Second thoughts

Sorry guys, but the pool is now closed

The Los Angeles Dodgers might have taken the celebration of winning a title away from home to a different level Thursday in Phoenix after defeating the Arizona Diamondbacks.

There were high-fives and the postgame gathering at second base before the traditional rite of beer and champagne spraying in the clubhouse after the final out was secured in a 7-6 victory to clinch the National League West division title. There was also a request from the Diamondbacks asking the Dodgers not to return to the field following their clubhouse celebration.

The Dodgers not only returned to the field, but about half of the team hopped over the right-center field fence and into the pool at Chase Field.

“I could call it disrespectful and classless, but they don’t have a beautiful pool at their old park and must have reallywanted to see what one was like,” Diamondbacks President and CEO Derrick Hall said in a statement to the Arizona Republic.

The Dodgers misunderstood the intent of the Diamondbacks’ request, according to team President Stan Kasten. He thought they were asking Dodgers players not to celebrate raucously in front of Diamondbacks fans. By the time the players took the plunge, the stadium was largely empty.

“I’ve never been around a celebration like this that didn’t get excited and a little bit boisterous,” Kasten said.

“I think it’s tired and disrespectful,” Arizona infielder Willie Bloomquist said. “It’s surprising, because they have a lot of veteran guys on that team that I thought were classier than that.”

Arizona Sen. John McCain weighed in on Twitter: “Noclass act by a bunch of overpaid, immature, arrogant, spoiled brats!

“The #Dodgers are idiots.”

It will be interesting to see if the urge hits any players planning on celebrating in Tampa Bay’s Tropicana Field Ray Tank, a touch tank that houses about 30 cownose rays.

Tailgating

It’s early in the NFL season, and the Kansas City Chiefs, with one of the top tailgating venues in professional sports, are already under fire for an advertisement outside Arrowhead Stadium.

It seems some fans are upset that a Kansas City strip club, KC Chrome, is advertising outside the stadium by bringing a handful of dancers to promote business.

Angela Lukenbill and her fiance, Chad Smith, stayed away from the Chiefs’ home opener Sunday against Dallas because they found out KC Chrome would be bringing a truck and some dancers to the game. Lukenbill and Smith have two children, and they said a strip club has no business advertising outside a football game.

“I understand they need to earn money and stuff, but they have a location for that and it’s not at the ballgame,” Lukenbill told Kansas City television station KSBH.

Since 2010, when Missouri passed a law prohibiting full nudity and alcohol at strip clubs and mandated that the establishments close at midnight, some strip clubs have fallen on hard times. It has forced some clubs, like KC Chrome, to look for creative ways to get the word out.

“We’re fully clothed. It’s not like we’re walking around in our heels and bikinis and everything. We know how to act professional,” Heather Lienbach, a KC Chrome employee, told KSBH. “We’re just out here trying to get the word out there because a lot has changed in the industry.”Quote of the day “It’s like you bust a

water line, the plumber comes and fixes it.

Hopefully it stays fixed.” Arkansas State defensive coordintor John Thompson

Sports, Pages 20 on 09/21/2013

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