A 1987 Mother's Cookies Nolan Ryan baseball card.

On Wednesday, the "bubble" of the RCA Dome was deflated which, in a way, reflects the emotions of all sports fans in today's society.

As costs for tickets and food from the concession stands have shot up, the average fan becomes more and more deflated, knowing their ability to actually attend a professional sporting event is jetting past them.

Nowadays, "regular people" have to take an entire paycheck, if not two, just to be able to get in the gates to watch a game that takes up to four hours or so of their time.

To say the least, it disheartens me.

When I was growing up, I remember my parents purchasing a 10-game package for me to attend Houston Astros games.

Most of the tickets were prime, by my standards. They ranged from along the first- and third-base lines, a few rows up from the dugouts, behind the plate and, of course, the nosebleed seats. I loved it because it allowed me to see games from different angles.

If I remember correctly, the entire package for my seats (not so sure about my parents) was about $50. Not only did that get me in the Astrodome 10 times a year, I got a free drink and hot dog each game.

Plus, once a season, everyone in the Astros Buddies Club got to go on the field before one of the games, get a free pack of baseball cards that were produced by Mother's Cookies and meet the Astros along with the team they were playing. Can you imagine the excitement I felt meeting Nolan Ryan and my favorite player at the time, Jose Cruz, as a 4-year old? It was amazing.

Today, $50 won't get you in the door at Lucas Oil Stadium and if it did, you would have to walk to the stadium because there would be no money left to park.

Yes, it is more than 20 years after the memories I have, but professional sports is slowly moving away from benefiting the diehard fan and toward the bandwagon jumper who has a fat wallet.

To me, that is a shame.

I have friends that will gladly go to a game, but will not watch one on TV because they prefer the live experience.

As prices continue to inflate, the average fan, like myself, continues to deflate.

Hopefully, we will never become empty.