Posted 7:58 PM ET | Comments 4

Filed Under:   Dallas   Stars   feedback  

February 25, 2008 9:09 PM ET | Delete
So 1st off...I've only been coming to HB.com for about 2 weeks. I have enjoyed your posts. Keep them up! Your 'coverage' has been pretty well done. I dont live in Dallas anymore. I never owned season tickets. I was able to afford to take my family to 3 games in 6-years. One was during the playoffs in 00. I enjoyed each of those games. Your critique of the Stars fan, while not untrue, is a bit harsh. Creatures do what they do. With the exception of the Cowboys, Dallas is a city of people who attend events. The Rangers, Mavericks and Stars are events to many people who attend. Corporate seats are just a piece of the problem. To you and me...and quite a few more people....a Stars game is more than that. We love our team and will suffer with them through the worst and celebrate with them at the best. So many other people who attend are there because they got free tickets. They may only have a passing intrest in hockey. A worse situation is bringing a date to a hockey game and finding out at 13:45 in the 1st period that she is bored! Oh, and dont think it is limited to sports. I attended a Jimmy Buffet concert at Reunion (i think it was reunion). The couple that were sitting beside my wife and I got up and left about an hour through. He said he wanted to beat the traffic. They weren't Buffet fans but somewhere in the Metroplex were two die-hard Buffett fans who went without seats because these two came.Right now there aren't 20,000 die hard Stars fan who will cheer their team when trailing by 1. I'll even make a bet with you. Regardless of who Dallas plays in the first round of the playoffs, they wont sell out the first game at home. But when game 7 rolls around during the western finals (which we'll win btw) you can bet that you wont be able to find a ticket anywhere.Thats Dallas...and probably quite a few other large cities. People are what they are. You keep calling 'em like you see 'em and let the Stars fans take care of themselves. Generations from now someone will be complaining that they cant even get a ticket for a Stars v. Tampa game.

February 25, 2008 9:34 PM ET | Delete
Way to go. Ive never been quoted before by another site and Ive written a lot of blogs. Good job!

February 25, 2008 10:45 PM ET | Delete
Oh I hear you lemming. It bugs the crap out of me too. I think a lot of that falls at the feet of management, and I think Jeff Cogen will do several things to try to change that. The Rangers finished in last place, but increased attendance significantly. Now that he's moved over I think similar things can happen.As for the date scenario, I completely understand it, but the 3,000 people that left with 3 minutes to go in a 1 goal game weren't all leaving because of bored dates. It's more of a sweeping generality that probably isn't completely fair on the whole, but it's a big part of the larger problem of apathy towards the Stars. And while being down by a goal with 3 minutes isn't a great time per se, 1 goal games and tight hockey are what part of what give hockey its excitement. The team is in 2nd place and playing really well. How much better can the times get in the regular season?

February 26, 2008 4:59 AM ET | Delete
Maybe the fans are confused who the home team is? The original core fan may be turned off seeing their original Dallas Star tradition change? Home colors have given the home atmosphere a different feeling. Black uniforms are a turn off.Its home black vs white everynite. Team managements attempt to turn-on young fans is turnuing off many long-time fans such as myself. My diehard Ranger fan father turned me on to the game as a youth becoming attached to the Ranger tradition. When the Rangers changed their jerseys in 1976, we were outraged and told management . The original retuned the next season. Today, team owners don't realize how fans bond with teams and their uniforms. They sacrifice longterm loyalty and generational fan bases for greed to sell jerseys. I've gone to only 4 games the since the lockout. I don't like watching the Rangers play road games at MSG. NHL should return to home whites. The atmosphere at MSG is less than it was from the mid 70's to the mid 90's. I agree corporate money brings in the not-enthused sightseeing fan. The regular season has more meaning today than when 16 of 21 made it. The media and non-fans still criticize every team makes the playoffs. There are few people who gamble on NHL games. Radio sports reports don't give the scores for that reason. It's hard to create sports talk radio second-guessing coaching and strategy. The game is hard work and reactionary. Maybe these are reasons the buzz in the arena lacks and the game has low to no ratings.