With the NCAA tournament coming soon to Fort Wayne, and with few if any comments put up on Blake's blog entries about high school hockey, I was curious, Do folks think Fort Wayne is a good hockey town, is it a good Komets town, or for that matter is it just a good Komets town when the Komets dominate?
Comments
I don't think that the intrest in hockey in this town should be measured by the activity on this blog.
I believe she's asking the question in general, DM.
I have some definite opinions on this regarding FW sports in general, but I'd be interested to hear what everyone thinks.
Do you really have to ask when we have people who not only are unafraid to tell the world that they are fair-weather fans, they are actually proud of the fact?
Fort Wayne is Toronto south in that it is a good Komets town but a average to below average hockey town.
Think I am nuts? Check out the attendance of the college and junior teams in the GTA. They are pitiful.
The only difference is, Toronto will support the Leafs win or lose.
Fort Wayne? Fort Wayne will support any team that wins. You could have a professional dodge ball team here and if they were winning championships people will come out. The minute the team has a rough season, attendance, interest and loyalty drops like a rock.
I think Fort Wayne is a very good "Sport" town. We love our hockey, yes the Komets 1st. High School is played by many schools. I make my statement based on the people who play the sports. Girl Basketball with 2 sate titles, Boys Basketball could be attended better. High School football is really well attended. St Francis wins a NAIA National Championship. The Tim Caps speak for themselves. The Mad Ants have their share of fans. Yes sports in the Fort is strong.
From an outsider looking in, I would say that the Komets, Tincaps, MadAnts are the right size organizations for the right size town. The fact is that there is no competition and the whole town can concentrate thier efforts, money, advertising, and fan base on one thing. The MadAnts would probably do better if it weren't for the Komets. You have to drive 2 hours in any direction for any other type of organized hockey and baseball. I don't follow basketball so I don't know where the next team is. From Port Huron in just Hockey I can choose between Sarnia, Detroit, Windsor, Flint, Plymouth, Saginaw. All within about an hours drive and under. I disagree with the statement that Fort Wayne will support any team that wins. I think they will support thier teams but are somewhat spoiled in having strong teams and expect nothing less than success. I've seen it at every game in the coliseum. They cheer at goals and fights, the rest of the time you can carry a conversation on at a normal tone of voice.
You have a city that is not spread out over a great area (inside the 69's) and there is no competition for your interest.
If the Franke's replaced the Komets with a junior team......... you'd complain...... but you'd still expect them to win the Memorial Cup every year.
I think we have a LOT of fair weather fans on the blogs, but not always at the games. I see a lot of people around me who really do love the Komets, at least a lot of older people. It's mostly the younger ones who will boo their own team, etc.
And GO Hawks Go has never sat in Section 215 or 217 when Muskegon is in town.....you can't hear anything but the shouting at the players that goes on behind the bench. I think I lose my voice every single time we are there and Muskegon is. I will miss them but not the strained vocal cords next season. :)
It is a good Komets town as long as we are winning, stop winning and I think support would dwindle.
Isn't that true with every team in every sport? There aren't many losing teams that draw that well in general. Cubs are the exception, but really, they haven't been that bad over the last 10 years, and that place is hopping because of more factors than just wins and losses.
BLB....really? Who do you consider fair weather on this blog? I don't see it. Maybe 2 or 3 people tops that may say they won't or don't go to the games because of one reason or another.....but who else?
In my case....I am a diehard Komet fan that is ultra-competitive and Komet Krazy. I love me some Komet hockey. I have supported this team since I came to this fine city in 1992 no matter win or lose. I do have a need to tslk to others and discuss the K's on this blog....and like any true fan of ant team, this is my team and I might have an opinion that others might look at and think, what? But it is my 2 cents, doesn't mean that I don't like the team....means I want the best for the team. Just like you.
Fairweather??? I don't see where that comes from. What that means to me is a fan that only likes that team when they win, and when they don't, thet decide to stop watching and supporting that team all together....
Who out there meets that criteria?
This is a Komet Loving hockey town. I think people love basketball too, but maybe just not the choices we are given??? I don't know. Good sports town overall though.
blueline i agree! me as well as others yell constantly! sometimes i tone it down depending on how many kids are arounnd!
I agree with the "good sports town overall" comment. Baseball has done well here, basketball, eh, not so much. The indoor football has just had a lot of management and marketing problems, but the games I went to were a blast and had really good talent, so I just don't understand why that does not take off.
