The Rose Garden used to be rocking and a major advantage this team had over other cities. This year the fans are not as passionate and our home court is basically the same as any other arena.
Maybe the fans know better? Personally I'm more likely to attend games when we're at one end of the spectrum or the other - very good or very bad. But honestly I prefer to watch games on TV - which also sucks for me because there are so few broadcast on KGW. I don't think there's any single reason to explain the low attendance, but rather the confluence of everything that's been mentioned. Also, (not sure if it was mentioned) the length of the season might be a factor. There are months of basketball ahead of us and it's probably difficult to muster enthusiasm for a middling team this early in the season. Come Jan/Feb, if we're playing well, perhaps we'll see higher #s?
I'm not a fan of soccer, and I'm not a fan of crazy atmospheres in the middle of nothing happening. I don't mind it if we are getting hot... but the constant noise gets to me. But, that's just me. I will probably never PAY to go see a timbers game... and will only go to one if it's free, and even then I may pass. Just no interest in it. However, the consensus seems to be that the timbers are the better ticket. Less, more premium games, playoffs... it may just be this year, but it makes sense why they are drawing. Even if the tickets are seeing at $100. $100 ticket for a premium game vs. an 8 dollar vertigo-inducing seat...
I'm not sure the Blazers are the "heart and soul" of the city anymore (not saying the Timbers are). But if the Blazers left it would leave a much bigger hole than if the Timbers left.
I'm somewhat with strenuus in that the constant noise would detract from enjoying the game. Not saying the TA needs to go away or that I wouldn't go to a game BECAUSE of them (conversely, the opposite. I'd go because of them), but sometimes it's nice to just sit and watch. It's a little forced though, with the same chants happening at the same times...every game. It's not organic. When Portland is rolling (at the MC or RG...er..MC2..DUDE! It's the MC squared!), the crowd is organically loud and crazy. Right now, though, the Blazers haven't given them a reason to be organically loud or crazy. Injuries, lack of TV broadcasting, and repeated years of blah basketball hurt (as I have said in this thread and others have said). It's not one thing that causes the apathy, it's several. And it's not fixed over night, it's fixed over a season or two. There were times in the mid 90's when the MC AND RG were boring places to go watch the Blazers. This team is far more talented than last years, but still has a ways to go before it gets the fanbase going.
The culture of soccer is to be as loud as possible for the longest time possible. It's expected... so I don't know if it's really "passion" or if it's just "following the script"...
Exactly. Agree on all counts. I actually just said as much about the timber chants at the same time you did.
Blazer fans are notoriously fickle. We have gone through a few downturns in fan support over the last 20 years. There weren't many people at the games in the mid-90s until we got Sheed, Rider, Damon Grant, etc. The Blazers used to do "two-fer Tuesdays" during that time period. The fans didn't really come back until the lockout season. The second downturn was in the early 2000's, during the Telfair days. I was there during that time-span and I've never seen the Rose Garden that empty before or since. It was less than half full. The fans didn't come back until we got Roy, and really they didn't begin to show up until that really long win streak. We have a lot of fair-weather-fans in this city, and that's not going to change. In regards to the Timbers/Blazers fanbase. I personally know a lot of rabid Timbers fans who couldn't give two shits about any other sport. It's definitely the trendy thing to follow right now. If you had to pick one team to associate with Portland's "sense of place," it would be the Timbers right now, and I think the Blazers know it.
The crowd last night was definitely lame. I could tell from watching the re-broadcast on NBA HD this morning, even mentioned it to my lady. For those who haven't gone to a Timbers game you are missing out. It's freaking amazing, the crowd is intense, the action is non stop, and once you wrap your head around how Soccer plays it's damn thrilling to watch. Especially for how well the Timbers are playing this year. I love both sports, but if I had a choice to go to a Timbers or Blazers game, I'd choose Timbers 100 times over. The experience there is just amazing. NBA is a little slow, constant whistles and stop in action. Plus the price to go to a Blazers game, along with the food/beverage outrageous prices just suck the wind right out of your sails. Timbers tickets are cheap, you can get cheap beer right across the street at the Kingston, etc.
They are about the same price, albeit playoffs, for timbers tickets. It's all about preferance though. I like my slower paced, non eardrum-blowing-out games. The crowd may be great.. but, hockey is a far better experience, IMO. And they have stoppages, etc. I want to go to a game with a focus on the game, and anything from the crowd is bonus, instead of the other way around. Again, though, personal preference. That said, it is VERY true that Timbers are overtaking the Blazers as the "cool thing to go to". And rightly so.
Basketball has way more going on than soccer for the entire game, more people are watching than yelling. Soccer doesn't require as much attention really, so the crowd has to pick up the slack and make it not boring.
You're talking about how they want to expand their brand out to the entire state, right? If your attendance was low, wouldn't you want to try to capture more of the state? I'm just saying, the "sense of place" right now in Portland is young, trendy, green, weird, and very European in terms of politics and planning. Soccer makes sense. I see people walking around downtown in Timbers shit all the time. The Blazers, and really the NBA, have lost that association with the city. Basketball is all about stars now. It's more about the superstars than it is about cities and rivalries. Is there a single rivalry in the NBA that you would compare to the Timbers and Sounders?
To me there is a fundamental difference between begging for a food item -- "cha-lu-pa! cha-lu-pa!" -- and chanting a contrived corporate nickname -- "mick-ee-dees!". While neither is anything to be proud of, and others may disagree, to me the latter is just completely stupid and unacceptable. I pray fans in Portland don't do it. I honestly may never attend another game if they do.
But most people realize socker is teh ghey. Unless you really hate 'merica and wanna be a Euro, or are a closeted homosexual.
What do you mean by "most people"? The Timbers are very popular in Portland. Soccer is the most popular sport in the world. I don't think "most people" realize that soccer is "teh ghey." I have my problems with it. I'm not a huge soccer fan because I can't stand the flopping, but basketball is quickly losing my interest for many of the same reasons. At least soccer isn't rigged, which I can't say for the NBA. I enjoy the World Cup. I've never really been into the Timbers because I think most of the fun is going to the games live, whereas watching on TV is kinda boring. Right now I'd say Duck football, Niners football, and MotoGP racing are higher up for me than basketball. If we ever got an NFL team, or even an NHL team, I might lose interest in the Blazers. I love basketball, but I can't stand the NBA. I wish there was a way to unseat the NBA and pull some of the stars away to form a new league.
Maybe it's my Scandinavian blood, but i have been really excited at the prospect of getting an NHL team for a while now, soccer just doesn't do anything for me outside of watching the women's competition a while back.
The Blazers should stop trying to force a Miceeedee chant. Let the crowd do what it wants to do. They didn't have to force people to yell the Chalupa chant it was a funny little promo that naturally caught the interest and intrigue of the mob.
I wonder if the Timbers success will make Paul Allen less likely to try to buy an NHL team. He tried to buy the Phoenix team before that fell through. But if part of the reason for the Blazers low attendance is because of the Timbers a good NHL team could drastically hurt the Blazers. They play basically identical seasons whereas soccer only has minor overlap.
