Cincinnati Reds owner Marge Schott on Tuesday bolted a City Council meeting set up expressly to get her views on a smoking ordinance, then returned to insist there are more important problems than smoking.
Schott turned the meeting into one of the most uproarious in recent years by walking out when one speaker suggested attendance at Reds games is down because she has offended fans with her slurs."I don't want to be in the same room with the man," Schott said.
A council member raced to stop her on the front steps of City Hall, took her hand and begged her to return. After a few moments of deliberation with team officials, she went back inside and blamed the city's restrictions on smoking at Riverfront Stadium for lagging attendance.
She told council members they should worry more about crime, drugs and children born to mothers with drug addictions.
"That's where we should be concentrating instead of smoking in an open-air stadium," Schott said.