Sunday Funnies 2010-09-26 Suck It Up Buddy; Protesting Nonunion Wages; Virtual Sports Fans

Protesting Nonunion Wages at Walmart



Fire Fighter Heroes



Actual Fans: Are They Necessary?

The Wall Street Journal explores the question Actual Fans: Are They Necessary?

Fans of Triestina, a professional soccer team from the northern Italian city of Trieste, were greeted with a surprise Saturday when they arrived at the team's stadium for a game against Padova.

For the first time in four years, nearly every seat in the "Colaussi" stand, which runs along one side of the field and faces the television cameras, appeared to be taken. That stand alone, which holds 10,000 fans, would have nearly doubled the team's average attendance from the previous year.

On television, the crowd looked impressive. But in person, the scene looked a bit strange. The fans were clad in scarves and winter coats—unusual for a balmy September afternoon. They failed to make a sound when the home team ran out on the field and didn't budge when the match ended in a scoreless draw.

Turns out there was a good reason for this: These "fans" were actually two-dimensional images of fans printed on a giant sheet of vinyl and stretched across the empty seats.

"It's depressing," says supporter Marco Caselli. "It's as if we're sending out the message that Trieste has no flesh-and-blood fans, just cardboard cutouts."

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com
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