Will 19th man lead to more fights?

Question
Will the Komets acknowledge the TinCaps at all Friday? I mean being a minor league town with 2 Championships in one year is kinda cool....

Did the tea cups acknowledge the Komets? I doubt it btw. This is the Komets night and they will raise the banner from last years Kup.

GHockey - Tea cups? Tea cups? Really? Wow. I doubt the Komets will acknowledge the TinCaps championship this season. However, I'm a little surprised at calling another championship winning team by a name that, in all honesty, seems as if it is meant to poke fun at them. I would think all would be thrilled with 2 championship teams in the city in one year. I know I am one who is hoping that the Komets and the TinCaps win championships again. That will definitely help in people seeing us as the best minor league sports town. I am excited and ready to see the celebration of raising the banner and bringing the Turner Cup back into the arena, and watching another championship season!!! GO KOMETS!!!

Please. With a name like TinCaps, they are begging to have fun poked at them.

As for as the rule changes, I had my doubts about whether it would bring about more fights. After all, many expressed disappointment when the rate of fisticuff occurences dropped off in 2007-2008. As I recall, Sims made some snarky remark about "What's Mitch supposed to do? Fight everybody again?" But this year, things have certainly picked up, at least so far. And most teams have enough known fighters to keep things interesting for some time to come. Plus, it certainly doesn't seem out of the question that we could see certain players pair off multiple times. It just feels like there is a lot of hostility out there at the moment.

Wendy, not to disagree with you but take a look at the Musky-Bloomy gamesheet from last Saturday night. http://www.pointstreak.com/stats/pro/gamesheet_full.html?gameid=1057430 108 minutes in penalties and Big Snake was not even on the roster!

Wendy-I still call them "PotHeads." I didn't like the name when it was picked and I still don't. I am glad they won the Championship for sure. It was very good for the city. Do not look for the parent club to load them up again next year. They did this season because of the "New" ballpark. This is still lower level "A" ball. I am not putting them down! Just being factual. I would not be surprised if the Komets paid them some respect and acknowleged their championship, just not on opening night.

Dshebig - you are correct, the parent club (Padres) will not load the team next year. You could have asked some of their 1st - 5th rounders who came here, what they were doing here and not higher up, and their response would have been, it's a new stadium, they want to win. They knew it, and most of the fans understood it. It was great while it lasted. I do know that their last drafting class was pretty stacked within itself. So we will see what happens. I guess that is one of the great things about the Komets and the league they are in, they control who is in and out. Unfortunately, for other teams, this is not the case. It would be nice if the Komets recognize the accomplishments of the TinCaps, but I'm not expecting it. If they do, I will definitely call some of the boys from this year and let them know. I'm sure they would get a kick out of it. As far as the name, yeah, it is hard to argue that it is a good name. Last year in spring training, when the players heard what it was, their faces were priceless. They weren't too big of fans either. But, just like how Komets is spelled with a K and not a C, people just want respect for their team. Oh well, life goes on. Is it Friday yet?

I wouldn't expect them to do anything, friday night is hockey night.

Don't forget they also compete for the casual fan in april and may, same town, but competitors.

As far as fighting I think we will see more early on in the season then a gradual decline.

most of the big hitters left after mid season. a few stayed but not as many and they did just as good if not better. as for the name, who liked the wizards when it first came out? fort wayne being a city of churches having a ball club named the wizards didnt sit to well with some. i think the name is fine. what about the macon whoppee or the loons or the snappers???? it could be worse.........

fighting will decrease as the season goes along, it does every year

I think that we have enough people outside of Fort Wayne that likes to make fun of our city. I'm not sure why we should do it ourselves. I'm pretty sure that Opening Night will be for hockey only, but I have an idea for both teams. Why not offer a discounted ticket for one game for any fan who brings them a ticket from the other sport? That way a baseball fan may get introduced to hockey, and a hockey fan may get introduced to baseball. Plus maybe they will bring some extra people to the game. Both teams have plenty of open seats throughout the year. Just pick a night where, historically, the crowds have been light. I know, I know, its a great idea but thats what I am-an idea guy.

Well that one will never happen, partly because neither team needs to offer discounted tickets which rarely if ever work. All you do is insult the people who paid full price -- look at the Freedom from a couple of years ago.

