Chaze Posted November 23, 2009 Report Share Posted November 23, 2009 (edited) Link Edited November 23, 2009 by mrhonline Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HalfHawk Posted November 23, 2009 Report Share Posted November 23, 2009 Can't disagree with him. It's really embarrassing having a team this good, but no fan base to support it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member hawkman Posted November 23, 2009 Premium Member Report Share Posted November 23, 2009 Can't disagree with him. It's really embarrassing having a team this good, but no fan base to support it. I'll be there Thursday night baby!!! :line dance: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Posted November 23, 2009 Report Share Posted November 23, 2009 Tell em like it is Chuck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dms269 Posted November 23, 2009 Report Share Posted November 23, 2009 If chuck will drive to Gwinnett to pick me up and then pay for my ticket I will go see them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HawksFan87 Posted November 23, 2009 Report Share Posted November 23, 2009 he's right, the guys are playing extremely hard for us.. And they need our support.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buzzard Posted November 23, 2009 Report Share Posted November 23, 2009 (edited) Can't disagree with him. It's really embarrassing having a team this good, but no fan base to support it. I guess after a decade of futilty its hard to win back your fan base. But ATL does have a good market; its up to Hawks management to prove they want to compete for championships though. Back during the 79/80 season we surprised the league and won a division title with Hubie Brown. Our attendance ranked 11th the league and almost doubled from two seasons before when we finished dead last. When we were making a run at the Celtics in 87/88 we finished 8th in attendance. There is a good market in Atlanta; but our franchises history is blotted with really bad teams in every decade. Even during the good decades we had some pretty poor teams. I am a die hard as most here are; you don't have to sell me basketball, I already love it. But a lot of the market is not like us. With our history of futility, until we start competing for division titles and championships, middle of the road attendance is the best you can get in the Atlanta market. This could be the year our attendance jumps; but its going to take a lot more than 14 games to prove it and win back enough fans to dbl our attendance. Same as it did during the runs mentioned above. Edited November 23, 2009 by Buzzard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member mrhonline Posted November 23, 2009 Premium Member Report Share Posted November 23, 2009 If chuck will drive to Gwinnett to pick me up and then pay for my ticket I will go see them. Buy the cheapest tickets you can get & ride the MARTA. Problem solved. (Seriously, guys. I used to drive over 3.5 hours to get to games & then had to pay for a hotel or drive back 3.5 hours late at night). 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buzzard Posted November 23, 2009 Report Share Posted November 23, 2009 Buy the cheapest tickets you can get & ride the MARTA. Problem solved. (Seriously, guys. I used to drive over 3.5 hours to get to games & then had to pay for a hotel or drive back 3.5 hours late at night). I only had to drive about a hour or ride MARTA from a friends house. But I remember the good and the bad. During the bad it was like an old Braves game; buy a cheap ticket and hopefully the usher would not care when you walked down to get a good empty seat. During the good, it was a playoff atmosphere and standing room only when Dr. J, Barkley, the Pistons, or Celtics came to town. The OMNI litterally rumbled during those seasons. Hopefully we get that back again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HalfHawk Posted November 23, 2009 Report Share Posted November 23, 2009 If chuck will drive to Gwinnett to pick me up and then pay for my ticket I will go see them. I live in Gwinnett, and I've been to four games so far. Just make it work, it's worth every second and penny. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WraithSentinel Posted November 23, 2009 Report Share Posted November 23, 2009 I just hope we have a nice crowd there on Thursday and on time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackB1 Posted November 23, 2009 Report Share Posted November 23, 2009 Being a holiday night, I think a lot of people will be out of town or with family and friends. I dont think Phillips will be crowded at all. I hope I'm wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin capstone21 Posted November 23, 2009 Admin Report Share Posted November 23, 2009 Being a holiday night, I think a lot of people will be out of town or with family and friends. I dont think Phillips will be crowded at all. I hope I'm wrong. Is the traffic as bad as the announcers always make it out to be? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iman Posted November 23, 2009 Report Share Posted November 23, 2009 I bet it won't be very crowded Thursday nite also due to the holiday. I'll be there but I'm even having a problem finding someone to use my second ticket. Hawks games are not as crowded at they should be but it really isn't as bad as it looks on TV. That's the vip side of the court. I'd guess half those tickets are not individually owned so often the tickets don't get used plus those people tend to get to the game late. Traffic to Hawks games is not really a factor since it's not nearly as bad as the traffic to Falcons or Braves games and they don't have nearly as poor attendance. However, I do think all our teams would do better if our arenas had easier access. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member niremetal Posted November 23, 2009 Premium Member Report Share Posted November 23, 2009 (edited) There is a good market in Atlanta; but our franchises history is blotted with really bad teams in every decade. Even during the good decades we had some pretty poor teams. I am a die hard as most here are; you don't have to sell me basketball, I already love it. But a lot of the market is not like us. With our history of futility, until we start competing for division titles and championships, middle of the road attendance is the best you can get in the Atlanta market. I take strong issue with the idea that there is a good pro bball market in Atlanta. Atlanta is NOT a bball town, and certainly not a pro bball town. Unlike in Portland, Sacramento, and (most notably) Utah, the Hawks are not the only show in town. In fact, football and baseball have always been the first and second loves around here, and college sports have always trumped pro sports in the hearts and minds of fans. Add to that the fact that Atlanta is a really sprawling metro area (and without a supermassive population like LA), and the fan base of people who root for the Hawks before anyone else (which is what it normally takes to get them to buy a significant number of tickets) just isn’t that big. Atlanta fans are also notoriously casual and fair-weathered (remember how the Braves couldn't sell out playoff games during years where the Indians, who had been even more futile in the playoffs, were selling out every regular season game?), but I think that’s more due to the fact that Atlanta has so many people who were born and raised elsewhere than anything else. Just for context, though: The Hawks have never gotten higher than 8th in the NBA in attendance since they came to Atlanta, and the last two times they won more than 55 games (in ‘94 and ‘98), they ranked 21st and 27th in attendance. We ranked 27th in attendance in the lockout year, even though we ended up being the #3 seed in the East. Compare that to Utah, which ranked 8th in attendance even when they lost 56 games a few years ago. Simply put, when compared to NBA teams in other cities as well as to other sports teams in our own city, Hawks attendance takes longer to get going even when we are winning (and even then they don’t come in high numbers), and tails off much more quickly when they start losing. And of course, we’ve all seen the games at Phillips where there were more Knicks/Celtics fans than Hawks fans in the audience – even when the Knicks and Celtics were terrible. Hopefully, the “fair weather” and “casual” aspect will start to disappear over the course of the next 10-20 years as the number of Atlantans who were born and raised here increases, but that probably won’t change the fact that college football, baseball, pro football, and college basketball will all garner more attention than the NBA in Atlanta. Atlanta is NOT a good basketball market for a metro area of its size. Edited November 24, 2009 by niremetal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member niremetal Posted November 24, 2009 Premium Member Report Share Posted November 24, 2009 I take strong issue with the idea that there is a good pro bball market in Atlanta. Atlanta is NOT a bball town, and certainly not a pro bball town. Unlike in Portland, Sacramento, and (most notably) Utah, the Hawks are not the only show in town. In fact, football and baseball have always been the first and second loves around here, and college sports have always trumped pro sports in the hearts and minds of fans. Add to that the fact that Atlanta is a really sprawling metro area (and without a supermassive population like LA), and the fan base of people who root for the Hawks before anyone else (which is what it normally takes to get them to buy a significant number of tickets) just isn’t that big. Atlanta fans are also notoriously casual and fair-weathered (remember how the Braves couldn't sell out playoff games during years where the Indians, who had been even more futile in the playoffs, were selling out every regular season game?), but I think that’s more due to the fact that Atlanta has so many people who were born and raised elsewhere than anything else. Just for context, though: The Hawks have never gotten higher than 8th in the NBA in attendance since they came to Atlanta, and the last two times they won more than 55 games (in ‘94 and ‘98), they ranked 21st and 27th in attendance. We ranked 27th in attendance in the lockout year, even though we ended up being the #3 seed in the East. Compare that to Utah, which ranked 8th in attendance even when they lost 56 games a few years ago. Simply put, when compared to NBA teams in other cities as well as to other sports teams in our own city, Hawks attendance takes longer to get going even when we are winning (and even then they don’t come in high numbers), and tails off much more quickly when they start losing. And of course, we’ve all seen the games at Phillips where there were more Knicks/Celtics fans than Hawks fans in the audience – even when the Knicks and Celtics were terrible. Hopefully, the “fair weather” and “casual” aspect will start to disappear over the course of the next 10-20 years as the number of Atlantans who were born and raised here increases, but that probably won’t change the fact that college football, baseball, pro football, and college basketball will all garner more attention than the NBA in Atlanta. Atlanta is NOT a good basketball market for a metro area of its size. Btw - I currently live in the other city with notoriously terrible bball fans. Philadelphia cheers for the Phillies first, Eagles second, Flyers third, Nittany Lions fourth, Big Five hoops fifth, and Sixers last. I went to opening night (against the Hawks, as a matter of fact) here a couple years ago. Couldn't have been more than 5000 people in the stands. