Tell them we track MLB planes because we just want to know where to park our jets for our invitation only tail gate parties with the teams…
IMHO this kind of flight tracking by fans is just on the near side of the line between personal interest and stalking. It’s traditional to wait by the players’ entrance at the ballpark. But it’s creepy to follow a player home in your car, or to a non-commercial airport to meet a charter flight. And many people greet a returning ball club at the airport, with media present, when they just won the pennant or Series. So what’s the difference between that and meeting early season flights that maybe end up at an FBO instead of a major airport? Just that the team expects to be drawing no attention. The fact that a few make the effort to learn about those flights is not logically different from meeting the post-pennant flight home, but it does look creepy because of the extra effort and the otherwise anonymous arrival. My reaction is “get a life!”
However, this is not prosecutable. I would guess the line into criminal stalking must have something to do with prior threats, harassment, restraining orders, etc.
The FlightAware FAQ makes some good points and says it very well:
flightaware.com/about/faq.rvt#privacy
flightaware.com/about/faq.rvt#security
The obvious challenge to these is the question, “why are these data sources public?” I think it’d be good to formulate an answer – why it’s in the public interest to provide a public data stream from FAA – and capture that response in the FAQ.
The American overtaxed citizens pay for the data so why shouldn’t they be able to see it? There are provisions for not showing military flights and provisions for removing non-commercial flights by those who don’t want their flights shown.
As a fan, it’s nice to see the movements from a condition/rest perspective. I can see a team flight get off the ground 5 hours late due to a mechanical and they arrive 2 timezones away at 3 in the morning before a day game. I can expect they will play like crap and wouldn’t question a poor performance as much if they arrived at 5pm the day before.
I will agree that my experiences with rabid baseball fans leaves me with the impression we need none of them here.
I think fan curiosity is nothing more than seeing how well they get to live their lives. Traveling in a nice private plane is as interesting as knowing what they might drive and really nothing more except for the few kooks that are out there.
Not to mention that you can factor that into you wager, if you so choose.
STALKERS!!!
As is currently being discussed in the MLB 2009 Charters thread, we are not stalkers. Tracking these aircraft is simply a matter of personal interest. Stalking would be actually following the individuals on the teams, trespassing at their homes, persistently contacting them, or posing a threat to them or their families. Tracking a dot across a computer screen does not amount to stalking.
If this is the the best you can do for your 1ST Post .WoW I can not wait what positive input you will have on this forum ..But being a Yankee fan I won"t expect much!......... :open_mouth:
Especially after getting killed by the Indians 10-2 today.
For that comment you deserve a "BRAVO ZULU" which what FedEx gives its employees when job is well done!
Why Thank You
Sorry it was meant for pika1000 ,you dont think a Met fan will ever give praise to a Yankee fan !
Its not praise (I would give that to my dog), its courtesy, something Mets fans don’t appear to have…
Zing…
How can you possibly feel justified to preach to us about courtesy when the first thing you had to say to us was to deride us as stalkers?
It’s just like a fan-atic… *fanatic - n. A person marked or motivated by an extreme, unreasoning enthusiasm, as for a cause. *
Looks like you guys have earned your spot in the Urban Dictionary: urbandictionary.com/define.p … %20stalker
Now tell us you’re not the author of that little screed Bobby Snobby!