John Stodder was one of the smart ones who got to Dodger Stadium early yesterday and was able to observe the mess with somewhat detached eye. He pulls from his public relations experience to offer some advice:

The McCourts should

a) apologize;

b) completely ditch the new traffic scheme, which negates the institutional knowledge Dodger fans have developed from dealing with the quirky parking patterns at Chavez Ravine since 1962, without offering any improvement;

c) tell the parking lot attendants who were just standing around, watching this mess passively that, if they can’t think of what to do about it, at least pretend to care.

The owners’ dream of 4 million in attendance will not be achieved this season. In fact, I predict that even if this pretty good Dodger team reaches the playoffs, attendance will take a big step back, because no one will be willing to put up with this nightmare....

The day will be remembered as the day the McCourts’ incompetence, which is effectively obscured when the team plays well, finally became impossible to ignore. They are in a jam. There is no PR solution to it. They need to admit their grievous error, and fix it fast.

Here's a good place to note that the last time the Dodgers summoned crisis PR help it came in the form of Kelly Mullens, the Grazergate star who was then employed by Sitrick and Company...By the way, probably should also note that the trouble yesterday wasn't that there were more cars; there may have even been less than usual, since Vin Scully implored listeners to Sunday's game to carpool. Also this from another LA Observed reader who ditched work for the game:

Where I was sitting (admittedly it wasn't on the field level or in a suite) they ran out of Dodger Dogs!! There was close to a riot when people who had paid for hotdogs were stuck waiting for over 15 mins! There were people literally yelling and reaching behind the counter to see if there were any "stray dogs." With a minimum of $15 for parking and $10 for a beer - the Dodgers are in the dog house!

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