Post by wagner3 on Sept 22, 2009 23:42:48 GMT -5
KANSAS CITY, Mo.
The Islanders came here hoping to be barreled over with support from a city supposedly desperate for its own NHL team. And how did the people of Kansas City react? With one huge, collective yawn.
The support for the preseason game against the Kings was so poor that every upper-deck section was blocked off by huge black curtains. You know, to block the many, many rows of empty seats. Attendance was only 9,792 in an arena that holds 18,000.
Some threat, eh?
The people of Kansas City missed a real opportunity to send their own message here. They could have come out in full force and basically dared the Town of Hempstead to say no to the Lighthouse project. Then it would have gotten interesting.
But the way the people here reacted to the Islanders, it was as if they looked at their last 15 years and said, "We've already got one of these teams in the Royals. No thanks.''
Paul McGannon, the president of a grass-roots organization called NHL21, which is trying to bring hockey back to Kansas City, was prepared for a small crowd.
As he watched the Islanders' morning skate, McGannon listed several reasons for the expected fan apathy.
For starters, he said people here are sensitive to feeling as if they're being used. "There's a lot of people who don't come to this game because they don't want to be a part of a pawn," he said.
"That's the big story in this town," he said. (It also was T-shirt Tuesday at Kauffman Stadium.)
But then, ever so delicately, McGannon brought up that John Tavares didn't make the trip, and he's got a major point there.
Tavares was on Long Island because in the preseason, most regulars take part in every other game. And the Islanders want their top draft pick to play in tonight's home game against the Devils.
That's understandable. But if the Islanders were serious about drawing a big crowd and sending a message that Kansas City is a legit option, then their biggest draw should have been on the ice. He should have been in loads of ads leading up to this game attempting to lure Kansas City folks away from, well, Greinke fever.
"There's a lot of people who at the last minute would say, 'Let's go see Tavares,' " McGannon said. "If we're going to be judged on attendance, that has to be factored in."
Instead, organizers were left with trying to lure fans by offering seats for next to nothing. All you had to do was walk up to the ticket window, say the name of the sports-talk radio station here in Kansas City, and you could get inside for $10.
Tim Leiweke, president of the company that runs the Los Angeles Kings and manages this arena, said in the Kansas City Star on Sunday: "There will be a lot of interest to see how many people come. I'm interested to see how many people turn out." Leiweke, however, did not respond to requests to comment about the turnout.
Yes, the fact that the Town of Hempstead conveniently scheduled its zoning hearing for Tuesday took a lot of the juice off this game. That meant Charles Wang couldn't come here and go through the dog-and-pony act of touring the brand-spanking new Sprint Center.
Coach Scott Gordon and the players toured the home dressing room and were impressed. But when the game started, you couldn't blame them if they thought they were at home with all those empty seats. And that was the last message the Islanders wanted Kansas City to send.
www.newsday.com/columnists/jim-baumbach/fans-in-kansas-city-show-little-interest-in-isles-1.1467768
hopefully, Winnipeg will draw a lot better
The Islanders came here hoping to be barreled over with support from a city supposedly desperate for its own NHL team. And how did the people of Kansas City react? With one huge, collective yawn.
The support for the preseason game against the Kings was so poor that every upper-deck section was blocked off by huge black curtains. You know, to block the many, many rows of empty seats. Attendance was only 9,792 in an arena that holds 18,000.
Some threat, eh?
The people of Kansas City missed a real opportunity to send their own message here. They could have come out in full force and basically dared the Town of Hempstead to say no to the Lighthouse project. Then it would have gotten interesting.
But the way the people here reacted to the Islanders, it was as if they looked at their last 15 years and said, "We've already got one of these teams in the Royals. No thanks.''
Paul McGannon, the president of a grass-roots organization called NHL21, which is trying to bring hockey back to Kansas City, was prepared for a small crowd.
As he watched the Islanders' morning skate, McGannon listed several reasons for the expected fan apathy.
For starters, he said people here are sensitive to feeling as if they're being used. "There's a lot of people who don't come to this game because they don't want to be a part of a pawn," he said.
"That's the big story in this town," he said. (It also was T-shirt Tuesday at Kauffman Stadium.)
But then, ever so delicately, McGannon brought up that John Tavares didn't make the trip, and he's got a major point there.
Tavares was on Long Island because in the preseason, most regulars take part in every other game. And the Islanders want their top draft pick to play in tonight's home game against the Devils.
That's understandable. But if the Islanders were serious about drawing a big crowd and sending a message that Kansas City is a legit option, then their biggest draw should have been on the ice. He should have been in loads of ads leading up to this game attempting to lure Kansas City folks away from, well, Greinke fever.
"There's a lot of people who at the last minute would say, 'Let's go see Tavares,' " McGannon said. "If we're going to be judged on attendance, that has to be factored in."
Instead, organizers were left with trying to lure fans by offering seats for next to nothing. All you had to do was walk up to the ticket window, say the name of the sports-talk radio station here in Kansas City, and you could get inside for $10.
Tim Leiweke, president of the company that runs the Los Angeles Kings and manages this arena, said in the Kansas City Star on Sunday: "There will be a lot of interest to see how many people come. I'm interested to see how many people turn out." Leiweke, however, did not respond to requests to comment about the turnout.
Yes, the fact that the Town of Hempstead conveniently scheduled its zoning hearing for Tuesday took a lot of the juice off this game. That meant Charles Wang couldn't come here and go through the dog-and-pony act of touring the brand-spanking new Sprint Center.
Coach Scott Gordon and the players toured the home dressing room and were impressed. But when the game started, you couldn't blame them if they thought they were at home with all those empty seats. And that was the last message the Islanders wanted Kansas City to send.
www.newsday.com/columnists/jim-baumbach/fans-in-kansas-city-show-little-interest-in-isles-1.1467768
hopefully, Winnipeg will draw a lot better