Alan--That is a really "great" idea. Don't be offended but it might be one of your better thoughts ever. You need to pass that along to Scott Sproat. I am very serious. You plant the seed he will work out the details.

Dschebig, I am not offended. I'm just glad I can still have "thoughts." However, the post just before yours (Blakes post) has said that it probably won't work and that it might "offend" people. If so, I wonder what people think about the Marathon gasoline "two for one" tickets. I'm a season ticket holder and I'm not offended by them. In fact, I have encouraged people who are a little afraid of the expense outlay to take advantage of them. I was only thinking of a way that both minor league teams might get new fans to come and see the games and hopefully come back (at full price.)

Alan--Blake and I were overlapping while I was doing spell check. Blake doesn't need to do that. He is educated! I still think it's a good idea. If Scott don't like it he will never tell you that. If he does he will make it happen. It may, however, take a year before it comes about. It cost you nothing to talk to Scott. Go for it!

Marathon pays for those so the Komets are still getting their money. Plus, essentially Komets and TinCaps are competing for the same disposable income. There's no incentive for them to help each other, and both teams are doing well.

Usually it's been my experience that sports teams want to get away from discounts rather than giving more. They both lead their leagues in attendance so they don't need to give away tickets. There's no need for them to. Sorry, I just don't think discount tickets are that effective, and don't make sense business-wise in this situation. If you are a new team and just starting out, and have to prove yourselves, they might make sense, but not after. Neither of these teams have to do that. I don't think there would be enough potential benefit for either team to give up revenue to try it.

I see where everyone is coming from with the possibility of discounting tickets between the Komets and TinCaps. I don't think it would hurt to try. Blake is correct that both have great attendance. But I was thinking, in today's tough economic times, this might work. How? Well people would be able to enjoy a game and a lower cost. I would rather sell a seat at a lower cost than not sell it at all. Along with that, when the economy picks up, the people who were able to see a game, at a discounted price, might purchase tickets at full price or in the best case, become season ticket holders. No one is hurt or should be offended if one has a ticket sold to them at a lower price. I say to take Dshebig's advice and talk to Mr. Sproat about this idea. It won't hurt.

It's fine to suggest, I just don't think the teams will be receptive. I believe they would see it as a bad business move.

The reason some of the Freedom fans were upset, and this was a few years ago, was that they were paying full price while everyone else was getting free tickets. Why, they wondered, should I have to pay for my tickets? Eventually, you had people refusing to pay for tickets and the crowds dried up. Same thing happened years ago in the IHL with Detroit. It was happening every night, where Alan's idea was a one-time deal.

Blake you are absolutely correct. It would not be a financial success for either team if done as suggested. My suggestion was to talk to Scott and let his promotional mind go to work. His brain never stops. A twist here a scratch this or that and sometimes he figures a way to make it happen. He can make it happen so both teams win. I am not a promoter but he is a wizard at it. (No pun intended) I just didn't think Alan or anyone else for that matter who gets a brainy idea shouldn't pass it on to those do'ers and shaker's. One of those kind of people I am not for sure. But, "I am a thinker." Somebody famous said that I just stole it.

Correct, because you know, there is every possibility I could be dead wrong. It happens quite often.

Baseball? I prefer a game where you can knock the opponent down and take it away from them. Baseball is kind of, well, you know, soft. Sort of like soccer and a few others that could be named. :-)

On fighting, I share the feeling that it back off some as the season progresses.

GHockey -- Er... How are you disagreeing with me? I was saying (at least I was trying to say) that I think there will be a lot of fighting in the IHL this year. But Burgee and Me78 are right as well. It is bound to fall off later in the season.

And While I realize that there are people who are fans of both baseball and hockey (the author of this blog, for one), the two sports are kind of antonyms of each other if you really think about it.

As for the name, hey, I don't care what they call themselves so long as they stick to it. After 25 years, even the goofiest of names deserves respect. Sure, I thought "Wizards" was kind of lame when they announced it. But after all these years, it had grown on me. So it bothers me that they changed the name just when people were finally getting used to it. How do I know they won't change "TinCaps" to another name in 10 to 15 years? You see what I mean. I feel like, why bother getting used to the name when they will probably just change it again?

