Abel to Yzerman
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Stick It Mitch
by IwoCPO on 05/09/08 at 01:00 PM ET
Comments (22)
When I was growing up, a young innocent impressionable Sailor-to-be in mid-Michigan, I liked Mitch Albom. No, that’s too weak. I read everything he wrote and I didn’t care about the subject. Read his books several times, the compilations of his columns. They were called “Live Albom” and I think there were four of them. I was a Mitch Albom fan and so were my friends. All of us avid followers of all Michigan teams.
We read his stuff on the young Yzerman-led Wings, Kirk Gibson, Joe Dumars and Barry Sanders. Ate up every word.
But then Mitch strayed. He strayed to tv and radio and piano and politics and descriptions of how he spent his Tuesday afternoons.
And he lost his focus on the job that made him what he was. I got news for you Mitch. Rumor has it that Billy Joel’s writing classical music now. I’m not buying that garbage, and I’m not real sure I like his old stuff as much as I used to either. His stories about Virginia? The catholic girl who started much too late? They don’t ring as true to me now.
Catching my drift Mitch? I haven’t read your stuff in a long time either, and I don’t plan to. You’re a bandwagoner of the highest order, jumping on the Wing wagon at playoff time, turning your little cliche’d phrases, pretending you’re a puck or an octopus or a real sports writer.
Nope. Not gonna read your swill. Well, I did today, along with many other Wing fans and Michigan residents. Yes, Mitch, we read your column pleading for an answer to the attendance problems.
Let me ask you this Mitch. Ever take out a loan to put food on the table? Ever stress about what you’re gonna do when the battery dies because you know you don’t have the cash to get a new one and you still have to get out there and look for a job? Hey Mitch. I’m curious. Any idea what it’s like to have to say no to your kid when they ask you for something, because you don’t have the money?
If you can’t say you’ve done any of that, don’t tell us we should be spending mortgage money on Wing tickets. You write your columns on the plane to New York for the Sports Reporters, or in the comforts of your Bloomfield Hills or Grosse Pointe den. So, don’t tell Wing fans how to spend the money they earn.
Attendance issues used to piss me off, Mitch. And I’ve written about them here. But you don’t seem too genuine, as usual. Got a suggestion: stick to the stuff you actually like to do, instead of writing about the Wings because you feel like you have to.
I don’t know if those tickets weren’t sold (bad) or just not used (worse). I know only that if the Wings win seven more games, if they capture the Cup, if they keep up this excellence and they do it with this many empty seats, we don’t deserve the name Hockeytown. And it’ll be our loss.
One more thing Mitch. You’re not one of us, so spare us the “we” and the “our”. You don’t relate to us. You did once, but not now.
Note: if you want more commentary from Wing fans who have no more use for the Delicate Genius, go here.
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Comments
I lived the first 35 years of my life in the Detroit area. Mitch Albom used to be a must read for me every morning in the Free Press. Of coarse, that was like 20 years ago. Now he is full of himself like others get when they think they are famous or something.
Thanks for telling us how you really feel Chief! I agree 100%.
Posted by Jeff from Loveland, CO on 05/09/08 at 12:48 PM ET
Typical, anything that doesn’t jibe with your pathetic view of the wings is automatically garbage…
You guys can throw it but, and I quote “You can’t handle the truth!!’
Posted by Phil from Hockeytown (the real one) on 05/09/08 at 12:56 PM ET
I think the handling of Bandwagon’s Truth has gone pretty well.
As in, shot to hell.
Posted by jrl123 on 05/09/08 at 01:21 PM ET
You guys can throw it but, and I quote “You can’t handle the truth!!’
What truth? Care to elaborate, cite, prove what you’re effin talking about?
Posted by Osrt on 05/09/08 at 01:29 PM ET
Mitch Albom was a good writer. Still is, really, and his work is generally a joy to read. But since he started getting royalty checks for a book plugged by Oprah, he’s started to suffer from the same sickness that afflicts nearly everybody who comes into fame and fortune: he’s lost touch with reality.
