RealGM

Is our fan base underrated or what? I'm noticing a lot of Twolves fans at the games on the road. I'm noticing a lot of Wolves fans chattering on other forums, ESPN, etc. Want a good laugh, go look at the Memphis Grizzlies forum here on Real GM! Pathetic...

I have always found it interesting how the Minneapolis/St Paul metro area is considered a small market when in reality, we are pretty big. Sure, not the biggest, but the way national media often talks about us you would think it is the Fargo Timberwolves. Hell, we are much larger than Orlando, Cleveland, Indianapolis, Charlotte, Milwaukee, Memphis, New Orleans, Salt Lake and others.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Table_of_U ... ical_Areas

There are a couple of teams on RealGM that have virtually no traffic on their sites (see NOH). I'm assuming they have local radio or TV station that they use instead.....

Several of the other teams have other forums that are popular and RealGM just hasn't caught on in those markets. NOH is a good example of that. I suspect Memphis is also.

We have great fans here, though, and this is one of the best boards on RealGM, imho. Even if it gets unreadable at times after a bad loss.

champalift wrote:I have always found it interesting how the Minneapolis/St Paul metro area is considered a small market when in reality, we are pretty big. Sure, not the biggest, but the way national media often talks about us you would think it is the Fargo Timberwolves. Hell, we are much larger than Orlando, Cleveland, Indianapolis, Charlotte, Milwaukee, Memphis, New Orleans, Salt Lake and others.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Table_of_U ... ical_Areas

What you're not taking into account is how remote MN is. If you've never lived in another part of the country it's hard to get a sense of how everyplace not in the Mountain time zone has a lot more stuff in and around it than where we live. MN is a bigger market than these other places, but it is much less convenient to media types from the coastal hubs. It is also less freewheeling and/or cynical than much of the rest of the country. These are pretty significant reasons MN gets looked down on.

eyeteeth wrote:

champalift wrote:I have always found it interesting how the Minneapolis/St Paul metro area is considered a small market when in reality, we are pretty big. Sure, not the biggest, but the way national media often talks about us you would think it is the Fargo Timberwolves. Hell, we are much larger than Orlando, Cleveland, Indianapolis, Charlotte, Milwaukee, Memphis, New Orleans, Salt Lake and others.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Table_of_U ... ical_Areas

What you're not taking into account is how remote MN is. If you've never lived in another part of the country it's hard to get a sense of how everyplace not in the Mountain time zone has a lot more stuff in and around it than where we live. MN is a bigger market than these other places, but it is much less convenient to media types from the coastal hubs. It is also less freewheeling and/or cynical than much of the rest of the country. These are pretty significant reasons MN gets looked down on.

A good example of this can be seen tonight with the Wisconsin/Minnesota college bball game. That is a rivalry game despite the schools being 270 miles apart because they are border states. Anywhere on the east or west coast, schools 270 miles apart are not rivals unless there is some form of history between them (see; USC/Notre Dame). The upper midwest is very secluded. Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit are the three huge metro areas that can be accessed between I-90/94 and it's a 12-14 hour drive from Minneapolis to Cleveland. If you look anywhere on the coast, all these cities are an hour or two apart. So you have large metro areas pouring over into each other so those metro area statistics, while true about the city itself, are rather misleading in terms of overall media market.

Giving out thread Baynos to Eyeteeth and Iansports as these are some of the best explanations I have seen in regards to the "small market" feel of the Twin Cities and midwest in general. Chicago and Detroit don't have to deal with it to the extent of the others listed (especially Chicago), but the distance factor I think plays hugely into the perception, but not only from the coastal cities, but from other major market areas as pointed out.

Really well put though and glad to see that point of view explained.

LakeState wrote:Is our fan base underrated or what? I'm noticing a lot of Twolves fans at the games on the road. I'm noticing a lot of Wolves fans chattering on other forums, ESPN, etc. Want a good laugh, go look at the Memphis Grizzlies forum here on Real GM! Pathetic...

yes I'm very underrated imho

C.lupus wrote:Several of the other teams have other forums that are popular and RealGM just hasn't caught on in those markets. NOH is a good example of that. I suspect Memphis is also.

We have great fans here, though, and this is one of the best boards on RealGM, imho. Even if it gets unreadable at times after a bad loss.

I know memphis has a big forum, cant remember the name, but i've gone there before to read up. Wolves have several big forums though, some teams only have 1 it seems. Thing I dont like about non-realgm forums is they're too homerish. I dont like reading when everybody is freaking the F out and saying crazy things about the other team and players and refs. I know probably a lot of fans go the other direction and dont like boards that seem to cynical or unsupportive, but I feel like realgm has a good balance between cynics, homers, and also a nice contingent of stats, numbers, salary, and b-ball business minds to fill in the gaps and bring some nice supporting evidence and intelligence to their arguments.