Happy 58th season, Komets with a "K", and may you have at least 58 more!

Both the Komets and the TinCaps give away plenty of tickets at no charge already. Lots of times when the action stops at a hockey game I don't focus on the seats that are occupied but pay attention to the seats that are empty. I'm always wondering that if they were filled wouldn't those people want to come back sometime. What kind of things would encourage that? I don't care if Marathon does subsidize the price on their give-away tickets. The bottom line is the purchaser gets a nice break and the end result is that those people get to see a game and maybe they will come back to another game......I'm not talking about doing this consistantly through the season. Just one game where historically it should be a slow night. Believe me, both the K's and the TinCaps wouldn't be hard pressed to find a night on their schedule.....Dschebig, first you call it a "great" idea and the when Blake puts his negative post in you back off and say it wouldn't be a financial success for either team. How can you determine that? If just one person bought a season ticket as a result, the team in question would be way ahead....Wendy, no one can argue that the name "TinCaps" isn't unusual. But who cares if they change their name again in 10 or 15 years? Maybe by that time the team won't be affiliated with San Diego anymore and the parent club will want them to use another nickname. It happens more often than you think.....finally, lets look at something from another direction. Last year the Komets averaged 7.800 fans in attendance. That means that during the year there were 102,600 empty seats. Maybe I'm wrong, but if that was my team I'd be looking at every way, idea, or promotion to fill those seats. ( If you question my math, take 10,500 seats minus 7800 ave. attendance= 2,700 seats. Multiply 2,700 by 38 games and you will get 102,600.) Sometimes I just want to give up!!

Alan--It is still a great idea! I still think you need to talk to Scott. My comment to Blake was that as it was put forth at first both teams would lose money BUT in Scott's hands (or mind) he can get something done with the premise. Which is still a good idea. Blake had a different perspective and he most likely is correct about neither team wanting to lose money. No one ever walked without crawling first. Keep that mind of yours working.

Who cares if they change their name again in 10 to 15 years?! (to be stated in a stunned voice, not a confrontational one).

It's all about tradition... heritage! Think of the reverence that the original six NHL teams inspire. Even their logos inspire awe. In baseball, think about teams like the Red Sox and Yankees. Just hearing their names stirs up intense emotions for fans. Sure, you can say they are just names, but after enough time has passed, even a name MEANS something. If the Wizards... TinCaps... whatever... keep changing their name, they never reach that point. For them, a name is just a name and will NEVER mean anything more.

That being said, I'm not someone who is very fond of change anyway. I don't rearrange furniture when it looks fine where it is. I don't like websites that keep changing their design. And I don't like stores that move everything around just when I've finally figured out which aisles are which. But that's me.

Wendy--Think money $$$$ green backs. You change names, logos to sell, sell, sell. New Ball park, new Name, new logo more merchandise more money. Everybody does it. The Komets change sweaters (Not the name) to sell more sweaters. It is wierd how that works.

Very interesting. A couple of things, and please no one take any of this as negative. First, I still like Alan's idea. For a game or two, this really, in my opinion won't hurt either organization. Second, what's in a name? Tradition and heritage have been mentioned by Wendy, and she is correct in that aspect. But, I feel it's different in the minors. She mentioned the Yankees and Red Sox. Two storied organizations that people either love or hate. However, one thing neglected was the fact that those 2 teams are parent clubs. Their names won't change. However, parent clubs can change cities, locations, etc. when their deals are up. One major league team moved all their minor league teams to their state to make it easier for player movement to take place. Basically, I feel you have to sum it up to it is what it is. Regardless of if names change, and it does and will probably continue to happen for athletic teams, it is the experience which counts. Regardless of a teams name, or how long they have had that name, if you don't like the sport or had a bad time going to a game, you most likely will not return. I am just happy that we have the opportunity that some places do not with our minor league franchises. We are truly lucky. One last thing. Is everyone ready for Friday? I know I am.

right on dschebig.....imagine if the K's did a complete overhaul of their jerseys and logo

me78----I don't have to imagine. They have numerous times. You know what? They will again.

i mean a big overhaul it hasnt been done in awhile. has it? the 3rd jerseys are one thing but to completely change the logo design is another thing.....