The fact is, to most people who don’t have millions of dollars in a bank balance, it’s more important to keep their own and their families’ heads above water than to prove the marketing term of a sports team, no matter how passionate of a supporter they may be. They’re probably still watching them on television in Hockeytown, but if it’s a choice between attending the games live and meeting the mortgage for another month, then it’s an obvious, if tough, decision.
If I were in Michigan with the life I’m leading now, I’d still be a season ticket holder and yeah, buying four-dollar-a-gallon gas to get from Ann Arbor to the Joe for games-- and that includes regular season as well as playoffs and even a few preseason games if I feel like it, Mitch. But people have priorities, and most are more important than the Wings.
When Mitch opens a factory where dozens have closed, and ensures that at least some of the too-many struggling families get a monthly paycheck and their self-respect back, then maybe he can start dictating what sports events they pay to attend. Until then. he can keep his big mouth shut about showing the world that this is still Hockeytown.
The sad thing is, the proud owner of the team, who stands to lose money when people feed their families instead of attending games, knows hard work and the value of a dollar and just how tough it can be when you have none. And hence he would probably be the first to disagree with Mitch.
Posted by AndrewFromAnnArbor from the office of Mitch Albom's bean counters on 05/09/08 at 02:22 PM ET
Totally agreed, Chief. Reading Mitch’s hockey column is similar to talking to hockey “fans” down here in Texas. They know three player names, two semi-legit stats and have seen the highlights from the most recent games. They act like they’ve been dedicated fans for years...like this is part of their fiber.
Complete bullshit.
It gets worse because Mitch the Bitch writes with such a self-righteous arrogance. Compare that with the Highlander. OK...don’t do that...maybe it’s not fair. But when you read the Highlander, you sense, correctly, that he knows the game, he’s watching the early morning skates with interest, he knows who Helm is and who he replaced.
Reading Mitch is like hitting on a girl who won’t get off her blackberry and actually talk to you. They’re only half in the game and likely not worth the time.
Posted by disch from bat country on 05/09/08 at 02:28 PM ET
disch from bat country
Did you miss the part where you weren’t supposed to stop in bat country?
As for Mitch, I’ve got no use for a writer who’s writing is mostly cliche riddled drivel. Even less since he can only be bothered to write about the wings during the playoffs. The entire Detroit MSM (with the noted exception of the anti-digger) ought to be ashamed of their coverage of the Wings. Little or no analysis, even less legitimate criticism, and simple regurgitation of the team’s official line.
Posted by wingsfanindenver from 'lancheland on 05/09/08 at 02:49 PM ET
“...there’s no footing in this muck”
Posted by disch from bat country on 05/09/08 at 03:01 PM ET
Damn, Chief. We think exactly the same way. I said much the same as you at TWFE, but was a little more profane. I still get incensed just thinking about Albom’s tripe.
Albom stopped speaking for the Detroit fan over a decade ago. Hell, he’s barely in the area anymore, spending most of his time in LA. The column showed just how far the disconnect is between Albom, and those that live here.
Posted by Big Al from Detroit on 05/09/08 at 03:02 PM ET
Showing our age Chief. 20 something years ago, I too used to buy the FREEP just to see what Mitch had to say (most often in the breakroom of the laborers local at St. Johns hospital). When he was an aspiring young writer, his columns actually exuded passion, and would elicit a passionate response from me as well.
Sadly, he has become one of the anti “A 2 Y”, the proverbial/pathetic band-wagoneer. Hell he only writes the occassional column now, Wings’ columns are non-existent until the playoffs.
In his 20+ years as a supposed sports journalist, do you imagine he has ever had to pay to get into an event? Ever had to pay extortionate prices at the concession stand?
One of the fantastic qualities of DET fan (of every sport) that I have observed is their “blue collar” mentality. DET fan loves “hard-working” players; because they identify with those guys (i.e. love affair with the “Grind Line"). At one time or another, I would wager that almost every one of the “A 2 Y” have had to “work for a living”.
