When I was a kid, going to the baseball game was a very different aethetic. There was an Hammond organ. There were people cheering and clapping. But there was no rock and roll. There were no theme songs for each batter. There was no “Hell’s Bells” for the closer.

Fans also didn’t do the wave.

The old days had it advantages. Then, it seemed the gamed mattered more than the entertainment. If the fans wanted a rally, they started the rhytmic clapping themselves. When a hit was called for, we yelled “We want a hit.” The scoreboard didn’t offer cue cards. As a fan, you had to follow the game if you wanted to do more than sit on your hands.

And fans didn’t do the wave, which is the dumbest non-cheer in sports.

Apparently, I’m not the only one who feels this way.

Anybody interested in customer service on the Web should think of a good, honest question to ask the Defense of Department and then surf on over to DefenseLink.mil.

If you go to “Contact Us” and ask you’re question, the response page offers up contextually sensitive links to information in the DoD’s FAQ. Another tab offers more contextually accurate information from the DoD site. You can also access you’re previous questions and answers. It’s all very slick.

A couple of years ago, I sent in a question to the DoD through this site and I got a detailed, personal answer within 24 hours. Clearly, the DoD is setting the standard on the Web for customer service. I’ve dealt with a number of large corporations on the Web, including a number who clearly take customer service seriously and are trying to do a good job. The DoD, as far as I’m concerned, is the best.