this looks like the case of a football writer with too much time on his hands between minicamp and training camp.
it's pretty clear from how the "rule" is written ("standing and/or obstructing the view...") that the primary intent is to tell/remind people to be considerate of their fellow fans at a game. It could probably be worded more precisely.
i can certainly appreciate why people stand at a crucial point in the game--i've done it many times...it's a natural way to release tension and if everybody in front of you is doing it, you have no choice if you want to see the action. trying to stop this is kind of like trying to stop water from flooding the floor if the sink is stopped up.
i can also appreciate why people want to stand throughout an entire tense or important contest, but i can also appreciate that not everyone wants (or is able) to stand for an entire game, and kids or shorter folks are at a special disadvantage. You don't have to be an invalid to have knee or ankle problems--especially as one gets a little older--that make standing for most of three or four hours painful or impossible. i once took my wife to the deciding game of a World Series. People started standing in the third or fourth inning when it looked like the Home team was going to win it all. My wife had to stand on her seat, which was close enough to the field that the seats were level and not tiered with one row above the other, to see. Once she did that, the people behind her had to stand on their seats. We'd payed a small fortune for the tickets and there was no way she was going to miss what was happening.
So, the writer's probably a little off the wall here, but the point that folks who stand for an entire game or whenever they feel like, irrespective of teh action on the field, might be acting in a way that is inconsiderate of their fellow fans is not completely nuts.