Mitch, at one time did that. As Andrew pointed out, he doesn’t anymore; and may well have forgotten what it is like to work ridiculously hard for something; and to earn the reward associated with that work. Probably why he can’t write like he use to.
Posted by Jeff OKWingnut from Hockey Netherworld on 05/09/08 at 03:16 PM ET
Terry Foster isn’t somebody I usually dole out praise to, but he said two things today on WXYT that I thought were quite pertinent (and the first has been discussed here):
1. “That’s a what I would write if I had a million dollars column.”
2. Foster said that, after he actually wrote a column asking about the attendance issues, he realized that:
a) He’s a journalist, and as such, he gets in free to any game he wants, any sport, any time, regardless of how may or how few tickets have been sold. Bam, he’s in. That skews your perspective.
b) If you actually live in the metro area, and actually understand that the Red Wings’ season ticket base has been worn down by the fact that both the people who walked up to buy tickets and the corporate types who bought those big, empty blocks of seats as “enticers” are out of jobs, that the Red Wings as an organization are STILL paying for the fact that they came out of the lockout offering fans Joe Bucks instead of a price cut, and have never apologized for that (take note, fellow fans, of those repeated releases promising that if you drop $250 on season tix for next season, your 08-09 regular-season ticket prices will be “locked in” at 07-08 prices), and...Given the fact that people with extremely limited bucks have so many more choices than whether they just want to go to the Wings game, Tigers game, Pistons game, or stay home…
It’s good to see the people in the crowd who are there, it’s disappointing that the Red Wings’ organization pulled what so many sports teams these days do in showing no loyalty to its fans after the lockout, and those who judge whether a town has legitimate hockey fans or is a legitimate “hockey town” can STFU.
Foster’s right, folks.
Posted by George James Malik from South Lyon, MI on 05/09/08 at 03:46 PM ET
those who judge whether a town has legitimate hockey fans or is a legitimate “hockey town” can STFU.
Right on!
Good to see you, and see you swearing, George.
Posted by Osrt on 05/09/08 at 04:44 PM ET
Must be nice to have so much money that you can tell other people what their financial priorities should be.
What a grade-A arrogant air-headed jackass.
Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 05/09/08 at 05:18 PM ET
Just watched Don Cherry declare the Wings attendance
problem is their style of play…
No mention of our Canadian governor running the state
right into the ground and claiming she will Tax us right back into prosperity.
Posted by HockeyTownTodd from upset when blogs dont live up to my expectations on 05/09/08 at 08:54 PM ET
Just watched Don Cherry declare the Wings attendance
problem is their style of play…
I saw that too. I couldn’t believe the idiocy and was dumbstruck when Ron pointed out that the fans didn’t respond to Kronner’s hit. Although lower bowl fans do generally suck, the replay was in super slow motion and average (drunken) people don’t react that quickly.
Posted by Osrt on 05/09/08 at 09:58 PM ET
Listen, the whole “Hockeytown” thing was developed by the ad agency FCB. I was there when the assignment from “the family” came in. The I-family asked for us to come up with a hook that would make them a lot of money. Something that would be owned by the I-family and that didn’t have to pay a dime to the NHL. Take a look at the logo. It’s not a NHL property. The family owns it...and all the cash it generates. Now all the mechandise, all the crap with Hockeytown is pure profit for the family. And then they offer Joe Bucks? When they get the new arena and up the tick prices to pay for it, the cost to go to a game will be unreachable. Hockey in Detroit is falling apart. Nobody can afford it or they are leaving town to find a job.
Posted by FCB creative on 05/09/08 at 10:01 PM ET
Oh, and Cherry thinks the Wings will win the Cup.
What happened to the good ol boys from Anaheim––the mecca of authenticity.
Posted by Osrt on 05/09/08 at 10:01 PM ET
Perhaps Mr. Albom missed ‘magnet night’ and ‘red pom pom night’ where the organization gave a little something back to the loyal fans.
