No Phillies fan would say that this past Friday's game was great--- the Milwaukee Brewers blew the Fightin' Phils out of the water at 12-4. I went to the game myself and my dad---a self-proclaimed "Philly Phanatic"--- was begging me to leave after the seventh inning stretch. Needless to say, it was a sorry sight, yet not hardly as appalling as the junk food forced on parishoners at the stadium.

Not only are fans barred from bringing food or drink into the stands, but they are bombarded with the enchanting smells of the fast food sold every five steps in the stadium complex. Usually, these facts wouldn't phase me; but since there is not a single, god-damned green vegetable available for purchase, it really grinds my gears.

Although I have never struggled with any weight problems myself, my father has for as long as I can remember. A light-hearted, hard-working family man, my dad has eaten what commercials and billboards had sold him as the quick, tasty, cheap meal for his time-constrained adult life---and it has left its mark.

He's obese.

His blood pressure is through the roof and he has sleep apnea leaving little respite from his already tiring life. To help, I've been making him the healthier meals his body needs so that time isn't a factor in his choice of food anymore. As of late, he had been sleeping more soundly and even appearing more chipper with his eating the little boxed chicken or fish salads I pack him. So, it goes without saying that I felt pretty helpless as I watched my father chomp on a loaded ball park hot dog and fries--- only to find him hours later awake and watching T.V. groggily in the middle of the night despite his having work that morning.

To prevent what I didn't know as inevitable at the time, I had searched every menu of each stand for a meal nutritious and filling for my father. To my dismay, I came back with nothing. No matter the restaurant, whether it be Chick-fil-a or Chickie's and Pete's, the menus displayed meal options barely enough to count on your right hand while the drink menus read like a short story. Perhaps, then-- I thought to myself--- the popcorn could be better. Unbuttered and lightly-salted popcorn can be a filling, whole-grain, and low-calorie snack but alas, what we purchased was hidden in a box with no nutrition label and tasted heavily of additives (I think I even tasted a bit of hidden sugar, but I can't be sure because the nutritional information is basically impossible to find).

While writing this article, I had scoured the Citizen Bank Park website for nutritional information on the choices offered to patrons. While the Advanced Suite Menu has a bountiful assortment of healthy options for whomever was to order catering in their suite, the regular-paying fans are given basically zilch in terms of nutritional information. Sure, the calories are listed beside the menu options (at least the food items are), but even if one gets a low calorie meal, it's still some form of fried-fiasco bound to leave them hungry and cause them to buy some other "low calorie option"; making them destined to consume the same if not more calories. Of course, especially disciplined patrons could simply not buy another food item, but I think we can all agree no one wants to be hungry on a night when they came out and spent money to have fun.

In a time where the obesity crisis is dealing some serious damage to the health of people from all walks of life and even fast food restaurants are striving to offer healthier options to whomever may stumble through their "golden arches," I think it's absolutely imperative that ball parks, specifically Citizens Bank Park, gets its act together and gives its regular-paying patrons filling and nutritionally beneficial food options; not just for my father's sake, but for other people just like him who are caught in this chaos that is the american diet.