And maybe you are right, Hit....maybe I just hear "I'm not renewing my season tickets" and "we pay too much" and "I hate the Frankes" so often from those 2 or 3 people that it just seems like it's the majority. I don't know. I just know that some days I read things that people post on here and come away wondering if they are really Komet fans or not? You have all been watching this team longer than I have, I can surely guarantee it, since I have only been coming for a couple of years steadily now. I came for a while back in the Steve Fletcher days too. Maybe it's just time that makes you jaded, and that's the reason people are tired of watching this Komet team play? I'm still too new, and maybe I'll end up like them too. I hope not, but I can't see into the future.
It just seems that I hear so much bad, and not much good, I guess that was my reasoning. I call someone a fair weather fan who is critical when the team is down and on a losing streak, and only has positive things to say about them when they win a few games in a row. I'm so annoyingly positive that I believe in them even when they lose a few in a row or play really badly. "A fan is like a parent, who loves you even when you stink"...how many on here can really say that, I guess, would be the question I put to you, and also the question Blake has asked? Do you only love them when they are doing well, or do you badmouth them and talk about not renewing your tickets when they are doing poorly? I think you can be fairweather and still watch. Many do. You've already paid for the season tix, after all....
Scooter, I try to tone it down, since I have my kid with me always, but I often end up in trouble at home for stuff I have said. Oops. I do try, though! :) You must be in one of those sections, then?
full of fair weather fans and most fans who go to the games know nothing about the sport. If the players are not fighing they are not playing "fort wayne" hockey. according to the fair weather fans
Don't mistake questioning the team you love as a negative thing and that somehow makes that person less of a fan.
Does anyone on here follow the Cubs, Bears, Yankees, any other teams.
It is the nature of real fans to question what they are seeing. It just is. Always has been, always will be.
Sorry if that makes anyone sad.
It makes newspapers sell, blogs get followed, and attendance boom. It does.
Notice how blog hits the past 2 weeks fly high when "fans" debatw their feelings about the team they love.???
I might be talking to the wall here....but I hope I am explaining why fans are how they are.
For most, it is passion. Something to get excited about, something to talk about, something to opinion about.
In the end, we all love the Komets, doesn't make anyone a better fan or worse fan for what they think, just makes us all the same really. I am sure there are some that look at others not getting excited about certain aspects of fandom meaning that they are aren't as much of a fan for their view.
But really, we are all on the same team.
I apologize if a am either making no sense, making perfect sense, or wasting your time.
I love the Komets. No matter if PC dogs it and admits it. Pee's me off, but I love my puppy dog, even though he rolls in the mud and makes me give him a bath.
That was a pretty good analogy. I'm impressed. You?
Hit, all well said. I would add to it, but you've said it perfectly in each of your posts.
I will disagree about Fort Wayne supporting winners only though based on the empty arenas when our football team was playing for the championship (without pay) and back in the CBA days with good Fury teams that led the league in attendance but still wasnt filling the place. I cant comment on the Flame... before my time.
I apologize for any typos, Im working from my phone again.
This is an anonymous posting that someone sent me:
It
I never said it made them less of a fan....I just said it made them a fairweather fan. It's ok, though...your puppy analogy was good. Although I think you might have said talking to me was like talking to the wall...LOL....just kidding. No, I get you. I just think that there are some fairweather fans here, but I don't necessarily think you are one, Hit. I'm just saying there are some. And that's fine. I just don't want to be one. I'm pretty passionate and want to stay so in a positive way, but like you said, everyone is different, but we all are supposed to be on the same team. It's all good.
And what?! There is stuff besides fights in the games, hellkats?! Just joking....and some of us are learning the rules on the fly, so please, do pardon our ignorance. I ask questions all the time. Most people are so cool and answer me, so I have learned a lot over the past 2 years. I'm getting there. :)
Maybe some choose not to see or comment when those who have differing views choose to post something "positive" about the team in the same post that they have the differing opinion in?????
Maybe some are so into bashing others for their differing opinion that they completly gloss over any good and go directly for the bad???
Maybe people shouldnt be so eager to paint others as fair weather fans, negative whatevers and be more diligent when reading or responding to the positive in the post and not always bashing what they may see as negative....
Hey....I could not go to the Notre Dame game when they were here, and I might be out of town when the NCAA games are here. So that sets me apart, then. I am sorry to admit it, people....I have been outed by this anonymous poster as not a true fan. I will go sit in the box and feel shame now....
Gotta give him his props for using the words "thus" and "differentiating", though....nice vocabulary, man.
