Indulge your narrator, please, as he attempts to explain why he has spent the past three days putting up negative information about the NBA, and allow me to correct some misunderstandings.
#1
I am not a hockey fan, despite the fact that I am an American living in Canada. In fact, were you to tell some of my friends up here that people now believe me to be an NHL fan, they would spit out their Tim Horton Timbits quicker than Ben Johnson at Seoul. I hate the NHL, I hate hockey, I hate people who say that hockey players are the greatest athletes alive, and I hate it when sportswriters couch their racism inside melodious descriptions of “gritty” and “tough” hockey players.
#2
The attendance information I presented is factual, not something I made up on my mom’s computer (actually, my mom doesn’t own a computer, or a basement, but thanks for asking). If you don’t believe me, go to espn.com and do the research yourself.
#3
I get it. The NBA is more popular than the NHL. I’m not an idiot, and any league which broadcasts it games on something called Versus is not even in the same ballpark. I never said that the NBA was in danger of being surpassed by the NHL in terms of American popularity – only a fool would say that.
#4 – and most importantly
Why? Why bother bringing all of this up? Sorry to disappoint you, but it’s not sour grapes. Well, it’s partially sour grapes, although I ask you: How do you expect me to feel about a commissioner who felt his loyalty to Clay Bennett superseded the loyalty Seattle fans had shown the NBA for 40 years?
No, the true reason I brought this up goes back to what I wrote more than a year ago – that the NBA needs cities more than cities need the NBA. There’s been an emperor’s new clothes mentality for the past two decades about stadium building, and the continual escalation of arena modifications across North America resembles nothing so much to me as the Cold War.
Arenas are not refurbished because city’s need them to be, they’re rebuilt because franchises need improvements to better compete with the other teams who just had their arenas rebuilt.
It is my belief that the NBA – and perhaps sports in general – have reached a day of reckoning in this neverending one-upmanship. It is my belief that Seattle will enter into negotiations with the NBA with a completely different tact than in previous times, and that it – and other cities - will no longer have to be beggars for the NBA’s scraps.
And, finally, consider this: Do you know anyone who plays hockey? Did your high school have a hockey team? Do you and your friends get together for pick-up hockey on Saturdays?
I’m guessing the answer to those questions is no all around. And yet, despite basketball’s inherent advantages over hockey in terms of popularity in the U.S., here we stand, with hockey drawing more people this year. How is this possible?
Rather than castigate me for presenting facts, how about a frank discussion about the troubles the NBA is facing, and what can be done to fix it? Would that not be more productive than insults?
Nobody likes the guy who brings the bad news, but that doesn’t mean you should ignore what he has to say, either.
Friday, November 21
Thursday, November 20
Pretty Graphic
For further illustration of the NBA's situation, take a look at the chart below, showing the per-game attendance of the Philadelphia Flyers (pink) and 76ers (blue).
The Flyers started off the season with six consecutive losses. That's right SIX.
The Sixers picked up one of the top prizes of the off-season (Elton Brand), and were expected to be a contender in the Eastern Conference.
The Flyers have drawn more than 18,000 in all eight of their games this season.
The Sixers have yet to crack 16,000.
Can someone explain that to me? Is it just ticket prices? Is it something more?
Candid Camera
No matter what you think about the state of the NBA these days, you have to agree that the attendance numbers are, at the very least, slightly troubling.
With that in mind, it begs the question: Just how bad is attendance these day? If you go by reported statistical figures, it seems to be off by 5 to 10%, perhaps more, but just how accurate are those numbers?
I ask because I was a witness to the final days of the Vancouver Grizzlies. For three years, I "covered" the team for a small local paper, meaning I was courtside at nearly every game. With the woeful product before us less than enthralling, I usually spent as much time looking at the crowd as I did at the court.
After Michael Heisley bought the team it became obvious that something drastic had happened. Attendance in the arena dropped precipitously, and rumors began spreading that the previous ownership group had been giving away hundreds of tickets to boost attendance, and that they were inflating that artificially boosted attendance to boot.
I bring this up because the easiest way to determine if an NBA team is struggling is to look at the upper rafters. If there are massive sections of empty seats, well, things aren't going so well in that town.
And that, dear readers, is where bloggers come in. To many, the one asset bloggers lack is access. But that's only true if you look at it from the perspective of a traditional media member, who can speak with the coach, GM, players, trainers, and anyone else he/she desires.
Bloggers, however, do have a type of access the local media does not - freedom. Because we're not obligated to report on anything in particular, we can look at bigger pictures. And no picture right now is more important than the one taking place at arenas across the country.
What I'd like to have happen is to see bloggers - and their readers - start taking pictures of the stands during games. With the proclivity of camera phones these days, everyone is a walking photographer, so there's no excuse for us not to start documenting what's happening.
If you're in Philly, take a photo of the empty seats. If you're in Memphis, start snapping shots of empty seats. If you're able to get something good, email it to me at supersonicsoul AT hotmail.com, and I'll start posting them on our website.
Ideally, we could create a flickr-type presentation, but I'll let those more savvy than me get into that sort of thing.
For the time being, though, I'll try to post the best of shot of the day on our website every day, with the corresponding "attendance" figures for that game given to us by the NBA.
If nothing else, it beats me writing yet another story about Aubrey McClendon.
With that in mind, it begs the question: Just how bad is attendance these day? If you go by reported statistical figures, it seems to be off by 5 to 10%, perhaps more, but just how accurate are those numbers?
I ask because I was a witness to the final days of the Vancouver Grizzlies. For three years, I "covered" the team for a small local paper, meaning I was courtside at nearly every game. With the woeful product before us less than enthralling, I usually spent as much time looking at the crowd as I did at the court.
After Michael Heisley bought the team it became obvious that something drastic had happened. Attendance in the arena dropped precipitously, and rumors began spreading that the previous ownership group had been giving away hundreds of tickets to boost attendance, and that they were inflating that artificially boosted attendance to boot.
I bring this up because the easiest way to determine if an NBA team is struggling is to look at the upper rafters. If there are massive sections of empty seats, well, things aren't going so well in that town.
And that, dear readers, is where bloggers come in. To many, the one asset bloggers lack is access. But that's only true if you look at it from the perspective of a traditional media member, who can speak with the coach, GM, players, trainers, and anyone else he/she desires.
Bloggers, however, do have a type of access the local media does not - freedom. Because we're not obligated to report on anything in particular, we can look at bigger pictures. And no picture right now is more important than the one taking place at arenas across the country.
What I'd like to have happen is to see bloggers - and their readers - start taking pictures of the stands during games. With the proclivity of camera phones these days, everyone is a walking photographer, so there's no excuse for us not to start documenting what's happening.
If you're in Philly, take a photo of the empty seats. If you're in Memphis, start snapping shots of empty seats. If you're able to get something good, email it to me at supersonicsoul AT hotmail.com, and I'll start posting them on our website.
Ideally, we could create a flickr-type presentation, but I'll let those more savvy than me get into that sort of thing.
For the time being, though, I'll try to post the best of shot of the day on our website every day, with the corresponding "attendance" figures for that game given to us by the NBA.
If nothing else, it beats me writing yet another story about Aubrey McClendon.
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