A story in this morning's Washington Post details the Lerner family's plans for pumping up attendance at Washington Nationals games. As many people expected, in their second season, attendance has dropped drastically compared to last year's honeymoon numbers.

The plans include improved and less expensive food service, reduced ticket prices in the upper deck (as low as $3.00 per seat), something called a Fan Zone inside the park and sprucing up RFK inside and out. They are even adding a red carpet to walk on as you approach the stadium enrance. These are all interesting changes and maybe they are good stop gap measures.

There is an old saying in sales about selling the sizzle instead of the steak. Red carpets and cheaper hot dogs are the sizzle but the steak is the game. Ultimately, fans will fill those empty seats when there is something to see and get excited about on the field, not in the snack bar. It's not the Lerner's fault, at least not yet. Commissioner Selig has jerked the Washington area around so badly with delays and double talk over the last few years, that it's no wonder the Nationals are starting what amounts to a scratch franchise.

Selig's catering to the cry baby from Baltimore is why Peter Angelos got enough leverage to keep the Nationals off TV and is at least part of the reason that our red headed stepchild is languishing in 18th  position in attendance. James Earl Jones' was right in "Field of Dreams"; they will come if you build it but in this case it is not building a field but a competitive team.