Next sales approach: Buy Timberwolves tickets or we will punch a kitten in the face

The Business of Sports has published some current incentives from NBA teams struggling to sign up new season ticket holders for the 2011-2012 season. While I confess that I was sold by the Washington Wizards 3-year price guarantee and enthusiastically recruited others to go in on tickets with myself and fellow JB Sports Chat blogger, Beau, I must admit - we didn't get nearly as good of a deal as the Timberwolves fans. On the plus side, we only have to watch the Timberwolves once. They have to see them every night.

The Minnesota Timberwolves and the Houston Rockets are both using the same incentive of a "Pay the Pick" pricing offer. The final price will be determined by the results of the NBA Draft Lottery tomorrow. If their team draws the #1 pick, season ticket holders pay $1 per game. If they draw the #2 pick, $2 per game, and so on. This is less of an incentive for Houston, who narrowly missed the playoffs and have only 5 chances for a top 3 pick in the lottery and probability leaves them with the 14th selection. Minnesota finished with the worst record in the league for the 2010-2011 season, leaving them with 250 lottery chances. At best they will win the #1 pick, but worst case scenario will leave the Pay the Pick price at $4 per game. Coincidentally, $4 per is the same price the tickets sell for on eBay whenever the Wolves visit the Verizon Center.

While I would love to get away with paying $43 for a full season + 2 pre-season games to see the Wizards, I still feel good about our investment. For $16 per ticket, we have great seats in the upper level, fairly close to the center of the court. That's a bit overpriced to watch the Wizards play the Timberwolves, but an insanely low price to watch the Lakers, Heat, and the Celtics. With Ted Leonsis calling the shots and a little added luck from sending John Wall to the Draft Lottery in drag, we've got a good chance at building a decent team in the next few years. And hell, even if we don't - $16 is still a bargain to watch NBA basketball. Unless of course you're driving around in the bitter Minnesota winter to see the Timberwolves. Loyal T-wolves fans, I salute you!

Soy un perdedor dolorido, bebé

St. Louis Cardinals fans get crazy with the cheese whiz Wednesday night when the Nats met the Cards. Cardinals pitcher Ryan Franklin responds to boos in his own stadium:

"You're either a fan or you're not. You don't boo your own team. I don't care who you are or what you say. Just because you spent your money to come here and watch us play, and somebody happens to make one bad pitch and gives up a homer, you don't start booing them. I've been here for five years, and four years I've been pretty good. You should go write stories about the fans booing. They're supposed to be the best fans in baseball. Yeah right."

I mostly agree with this statement. The only part that is arguable is when he suggests the fans turned on him for giving up a homer on one bad pitch. The quote should read about when, "...somebody happens to get four blown saves out of five attempts, give away a 9th-inning lead here and there, get removed as closer, and allow the Nationals a home run when you're already down by 2, you don't start booing them." It is a more difficult argument when you look at it that way. I will give him that.


I admit, baseball is not my game and the Cardinals are definitely not my team, but I can read a stat sheet. Franklin looks like he's been doing his job for the last couple of years. While I don't think a 38-year old player can rest on his laurels and start to phone it in, I also don't agree with the fans booing their own players. As far as this blogger is concerned, you stick with your team through thick and thin. If you can't stand losing, jump on another bandwagon. There are plenty of places you can voice your frustrations about washed up players and losing games, but the stadium is not where it's done. There is poor sportsmanship on the field and off, and when fans of the home team start to boo their own players, that is a stadium full of sore losers as far as I'm concerned.

NHL Center Ice Sneak Preview

If you are a die-hard hockey fan [who subscribes to Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Cox Communications, Bright House Networks, Cablevision Systems, Bresnan Communications, Charter Communications, Midcontinent and Verizon FiOS, or a number of independent affiliates] you have probably already tuned into the Center Ice Package preview. If you're a casual fan this may have slipped by you, but not to worry - you can still watch free hockey through this weekend!

The Center Ice package is a wonderful thing, but if you're only a fan of the home team, it may not be worth nearly $200. Games that are broadcast locally are blacked out from the NHL Center Ice channels so that they don't compete with local markets. If you happen to be, say a Washington Capitals fan who lives in Texas, this is a great way to watch your team. If you are like me and you will watch any hockey game, regardless of the teams playing [I drove halfway across the country to watch the Quad City Mallards play the Adirondack Ice Hawks and I'm damn proud of it] the free preview weekend is a great way to watch a lot of hockey. Sometimes it's hard for a Caps fan to know who to cheer for [Vancouver Canucks or Minnesota Wild? Luongo or Niemi?] but the beauty is, sometimes you don't have to pick a side, you can just appreciate hockey for the beauty of the sport. Other times, like last night, you get a heads up on who the next NHL player to get a suspension is going to be.




Obviously that is the broadcast from Vancouver, as one can tell from the announcers' support of these fans being thrown out. The Minnesota broadcasters had this reaction:



With Center Ice, you can watch them all. For the record, Minnesota has it right. The fan was probably being a douchebag, but it does not warrant having a professional athlete yank him out of the stands into the tunnel. Look for the NHL to hand down a punishment very soon. Canucks: This is seriously uncool. Center Ice free preview: I am in love with you.

