So, we've been over some of this ground about Washington having crappy fans and what it means a number of times. I'm trying to think through what the implications are and have a couple thoughts and questions:
Other places clearly have "better" fans that are more enthusiastic and supportive even when their team isn't that good (e.g. Toronto), but are DC fans uniquely crappy or even worse than average? I only have personal knowledge of a few other places and examples, such as the Detroit Lions, where the continued fan support for a franchise that has been poorly run for over fifty years is pretty astonishing. Is that the standard that needs to be met for a fanbase to be considered good or excellent?
Is it an issue of all DC fans being crappy or just Wizards fans? The Redskins have had some problems in recent years with season ticket holders selling their seats to opposing fans, but Redskins fans have also come back strong whenever they've been given half a reason to. The Caps have a strong core group of fans, and even with the annual playoff flameouts they have been able to grow their fan base. Likewise with the Nationals, they have built a solid fan base, and the attendance statistics bears that out (attendance is higher than the O's, with at a significantly higher average ticket price).
The Wizards started to build momentum during the Arenas years and again during the two seasons prior to this past one, and this momentum has stalled out when the progress of the team stalled out. Even at their worst attendance for the Wizards hasn't been noticeably lower than for other bad teams in comparable markets.
What is the responsibility of the team for crappy or alienated fans?People cite the fact that people cheer for the Chick Fil A promotion more than the team, but this is a promotion that the team itself has run for a number of years. If they think it's embarrassing they could stop running it.
Also, from personal experience and from posts on this board, the team has really squeezed plan holders over the past few years to the point where it makes more sense to buy individual games from a value standpoint. Perhaps not the most loyalty-inspiring move.
With the Pollins, you had the feeling that you were dealing with a not-very-well run family business. With Ted, I have more of a feeling of being held upside down by my ankles and having the change shaken out of my pockets.
Another thing, Kief the Spleef headlined the Wizards Summer Fest that went on tonight. Is it my imagination, or do the Nats, Caps, and Skins have higher profile players attending these sorts of events?
So what? What difference does it make and what can be done?Durant left a place that supposedly has pretty good fan support. Horford was at least willing to consider the Wizards, but how important was the fan support issue vs. other factors? It's not clear to me that the quality of the fans makes more than a marginal difference. Even if it did, what's the answer? Move to Baltimore?
I come back to the conclusion that the "crappy fan" explanation for the team's woes is just an excuse that the management and even some of the players use to evade responsibility. Sorry for the long, rambling post.
Stolen!
