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“Hockeytown” Under Fire Again

by IwoCPO on 10/02/07 at 04:27 AM ET
Comments (7)

Ted Kulfan’s weblog last night had a few nuggets you might be interested in.  First off, he mentions the fact that the trend of disinterest continues.  Opening night, against the Cup champs the Wings should have beaten in the West Final, is far from a sell-out.  The only redeeming factor is that the game will be played on Versus!!!, thereby ensuring the majority of the country won’t see the empty seats.

Speaking of “seeing”, Verizon Fios subscribers won’t be seeing jack squat as far as hockey’s concerned.  Repeated calls to their customer service line confirm that they have no idea what hockey is, what Center Ice is, and absolutely no clue as to what the NHL Network is. 

Back to Kulfan’s blog for a second.  He wraps up his latest effort with this line:

Anyone disagree about the fact this has become Baseballtown? The Tigers are the clear No. 1 right now. Not even close. And deserved, too, considering the run they’ve had.

I’m a Tiger fan, a Tiger “slappy” as the Emperor would say.  And I see no reason why I can’t enjoy both sports (hockey and baseball) and still have time to get my hopes annually crushed by the Lions and UM football.  But, having said that, Kulfan’s statement is idiotic.  Are the Tigers “the clear No. 1” in Detroit?  I don’t think anyone can question that.  But what run Ted?  “Considering the run they’ve had”?  Who’s had a better run in Detroit than the Wings?  You Ted? 

Baseball has re-energized the state while hockey’s lockout and the Wings’ inability to relate to their fanbase has hurt.  But, Ted, if you’re going to attribute the Tigers’ immense popularity to something, let’s not call it a “run” just yet.  A run is a few division titles in a row, like seven.  A “run” is a few world championships in a fairly small amount of time...like 3 in six years. 

Detroit needed the Tiger success of the last two summers.  For all its value to you and I, hockey is still a niche sport even in Michigan.  Baseball isn’t a sport. It’s a national norm.  It’s a presence and it’s part of the great American summer.  It’s still games on the radio on the lake while hockey has been relegated, for some of us, to hoping the internet doesn’t freeze on the experimental Center Ice Online. 

Michigan’s always been a baseball state, Detroit a baseball town.  But, let’s keep the success of the Tigers in perspective...it’s not a run, not yet.  Jim Leyland would tell you that.  Too bad Ted Kulfan hasn’t figured it out.

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Comments

Detroit’s always been a baseball town.  All you have to see is Detroit’s recent two year “run” where they got to a World Series once and then missed the whole playoffs the next year to see attendance and fan dollar dispersement set on its ear.

It’s an interesting “problem” for fans to have.  Tigers?  Fairly legitimate contenders (at least lately).  Pistons?  Ditto.  Lions?  Um… not so much, but 3-1 for them is like 145 and 17 for the Tigers or 81-1 for the Pistons.

3 if not 4 playoff-contending level pro teams, plus the Wolverines and all their sports within the same 1 hour area, in a relatively depressed economic period?

Heck yeah.  It’s not a surprise people are reining in their ticket spending on old faithfuls here and there.

Posted by HockeyinHD on 10/02/07 at 06:01 AM ET

Did anybody read Bucci’s take on the Wings?  He made an interesting point that in the past the Wings had more interesting characters (McCarty, Konstantinov, LaPointe, Hull, Shanny, Yzerman etc) and that they are now rather vanilla in the character department.  He thinks this is a major factor in the decline of interest in Detroit.  I had not thought of this, but he certainly has a point.  On the other hand, he downplays the economic woes.

I do think he makes a good point, but I think he got it backwards.  I believe the economy is the main factor, but Bucci’s theory probably holds some water too.

Posted by Hoser from Downer Peninsula, Michigan on 10/02/07 at 09:40 AM ET

The problem any athlete (or public figure, for that matter) risks in being interesting is that they will offend someone--I don’t mean by being a racist or bigot or harassing, but just by being other than some people expect.  If someone is just cranky, or shy, or not especially social, or has different political or social views than some media or fans, he risks getting castigated for it.  Safer to stay quiet and always make the safe comment and not take risks of alienating fans or endorsers (Crosby seems pretty boring, and it hasn’t hurt him from a merchandising standpoint).

I don’t think they are any less interesting, but they might be more private.  A good decision when you don’t know who might stalk your family when you’re on the road, I think.  Too many whackos in the public, and unless you have been stalked yourself, you don’t know how creepy and intrusive it is.

Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 10/02/07 at 10:39 AM ET

Baroque makes a good point, but I don’t think respecting and protecting a players privacy as the Wings organization does really effects attendance that much.  As for Bucci, interesting characters are food for the media.

We know our hockey here in D-town and as Stevie put it “This isn’t Hockey”.  You are seeing some serious fan burn off because of the new rules and scheduling.

Before comparing the Tigers fan base with the Red Wings, it is important to point out that Baseball has not made major Rule Changes 6 times in the last 7 yrs.

Posted by Gramps (HockeyTownTodd) from Hockeytown on 10/02/07 at 10:58 AM ET

Detroit....."BaseballTown"?  Me thinks not.  The excitement of baseball fills the void between the Stanley Cup Playoffs and the start of the next Hockey season.  That’s how Abner Doubleday planned it.  It’s true.  I read it on the internet. I just don’t remember where…

Posted by Rumbear on 10/02/07 at 12:27 PM ET

Detroit....."BaseballTown"?  Me thinks not.  The excitement of baseball fills the void between the Stanley Cup Playoffs and the start of the next Hockey season.  That’s how Abner Doubleday planned it.  It’s true.  I read it on the internet. I just don’t remember where…

As a matter of fact, it was good ol’ Abner who came up with that “Wouldn’t _______________ be better if it was more like hockey” ad campaign a few years back.

Posted by YzermanZetterberg from Saginaw, MI on 10/02/07 at 12:54 PM ET

Chief, your critique of using the term “run” is right on. As far as “Baseballtown” v. “Hockeytown” and Bucci’s take on the Wings, I think it all goes down when there is a parade; then it’s just Detroit sports. Also, “characters,” especially with hockey players are created and publicized more than they are real. I remember seeing an NBC ad that touted Z as a ‘playboy who wants it all’ or something like that.

We know these guys and so will the everyone else when there are long playoff runs.

Posted by srt on 10/02/07 at 03:46 PM ET

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