Local hockey fan continues to watch boring television

Yes, my off-season sports chats sound like headlines from The Onion. I got called out after my last rant about the NHL Network by a facebook friend-of-a-friend. (Sad, I know. It wasn’t even a friend of my own. I have a very Charlie Brown-like existence.) But, my new FFOF pointed out that there is plenty going on in the hockey world right now to keep a fan (okay, fanatic) engaged. There have been shocking trades, the new schedules have been released, the recent NHL awards and NHL draft, and July 1 will open up free agency. She’s right. There's still plenty of action around the NHL, and the awards and draft have been broadcast on Versus. It’s not exactly the body-crushing action of watching a game every night, but it keeps things interesting. And for some reason, watching teams I mostly don’t care about draft young players I’ve never heard of is way more interesting than whatever else is on TV these days. I don’t know if that speaks to how much I love hockey, or how bad television programming is these days. Probably a little of both.

The first round of the NHL draft was Friday night and the only players I knew by name were the number one and number two draft picks: Taylor Hall and Tyler Seguin. I’ve heard plenty of speculation about which one would be chosen first, but I still have no idea which one is which. I think that Taylor is the one that turns into a werewolf and Tyler is the vampire that sparkles. Or is it the other way around? Whoever they are, you never hear about one without a mention of the other. It’s a good thing NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman was behind the podium, because the pre-packaged marketing opportunity of this rivalry must be giving him a raging hard-on. Next season the NHL can branch off from the constant comparisons between Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin. Except this Taylor/Tyler thing may be even easier for the league to exploit. I bet no one has ever had a problem telling Crosby and Ovechkin apart.

So, the 2010 NHL draft is over. The Oilers have Taylor Hall, the Bruins have Tyler Seguin, and the Maple Leafs have to live with the fact that they gave up two draft picks this year, including their shot to acquire a promising young player with a built-in marketing ploy (along with a 2011 first round pick!) to the Bruins for Phil Kessel. For last year's draft, Toronto’s GM Brian Burke tried to trade up for a shot at John Tavares (spoiler alert! His attempts were ill-fated. Tavares just finished his first season with the Islanders and did very well for them.) This year they essentially gave up one of the –ylors. Better luck next year, Toronto. Oh no, wait – you traded away your first round 2011 draft pick too. Well, better luck in 2012 then.

Now that the NHL Awards show and the draft are over, I know I can count on the NHL Network to replay them for the remainder of the summer alongside old playoff games. I wonder how many more times I'll see Kevin Connolly. I was totally not expecting to see E from Entourage announce the Islanders pick.

The fan's dilemma: Who to cheer for when your team is out of the playoffs?

Even the luckiest of sports fans (or the most talented of bandwagon fans) will eventually run into this dilemma. Your team is out of the playoffs - what do you do now?

a.) Stop watching the playoffs and start working on your golf game? Very few sports fans will fall into this category, but some team loyalists may lose interest completely when their team is out. As someone who has had to choose between the Detroit Red Wings and the Pittsburgh Penguins for the finals the last two years, I have to say - it's always fun to watch, even if you love to hate both remaining teams.

b.) Choose the team who beat your team to win the conference and the championship?

or

c.) Vindictively cheer for whoever plays against the team that brutally massacred your team on the way to the finals? Speaking specifically about the Stanley Cup playoffs this year, any animosity I felt toward the Montreal Canadiens vanished as soon as I saw the faces of the Penguins fans. The disbelief that their team lost to a number 8 seed at the last EVER game at Mellon Arena was exactly what I needed to become interested in the NHL playoffs once again.

But who do I cheer for now?

Tonight is game 7 for the Eastern Conference semifinals so tonight either Boston or Philadelphia will go on to play the habs in the conference finals. I'm going to have to cheer for Philly tonight for another reason altogether. For me, the correct answer is:

d.) Make alliances with other fans and cheer for their teams. I have a close friend who is a huge Flyers fan and not only would I love to see the elated (and shocked) look on her face if the Flyers advanced, but I have no doubt she'd be standing next to me cheering for the Caps if the roles were reversed.

Let's go Flyers!!

If nothing else, I won't have to go through this dilemma again. If all I'm left with is Boston, Montreal, Chicago and San Jose... Well...

Let's Go FLYERS, dammit!!!!

NBA Nomad

Okay, so I've decided that if the Knicks don't make a HUGE splash this summer in the free agent market, I am officially renouncing my fandom and becoming an NBA nomad. 

An NBA nomad you ask?  That's right.  I will be all about the good teams and my favorite players.  Hey, the NBA has been marketing stars over teams for years.  Is it wrong for me to follow their lead? Should I have to suffer for almost a decade because of bad contracts and even worse management?  Come on, my team traded its future for a guy who eats Vaseline and thinks it is a good idea to broadcast it. 

Anybody want to join me in living the life of an NBA nomad? You will get championships, good basketball and something to make you smile almost every night!  Best part, when your newly discovered favorite team/star starts to stink (or like Sheed keeps eating and stops working), you just move on!