OT: I went to the Suns game tonight

Post #1 » by **paulpressey25** » Wed Feb 18, 2009 4:52 am

Just got back from the Suns-Clippers game in Phoenix. Got two $100 seats from a scalper for $30.

A few thoughts to compare their game experience v. ours:

-They gave away free programs to everyone. They were small programs like a playbill type thing, but excellent. Had the rosters, all-time Sun's leaders, player profiles. Pretty much all you needed. Free for all. Great move and something the Bucks should do. Would help keep young fans interested in reading about the team if their dad were too cheap to buy a program.

-The fan gift they passed out tonight is a deck of cards featuring the Suns cheerleaders on them. This place pushes the cheerleaders nonstop. They pose in the hallways before the game for fan pictures. We clearly need an Energee card-deck night.

-The design of that arena is just better. They do not have the really wide aisles like we do, thus the fans are much more on top of the action. Lower Bowl seats far more people. Not as much space though to sit. I counted the upper deck, and it is only 14 rows deep unlike the 537 rows of upper deck seats at the BC.

-The concourses though are small. And too crowded. BC wins big there.

-Their in game host is crap. Makes Rahny and Andrea look like all-stars.

-The video boards showing "Tonight's NBA scores" still had the Bucks as up 29-17 for almost the entire game. Even after the Bucks game had already ended. We've got our share of Hayseeds. They have theirs running the scoreboard.

-Their player intro video is far cooler than ours. But that probably is a function of them having Shaq, Nash, Amare and Grant Hill while we have Redd, Ridnour, Bogut, etc.

-Amen we didn't get Zach Randolph. He just snapped and tossed an open hand punch at Amundson. You can see how he got into so much off-court trouble.

-Overall, I think the fans in Milwaukee are actually more knowledgable. I talked to a bunch, and there are a lot of bandwagon transplants who attend these games and follow what the scoreboard tells them do. Still very nice people.

-Finally, to make us feel better in our own salary situation, I would regularly ask Sun fans tonight if they were ready to part with Amare on Thursday. The few who understood what might go down were pretty bummed. They were glad Terry Porter was out and bitched about how their team management was so screwed up that they'd maybe dump Amare simply because Shaq and J-Rich are eating up too much of their payroll.

GrandAdmiralDan · Post #2 » by **GrandAdmiralDan** » Wed Feb 18, 2009 4:57 am

Robert Sarver is a HORRIBLE owner and one of the few owners who has been worse than Kohl, IMO.

Check out this thread and the linked article:
viewtopic.php?f=27&t=881423

Mags FTW · Post #3 » by **Mags FTW** » Wed Feb 18, 2009 5:05 am

paulpressey25 wrote:We clearly need an Energee card-deck night.

You sure about that?

Post #4 » by **paulpressey25** » Wed Feb 18, 2009 5:05 am

That is a great link GAD.

Sarver was there tonight, but holding a low profile. I think everyone wanted to see how the team would respond to the new coach.

Their salary situation is a mess. Too bad if that three way Amare trade goes down and all they get is a #1, Drew Gooden and Tyrus Thomas.

jerrod · Post #5 » by **jerrod** » Wed Feb 18, 2009 5:05 am

Mags FTW wrote:
paulpressey25 wrote:We clearly need an Energee card-deck night.

You sure about that?

you can do wonderful things with photoshop

bigkurty · Post #6 » by **bigkurty** » Wed Feb 18, 2009 5:12 am

Yeah two of my best AZ friends were there too sitting court side at mid court. They had some all inclusive deal which included free food and drinks as part of some rewards package from AMEX. They got high fives from Shaq and Alando supposedly when they walked back during half time. They also met Frankie Munez in their version of the courtside club after the game and took pics with him. I guess they decided to do the court side thing since they were jealous when GAD and I won tickets to courtsides. Them being pretty well off and getting something like 4k a month in credit card rewards every month due to business expenses probably helped too.

Everyone in that town is a fringe fan though. I was there superbowl weekend and you barely saw any cardinal gear at all. I would venture to say >50% of people who live there over the age of 25 are transplants so it makes sense. And as far as the cheerleaders, they are way hotter than ours so you might as well use them. I am actually surprised Energee is not used much more than they are. They rarely ever have things at games where you can mingle with them or take pics with them and I think that is dumb.

WEFFPIM · Post #7 » by **WEFFPIM** » Wed Feb 18, 2009 5:17 am

I went to a Suns game in Phoenix last season and agree with pretty much everything. I hate the lighting in the upper deck, though. Behind both baskets you feel like you're sitting in a Menards with the lighting scheme they have. The concourses are tiiiiiny, but the lower level has some really neat areas in it. US Airways Center actually feels like "The Home Of the Suns," whereas the Bradley Center has more of a "Building In Which The Bucks Play" feel. Lower bowl is enormous.

L&H_05 · Post #8 » by **L&H_05** » Wed Feb 18, 2009 5:23 am

Wait, you guys don't get the free programs or have the cheerleaders in the concession areas ??

I honestly thought that was a staple of every arena ??

Post #9 » by **paulpressey25** » Wed Feb 18, 2009 5:24 am

bigkurty wrote:I was there superbowl weekend and you barely saw any cardinal gear at all. .

I walked all around that place tonight. Saw literally thousands of fans. Only ONE guy with a Cardinal's shirt on. And their team was in the Super Bowl two weeks ago? Amazing.

jerrod · Post #10 » by **jerrod** » Wed Feb 18, 2009 5:24 am

you get a free program if you sit courtside, mine's still in the back of my car, along with a "clank" sign from a bulls game