I still am getting this overwhelming feeling that these meetings are much ado about nothing. Sounds like they're getting closer, but.... I can't help but think that they're going to be at each other's respective stretching points for overall support and yet still be several tens of millions apart.
The bandwagon thing pissed me off because it has raised prices. I'd like to see the popularity level out so they can't keep increasing tickets and beer while decreasing the quality of the experience.
I agree on tickets, but beer prices are a completely different side of the business. Do you really think the Hawks would ever have cheaper beer than the Bulls if the Hawks weren't selling out?
In the 08-09 season, I would go to games for $27 in the 300 level, center ice (favorite spot in the barn) for face value. Those same seats are over $70, and I really don't think the team right now is better than them. That's why bandwagon fans aggravate me. More money means the team has more money to possibly make the team better, but they eat our pockets alive.
The bandwagoning was rather annoying, however, in no way, shape, or form did it hamper the pure joy and total satisfaction I got out of that season.
I spent about 6 months in and around the city during 2010, with several other visits... I'm not saying bandwagoners aren't annoying, I just don't let them bother me and get all angry over it. There are bigger things to worry about, than someone sitting next to you. If there lack of knowledge annoys you so much, why don't you help them out and educate them on the sport? Everyone had to start somewhere, it's not like you were born some sort of hockey genius and didn't have to learn yourself at one point.
I understand the ticket price issue, but that's going to happen with any team that is good in a decent sized market. Hell, I saw an article a few weeks ago on ticket prices for the Thunder and how astronomical those are now.... It's just part of the product of a good team, always will be.
While the lack of hockey knowledge is apparent in the new fans, one thing I will say is that in my experience they have not pretended to know more than they do. People here me talking about stuff in the game and they almost always agree and ask questions to better understand what I am talking about. I can't be mad at that at all, at least they want to learn.
It's hard for me to mad at people who didn't take the time to support a franchise that was
1) God awful
2) Refused to show half of the games on TV
AND
3) Made no effort to ever gain them as a fan by trying to put a decent product on the ice and showing all the games on TV making them easier to follow
I'm pretty welcoming of bandwagoners, as long as they're in for the long haul from this point forward. I have friends that became fans in 08-09 and are big fans today and have learned the game. And I have friends who were just in it for a Cup run, and then the next year stop paying attention once the Bulls were good. That 2nd group are the people that suck.
And let's not forget the fact that the Hawks were essentially a non-factor in Central Illinois for the better part of an entire generation, leading to untold numbers of people growing up without hockey (myself included) that otherwise probably would've followed it if the Hawks were at least on TV.
One of the reasons why the Cubs do so well at the gate in spite of usually doing so poorly at the plate is because they mastered market extension. Northern Illinois is theirs, as is most of Iowa, northwestern Indiana, and big chunks of Central Illinois are battleground between them and the Cardinals, with my hometown of Champaign effectively being ground zero between Cubs and Cards turf.
Hawks fandom is growing significantly down there for the very fact that lots of the games are on TV (though not ****ing WGN games, as WGN America is too good for the Blackhawks, or vice versa), so lots of folks have been brought in that otherwise wouldn't have paid attention to hockey otherwise.
That's the main problem with Dollar Bill Wirtz.... he effectively prevented a generation of fans from enjoying the game and thusly significantly hampered the team's growth. It's not that big of a surprise that people wouldn't be as hockey knowledgeable as lifelong fans as a result of coming back in, and even to this day I can tell I'm not as knowledgeable as people that have followed the sport intently their entire lives in spite of the fact that I've watched hundreds of games, live and on TV, these past several years.
There's a lot more to the surge in Hawks fans than just the bandwagon, which is obvious from the surge in attendance and interest immediately after Bill Wirtz had died and well before they were a great team.
Hawks fandom is growing significantly down there for the very fact that lots of the games are on TV (though not ****ing WGN games, as WGN America is too good for the Blackhawks, or vice versa), so lots of folks have been brought in that otherwise wouldn't have paid attention to hockey otherwise..
Hawks are prohibitied from showing games nationally via WGN America because of national TV deal exclusive rights with NBC
I spent about 6 months in and around the city during 2010, with several other visits... I'm not saying bandwagoners aren't annoying, I just don't let them bother me and get all angry over it. There are bigger things to worry about, than someone sitting next to you. If there lack of knowledge annoys you so much, why don't you help them out and educate them on the sport? Everyone had to start somewhere, it's not like you were born some sort of hockey genius and didn't have to learn yourself at one point.
