Dwight Jaynes late evening special.... blazers sellout streak over?

http://www.dwightjaynes.com/wow-how-low-is-the-trail-blazers-popularity-right-now

wow.... thats kinda scary. maybe fans are losing interest?

 

We have ~20% UE6 unemployment in this area, regardless of the "official" statistics.

People are still struggling, regardless of if the Oregonian says that they are. $250 to bring the wife and kids to a game is excessive to most people.

I had my 10 games last year. My second game this year is with the entire family (girls 5 and 7, wife), and we paid ~$150 for tickets for a game against Minnesota on 12/17.

 

thats true but you can tell fans arent feeling this teams direction and the roy comments will only make it worse. not to mention greg never plays. this could have been a wonderful thing but now it seems like teh train is waaayyyyy off the track.

 

At least be provocative. I was rooting for you to come back, but not for this boilerplate bullshit. Plus, firing a popular GM for no reason can't help sell tickets.

 

hey im saying that what jaynes is saying is more to do with roster, play then it is economy.

 

Hey, I'm saying that I think you're wrong. Wait until the empty seats later this year. Will those be kpee's fault?

 

no im working hard on a good cho name

 

i really think the above statement is true

 

$ issues aside as that's a big factor here are some more reasons imo:

1. The Blazers are good but they really don't play entertaining basketball. You can call them boring even.

2. The firing of Kevin Pritchard changed the way a lot of fans look at this franchise. KP won the city over from day 1 and the way he went out was a disgrace. Still to this day there has been not one word as to why he was fired. While the situation has cooled off drastically let us not forget how pissed off the people of Portland were at Paul Allen. It was seriously unreal. I think a lot of people haven't gotten over it and I personally don't view the team in the same way anymore. KP made the Blazers, whether it was real or not, look like a close-knit family. Since the day he was fired that's been gone imo. Now all we got is this very secretive front office and I don't think the fans feel as connected to the team as they once did, but maybe that's just me.

 

Repped and agree 100%. I've taken my three kids to between 12 and 14 games a year for the last three seasons. We've spent a few thousand dollars on tickets and several hundred more on merchandise. concessions and parking. But, I considered it money well spent. This year, I have not spent one penny on the team. When my ticket agent called back in early August I told her I was not going to be buying any tickets this year and the reason I gave was the firing of Kevin Pritchard. I told her it was shameful and I was no longer willing to support the organization financially.

Notice, I did not say I would not support the team. It is Paul Allen and the Vulcans that will not be receiving my support. Kevin Pritchard turned this team from the laughing stock of the league, both on and off the court, into a winning team the community could be proud of. And then Paul Allen and the Vulcans fired him and made sure to publicly humiliate him in the process. Paul Allen may be the richest owner is sports, but he's also an immature douchebag. I don't even care why Pritchard was fired. The way it was handled could not have been done worse if you tried. The whole thing was petty, vindictive, childish and mean. Not the qualities I look for in an organization to support with my hard earned dollars.

So, I still follow the team and cheer for them to win, but I do so by watching what games I can on free TV and listening them on the radio. I may even attend a game, or two, but I will buy my tickets from private parties off craigslist; from someone who already paid the Vulcans, but is unable to use the tickets themselves.

When Kevin Pritchard was here, the team and the community shared a very positive attitude. He's barely gone and our superstar is pouting and pulls a vanishing act against the Lakers and the vibe surrounding the team is very negative. They're not the jail blazers, but they also are not the same team this community rallied around the last three years. It would not surprise me one bit if the sellout streak, that started in December 2007 ends this season. Good job Vulcans - fucking idiots. Way to fuck up a good thing. Boy, you sure showed that uppity Kevin Pritchard, didn't you?

BNM

 

Thats why they are emailing out the "half-off" deals for tmrs game...

 

+1

I think this is a realistic viewpoint. Had KP been able to pull off a CP3 trade........oh to ponder!

In stark contrast however, he nearly pulled off the great Turkish Trade! .....oh to ponder!? hmmm

 

I'll be honest, I've lost a lot of interest in the Blazers. Don't get me wrong, I'm a Blazer fan for life and I'll never root for another NBA team. I just am not following them as closely as I used to. A number of factors contribute, including:

- The Comcast fiasco. Blazers management got themselves in a fantastic mess. They keep saying they're trying, but it's become a broken record. I don't want to hear progress or efforts. I want to hear results.
- I'm still not sold on the firing of KP. He was a fantastic GM and the Blazers wouldn't be where they are today without him. Who knows, maybe I'll be wrong and Rich Cho will be even more amazing...we shall see.
- The Brandon Roy soap opera. I love Brandon, but he needs to man up and just play.
- Just the state of the NBA and officiating in general. I've always believed that they need to find ways to take power away from the officials. First step is to eliminate fouling out (after 5th foul, each subsequent foul will be treated like a technical, sans the ejection). This is an idea endorsed by numerous former and current NBA coaches.
- The impending lockout. I don't know what the latest is, but last I heard is it's not looking good at all for next season.

 

I agree 100% on both statements.

 

I agree 100 percent. There's just a different vibe or connection with the team this season -- and that KP fiasco sort of ended an era. Also those championship aspirations and path we were headed on has seemingly stagnated. I don't think anyone believes this current makeup can win the title this season, especially after seeing us get absolutely destroyed by the Lakers.

There have also been just too many punches to the gut as fans. G.O.'s health issues, the Comcast deal sucks, the KP thing, B-Roy being somewhat injury prone and now doesn't seem happy to start the season for the second straight year, Rudy wanting out, that hype around RLEC being the biggest trade chip in history and not resulting in anything, the cap-space plan that was believed to bring us a big-time player (although that's no fault in the play of Andre), the D-Miles saga and embarrassing letter by Larry Miller, the drawn-out process in extending Roy that created a lil' bit of a PR backlash, etc. etc.

Guys like Blake, Sergio, Travis and Martell caught a lot of flak, but they were easily to root for and were considered true Blazers in a way. Not saying all of them should've been kept, but the common fans loved seeing "Blakey" as he embraced the city and was a good fit next to Roy. People enjoyed seeing the Sergio-to-Rudy lobs as part of that up-tempo second unit. And we've seen Travis and Martell grow up in front of our eyes since they were drafted out of HS. They were there through the bad years and it was fun seeing them finally taste some success with us. You could throw in Jerryd as well when he was viewed as that up-and-coming young combo guard to play alongside Brandon, but now he's gone.

Interest in the team is still pretty high I think, but they have a lot to prove that they aren't just another first-round flameout. Maybe it'll change when Greg and Joel come back, but as of right now.. it feels kind of stagnant and there are just a lot of unknowns surrounding the team.

 

I know a few who's rabid fandome was broken with the constant injuries on this team, especially with Greg Oden. But I attribute this more to the economy.

 

Well, truth be told, I see more people with Blazer jerseys now than ever before in the past 7 years.

But at the same time, I don't think fans want to stay in the same place for very long. How much longer are we going to be on the rise? "Rise with us". That slogan meant something two years ago. Now, our team is no longer young. We can't use that as an excuse anymore.

 

I think this is a fairly significant factor. Not THE greatest factor, but one that gets overlooked.