Considering how tightly Big Business controls our lives, it's especially amusing when make empty threats. Emily Kaiser in the Twin Cities' City Pages:

There are some fans that simply cannot wait to get a first glimpse of Target Field. Construction fencing and plenty of warnings don't seem to stop some of them. But maybe the risk of being banned from the first season would be enough to stop a die-hard fan.Officials at the Twins' future stadium say they have had a handful of attempts to get into the construction zone, including some visiting Canadians sneaking in after bar close.

If construction workers are on site, they usually chase the trespassers away, but often the police are called to the scene. The Twins can then ban you from attending the first season.

They can? Really? How would that work, exactly?

I know that various people are doing wonderful things with facial recognition in a Big-Brotherish sort of way. But unless I missed the news, nobody has yet installed the necessary cameras and software at every public entrance in a major sports venue. Because that's what it would take.

Sure, you could put a guy's name on a list, and with a few clever lines of code your computers could raise a red flag if he tried to purchase tickets with his credit card. But there's absolutely nothing you can do to prevent Joe Q. Public, no matter the crimes he might have committed, from using cash to purchase a ticket at the box office, or from a scalper. Or simply using a ticket that someone's given to him, as a gift.

For that, we should all be thankful.

(H/T: BTF's Newsstand)