I get that JR. I feel bashed alot when I post something that isn't perceived as being Rah Rah postive....but really, I don't care. I will stand behind my opinion. There are alot of really great bloggers on this and many other blogs that do look at both sides of an issue and think about what others think. I like talking to BLB for instance, because she will give her opinion, and I can come back to her with what I think and she will listen and then respond politely. There are lots of those fans and bloggers out there.
I am just a fan though, just like the rest of you. The best part of that is, you can have differing opinions, and still be on the same team at the end of the day. We all love to follow this team no matter what. They at times make us crazy, but in my case, I don't need much help with that. All ready there. LOL We do have it great loving this team in the long run. I may question the IHL currently, out of love, I promise, but we have an awesome team to cheer for and they are always in the hunt to win. We could be Flint fans, if we were, there'd be alot less of us, like 95% less. LOL
Komets 3, ice Flags 3.
Go Komets. Put in your best effort!!! LOL
(No he didn't) Ha Ha Ha
JR, I agree with what you said, and my other post got lost, I think. I think I am probably the most annoyingly positive person on here. When everything is going to hell in a handbasket, I will post something good. I have only really been negative lately, and it's mainly a reaction to all this. I've been called my fair share of things too...."Positive Patty" was not meant as a compliment, I don't believe....but it's fine. like I wrote to Hit, anyone can be whatever kind of fan they want to be. I would just qualify people as fairweather when they only root for a team when they are up, not when they are down. He defines fairweather differently than I do...he thinks it means they give up and walk away from the team altogether.
And if everyone on here stopped the "bashing" you described, then what on earth would we write about? LOL... ;)
OK, I just wrote 2 long responses and neither showed up....thanks for your kind words, Hit, I like talking to you on here too!! I hope this one shows up...
I made a comment a ouple of days ago about players I like that give it their all on the ice....please add DeAngelis....I accidently didn't mention him. He has been great this year.
Komets 4-3 right now. Leo playing great. Schrocky has a goal.
There they are....I think Blake was afraid I might make good on my threat to swear now too....LOL....I was kidding Blake, I promise! :)
So, Boucher in net tonight, eh? Interesting. I hope they start Haun in both home games this weekend, then. I bet Boucher is not happy, but....well, what are ya gonna do?
There might be 300 at PH tonight.....seriously empty.
4-3 K's in the third... The ultra hustlers have scored tonight...Thomas w/2, Shrock, and Chwedoruk... Hold this lead!!!
Russo in net for the BorderBeacons.
They are up now BB. For some reason they went to spam.
OK, here's what I think.
Fort Wayne is NOT a great sports town, in general. From a historical standpoint, only the Komets and TinCaps have managed to last at least 10 years, and we've had over 30 minor league franchises over the last century. That's one reason those franchises deserve a tremendous amount of respect -- inclluding Mike Nutter with the TinCaps, though there are many reasons he deserves respect.
FW crowds are very, very fickle and fiscal. They are cheap, which is not a negative because it works both ways. They won't pay much for what they want to see, but that also keeps prices down and reasonable.
It always kills me when prospective owners come to down, look at the Komets and TinCaps and figure their sport will make it here, no problem. They don't see or want to see how hard these two franchises work to make it go as far as marketing. They for sure don't want to spend what it will take to make things work. I've seen it a million times. They last for two or three years, complain how the Komets/TinCaps get all the dates or coverage or whatever, and then they fail, but not before blaming the fans. No, that's a you problem because you don't understand the market you are trying to operate in.
The FW media is NOT your marketing department. Rolling out the ball/puck/or whatever and saying we have a game, come watch us, won't work. Buy a few commercials/advertisements, hire somebody who actually knows what they are doing and not some kid just out of school because they are cheap to pay, get your players out in the community and then send them out again. Don't give out free tickets and then expect people to buy them the next time. And you better win or you are dead.
As for the rest of it, if you have kids in high school, you care about high school sports. Other than that, people could care less. FW people are in love with IU, Purdue and Notre Dame and could care less about the local colleges. And no one has written more about the local schools over the years than I have. You can't force people to like what they don't, plain and simple.
Haun is 16-2-1 with 1.85 and .933 at home, while Nick is 5-4-1, 2.78 and .905 at home.
On the road, Haun is 8-8-1 with a 2.37 and .916, but Nick is 9-4-0, 2.33 and .926.
I'd only start Haun at home and Nick on the road the rest of the way.
Blueline, I know what you are saying...
IMO, I think fairweather is usually used in the negative towards fans and casual is used in the positive for fans who show up only on a case by case basis... I am not directing that towards you, thats just the way I always viewed the meanings/uses for those 2 words...