fans someday realize why they are at sporting events."

And there's much more in my e-mail file. (By the way, out of more than 300 responses, one, and only one person offered an unqualified endorsement of the standard "game" presentation in question.)

Gentlemen, among those people who gave their age, the breakdown was as follows: Over 70 -- 1. Over 60 -- 4. Over 50 -- 26. Over 40 -- 21. Over 30 -- 29. Over 20 -- 23. Under 20 -- 5. The age spread of those voicing their opinions ranged from 16 to 72. Please note the amazingly even age distribution. This is not an "old fogey" issue.

Are you league bosses sure you really know what constituency you are serving?

I -- we, I should say -- await your reply.

Bob Ryan is a Globe columnist. His e-mail address is ryan@globe.com.