I understand the ticket price issue, but that's going to happen with any team that is good in a decent sized market. Hell, I saw an article a few weeks ago on ticket prices for the Thunder and how astronomical those are now.... It's just part of the product of a good team, always will be.
This is the point that is so often ignored, be it bandwagon fans here or in a non-traditional hockey market that's still learning and embracing the game. No one was born with hockey knowledge, or knowledge of any particular sport. You have to start somewhere, and some people's complete arrogance about new fans astounds me. Can some be annoying? Sure. But so can some die-hards or so-called "experts" that know the game, and in some cases they can be even worse. Simple fact is, as pointed out, you need new fans and they are good for the game in more ways than they're not. New people taking an interest in a sport is a great thing. Embrace it. Every sport has bandwagoners or casual fans. There's nothing wrong with that. Not all 60,000 people at Soldier Field are football analysts; some may not know a single player other than the four or five stars. And that's fine. You don't have to be an expert to a fan. Why hockey people get so much more bent out of shape and arrogant about "bandwagoners" or "non-diehards" has always perplexed me. There are some annoyances involved but I'll take that over no one being interested at all. To survive as a franchise in today's sports you need more than just die-hards. Get over it.
More to the point of the lockout, I too am really surprised at my apathy toward whether this season ever starts or not. Part of it may come in that I'm pretty busy with hockey other than the NHL, but still, the fact that I seem to care so little is stunning. And if I (and so many of us other diehard fans) feel this way, what the hell is the average sports fan/new hockey fan gonna care about whether the league comes back or not? I'm sure once it does come back that fire will reignite in me and I'll be like "god damn I've missed you" but I'm truly not there right now and that's concerning for a league that seemingly just does not have a grasp on reality with itself.
NHL is a third rate sport nobody likes. I know that and accept it. The league seems to be in la-la land about it though. That's why I want them to see the sad truth that I would hope would be revealed with another full season lost.
Then they give up the $$$ from WGN deal which is a higher rate then games on CSN
Also it makes viewership lower for Hawks as many people dont have more then basic TV setup ,, Not everyone has cable
Alot of peole can watch Hawks on WGN because it is available channel on any basic TV setup ,, Who wouldn't be able to watch a game on CSN
Quote:
Originally Posted by IU Hawks fan
I understand all that, and that's my point.
For them, it benefits them to make games unavailable to those out of the area in exchange for them being on free TV locally.
This is not true. I had no idea either until I pulled the plug because I simply did not know anyone who has ever done what I am doing. You get comcast sports net through the basic setup. I was watching Cubs and Sox games all summer on it. Also, when a Bears game is on ESPN, I get it on WPWR, the full ESPN feed, pregame and everything.
The cable companies, the blood sucking monsters that they are, would like you to believe you don't get the games without cable but I can confirm that you do.
Its not just that its on WGN, but the NHL considers Illinois all the way down to Springfield "in market". So we are out of market for WGN Chicago but in market for the NHL so we get no game on WGN and are blacked out on NHL Network. Its stupid. The Hawks could easily rectify this with the NHL but they don't.
This is not true. I had no idea either until I pulled the plug because I simply did not know anyone who has ever done what I am doing. You get comcast sports net through the basic setup. I was watching Cubs and Sox games all summer on it. Also, when a Bears game is on ESPN, I get it on WPWR, the full ESPN feed, pregame and everything.
The cable companies, the blood sucking monsters that they are, would like you to believe you don't get the games without cable but I can confirm that you do.
WUT?
You need cable/satelite to get Comcast Sports Net. Yes, the Bears on always on a local channel, that's an NFL rule, that local team games are always on free television, so long as they are sold out if it's a home game.
You need cable/satelite to get Comcast Sports Net. Yes, the Bears on always on a local channel, that's an NFL rule, that local team games are always on free television, so long as they are sold out if it's a home game.
I have Comcast Sports Net 24/7 and got all of the Cubs/Sox games on it. It surprised me too but it's there.
The regular channels go 2-5-7-9-10-11-12, then a couple spanish channels.
However, once you go below 2 (or above 15 or 16), you get two new sets of channels. Comcast Sports is in the set below 2.
So you go below 2 and then it goes to a different number system, something like
271-26
271-25
271-22
and so on and so forth, comcast is something like 271-3, I can check it when I get home and post if people are curious about it but that is the jist of it.
And that doesn't make any sense why you would get it, that's why I'm so curious. It's not an over the air channel, like 2-5-7-9 etc etc. But it clearly looks like it's coming through on an over the air signal. Which I have no explaination for
