There are dozens of memorable quotes attributed to Yogi Berra, and it's doubtful that the baseball legend uttered a quarter of them.

I can't speak to the veracity of the following, but it has always been a personal favorite. When speaking about a restaurant, the former Yankees catcher reportedly said: "Nobody goes there any more. It's too crowded."

I thought of Yogi while walking through the Summerfest grounds the past three days.

At the risk of being slammed by Talkbackers who got stuck in traffic leaving the festival, I have to say that I wonder if the Big Gig is as big this year as it used to be.

Don Smiley, the president and CEO of the festival, put the kibosh on the daily attendance reports a few years ago. While I agree with him that it was silly to measure the success / failure of the endeavor based on year-to-year attendance fluctuation, it also means that I'm limited to personal observation instead of statistical fact.

I was on the grounds at various points during the first three days and it simply did not seem as crowded as in years past.

I was there when the gates opened Thursday afternoon and the lunch hours weren't bustling like I recall. I strolled from the north end of the grounds to the south end at 10:30 p.m. Friday and didn't see any long lines at beer or food vendors.

Saturday night, the grounds were as crowded as I've seen this year. But, things still didn't seem uncomfortable. Just before 10 p.m., my much better half visited a restroom near the center of the grounds. At peak time in past years, that could have been a 20-minute pit stop. This one took about 2 minutes. We walked south and checked out music at several stages that were busy, but not overflowing.

I started to think of reasons. Maybe it's the economy and gas prices. Maybe it's the music lineup. Maybe it was the afternoon downpour and the threat of bad weather.

The redesign of the Harley-Davidson Roadhouse may have helped ease some traffic. Summerfest has closed the walkway on the west side of the grounds, from the Briggs & Stratton Big Backyard to the Harley-Davidson Roadhouse. I thought that would add to the crowding, but it doesn't seem to have caused any problems at all.

If attendance is down slightly, I don't think that is necessarily a bad thing. During several recent conversations with Smiley, he stressed the importance of "a quality experience" over the grounds being stuffed to the point where the limits are stretched.

There is nothing wrong with being able to buy food and beer or go to the restroom without waiting in massive lines. But, the crowds bring a sense of energy and excitement to an event like Summerfest.

To this observer, the balance seems OK. Anybody who has uttered a variation of Yogi's quote -- "Nobody goes there... it's too crowded." -- in connection with Summerfest may want to visit the grounds and revisit that opinion.

Use the Talkback feature to let me know what you think.