Fans Lamenting The Cell-Phone Ban, One Last Time?
/Benny Evangelista talks to fans about what will likely be the last year of a U.S. Open without fans bringing cell phones on the property.
Steve Slack of Houston was one of several fans going through cell phone withdrawal while waiting to use one of the public telephones - regular desk phones without any smart phone capabilities - set up at the four-day U.S. Open. Slack, who was trying to find someone at the event whom he normally would have contacted by texting, said the ban was "a really poorly thought-out policy."
"I think they are punishing the vast majority for their inability to control just a few," Slack said. "I thought it was ironic that Mickelson complained about it by texting. There's got to be a better way, and the USGA ought to be able to figure it out. Or else the players have to get real, because the phones are another source of creating attention that they're sharing in and profiting from."
**A longtime site reader offered this about his fan experience without a phone. Again, this is likely to be remedied when the rule changes as expected.
Today was my first time out there, and I was struck by the lack of electronic scoreboards. Many fans around me had the same complaint...none of us knew what was going on unless we turned on our Amex earpieces (which only some people had, and at times was unlistenable). Without iPhones to check scores, we were in the dark. Scoreboards were few and far between.