I wonder if Morrie would have bellied up the cash for a season ticket? I wish he would have so I didn’t have to listen to his fans compliment this has been on the drivel he rambled on about Tuesdays.
Ms Engle, meet Mr Albom. You two should have plenty to talk about. Back to the Hasek with you both....and don’t touch my Penguin bait.
Posted by Scott H from Kalamazoo on 05/09/08 at 11:19 PM ET
TY for the WB Orst...or, in other words, thanks for the “welcome back.”
The organization got better in terms of giveaways later in the season, but I’m gonna toot my own militant horn--there were two open practices (honestly, once or twice a month would be a big deal around here, an event where fans could really “meet” the personalities of their team) all year long, the marketing campaign was a one-off commercial with several versions and didn’t include actual players promoting the team or being marketed as individual personalities, nor did they explain that, when they meant, “tickets are available,” they weren’t kidding (that stuns fans in itself), and other than those late-season Zetterberg flags, lunchboxes, and $1 hot dog days…
The organization doesn’t seem to understand that it’s given its fans what bloggers get when we ask, explain, and then plead with the PR department for any access, much less accreditation to go to an actual game--a cold shoulder, and a sense that the relationship between the team and the fan is merely a business transaction.
In this day and age, it may very well be a business transaction, but when you approach your fans that way, you’re going to get the same response from people who are not happy to be seen as walking dollar signs in a time when dollars are scarce. We’re sports fans, hockey fans, and Red Wings fans because we want to be a part of something bigger than ourselves, to be part of a group, a community of like-minded individuals (seriously, I know that sounds high-minded, but that’s what being a sports fan is) who are drawn together by their passion for hockey, and...We’re greeted with half-hearted efforts from a club that seems to resent the concept that it even has to tell people that there are tickets available, like it can just stand there and be adored and have money thrown at it.
The problem is that the Red Wings’ organization and front office (i.e. not the players or coaches or people who work for a living at the rink) have forgotten that nobody’s going to treat them or the team like a teen idol anymore.
The Red Wings’ front office has tried to make the relationship between the team it represents and its fans more like parochial school than community-building and brand-building that happens to include paying money to go to sporting events for the past 15-or-so years, and over the last 10, it’s redoubled its efforts to be harder and more difficult to deal with than Mike Babcock’s jaw is stone since the internet became popular.
I went to a Catholic school, and let me tell you, the 6-foot-3 nun who was the principal never sat down in the middle of the lunchroom and expected people to ask for her autograph because she was there.
When you make your relationship with your fans a business transaction, that’s bad business. Add in the de-facto depression that is Michigan’s dust-bowl industrial economy, years of resentment and disinterest, and the fact that people have other options as to what interest they can spend their time, energy, and money upon, and you see the result of the Wings’ approach. They’d be surprised what would happen if they gave their fans half the effort that their fans give to following their team.
Posted by George James Malik from South Lyon, MI on 05/10/08 at 05:59 AM ET
Look what the Blackhawks are doing to their fans.
The loyal following who have chosen, still, to weather the storm of HORRIBLE ownership who despise television coverage all the while watching their team lose to any and every team that enters their building. Ticket prices through the atmosphere. Not gradually, but ALL at once.
Suddenly the hawks have a team to watch. Suddenly they are competitive again. Suddenly they are going to pay closer to ‘realtime’ ticket prices.
I will be watching their attendance numbers closely to see what relationship between front office and fan occurs.
p.s. That ‘Wings for Lunch’ program they had (pre-season) in Grand Rapids after training camp was one of the coolest things I’ve been too. Fans want more access to their players, and that was as close as you can get. Beats a fridge magnet or a T Shirt or a lunch box ANY day!
Posted by Scott H from Kalamazoo on 05/10/08 at 09:35 AM ET
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Right on man. I can’t stand reading anything he writes. Usually just ticks me off.
Posted by Paul from Monroe, MI on 05/09/08 at 12:48 PM ET