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member hawkman Posted November 24, 2009 Premium Member Report Share Posted November 24, 2009 (edited) Buy the cheapest tickets you can get & ride the MARTA. Problem solved. (Seriously, guys. I used to drive over 3.5 hours to get to games & then had to pay for a hotel or drive back 3.5 hours late at night). I know the feeling. I stay in Augusta, and I have to say that the drive back seems to take FOREVER, especially after a loss. Good thing the Hawks are 6-1 when I go to games. :thumbsupsmileyanim: Edited November 24, 2009 by hawkman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DjGrizz Posted November 24, 2009 Report Share Posted November 24, 2009 Way to go Sir Charles! It's about time someone called them out! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonegully Posted November 24, 2009 Report Share Posted November 24, 2009 Man i wish i was in ATL. THanksgiving day would be Hawks basketball time baby. But yeah 10 years of losing it takes more than 14 games to make everyone believe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buzzard Posted November 24, 2009 Report Share Posted November 24, 2009 (edited) I take strong issue with the idea that there is a good pro bball market in Atlanta. Atlanta is NOT a bball town, and certainly not a pro bball town. Unlike in Portland, Sacramento, and (most notably) Utah, the Hawks are not the only show in town. In fact, football and baseball have always been the first and second loves around here, and college sports have always trumped pro sports in the hearts and minds of fans. Add to that the fact that Atlanta is a really sprawling metro area (and without a supermassive population like LA), and the fan base of people who root for the Hawks before anyone else (which is what it normally takes to get them to buy a significant number of tickets) just isn’t that big. Atlanta fans are also notoriously casual and fair-weathered (remember how the Braves couldn't sell out playoff games during years where the Indians, who had been even more futile in the playoffs, were selling out every regular season game?), but I think that’s more due to the fact that Atlanta has so many people who were born and raised elsewhere than anything else. Just for context, though: The Hawks have never gotten higher than 8th in the NBA in attendance since they came to Atlanta, and the last two times they won more than 55 games (in ‘94 and ‘98), they ranked 21st and 27th in attendance. We ranked 27th in attendance in the lockout year, even though we ended up being the #3 seed in the East. Compare that to Utah, which ranked 8th in attendance even when they lost 56 games a few years ago. Simply put, when compared to NBA teams in other cities as well as to other sports teams in our own city, Hawks attendance takes longer to get going even when we are winning (and even then they don’t come in high numbers), and tails off much more quickly when they start losing. And of course, we’ve all seen the games at Phillips where there were more Knicks/Celtics fans than Hawks fans in the audience – even when the Knicks and Celtics were terrible. Hopefully, the “fair weather” and “casual” aspect will start to disappear over the course of the next 10-20 years as the number of Atlantans who were born and raised here increases, but that probably won’t change the fact that college football, baseball, pro football, and college basketball will all garner more attention than the NBA in Atlanta. Atlanta is NOT a good basketball market for a metro area of its size. I agree atl is not a strong market but it is a good one. Casual fans I would say so; and if a franchise does not win, even disappointed Falcons and Braves season ticket holders stay at home. Football is king in the south. The Braves have put way more championship caliber seasons together than the Falcons and Hawks (in Atlanta) combined; yet the Falcons are the talk of the town just by getting a wildcard birth. My point was we were 11th and 8th during great seasons (Division Crowns) not a top 5 like LA, Boston, or NY during great seasons. Right now we are 20th and until we threaten Orlando seriously for a division it is not going to get better than 15th IMO. If we can push Orlando aside I think we could get into or near the top ten. Just like in the two previous seasons mentioned. Not great but good. We are never going to beat out football; but back when those two diiferent teams were playing they got a lot more hype than the Braves. Edited November 24, 2009 by Buzzard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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