a few pics from last night's game... one of a band outside the tc, player intro, and game. just a few short observations that everyone has already noticed... 1. swift looked completely lost offensively and defensively (moreso defensively). i hope he's more than a "two crowd-pleaser shot-a-night" guy. cato did that. of course it's the first game, but it looked as if he signed with the team before the game, got off the plane, and suited up. 2. tmac walked gingerly throughout most of his time on the court. 3. barry is probably the smartest player in the game to day. best stop and pop shot. it seems like basketball is just a reflex for him. 4. yao was the typical yao we see when teams don't front him. wouldn't expect that every night even though he only played 25 mins. http://img388.imageshack.us/img388/3406/dsc010271xt.jpg http://img388.imageshack.us/img388/6162/dsc010295sf.jpg http://img388.imageshack.us/img388/642/dsc010301sr.jpg http://img388.imageshack.us/img388/7056/dsc010348sv.jpg http://img388.imageshack.us/img388/3082/dsc010354hq.jpg http://img388.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc010417lj.jpg http://img388.imageshack.us/img388/629/dsc010421qg.jpg http://img388.imageshack.us/img388/6978/dsc010446ob.jpg http://img388.imageshack.us/img388/6563/dsc010462il.jpg http://img388.imageshack.us/img388/9904/dsc010500sj.jpg http://img388.imageshack.us/img388/7683/dsc010579vd.jpg
This league hasn't belonged to the regular folk since the eighties. Stern saw to that when he went he went MTV/WWF and started paying outrageous money to 19-year olds. Made it the Place to Be Seen. Gucci, white zinfandel and Blackberries. The game hasn't mattered since the last Laker powerhouse.
Preach on brother man...This is the same in year in and year out, but damn, we played the Queens...I agree this shouldn't matter, but unfortunatley it does...
I lost my voice towards the end of the game. And had a headache from screaming. From my perspective in the upper deck area, it was a pretty noisy game.
I thought the crowd for TC was pretty good too--now, the last sporting event I went to was Game 4 of the NLCS, obviously 43,000 Astros fans cheering their team on to the World Series is a WEEEE bit louder and more exciting, I don't expect TC to sound that way. That said, I understand the business sense of the lower-bowl seats and seating the big-whigs in their established heirarchy. However, I do get sick of all the Oxford-blue-shirt-Jr.Partner-crowd when it I want rowdy fans to pump us up.
What are they doing at a sports game? Go to the ballet. I just wonder if we had Michael Jordan and his teams when they were still growing up and not yet won the rings, would we show up? Or only when the hype machine and when it becomes hip and trendy compels us to go? Is it because that team is getting good or just because Michael is on it? Cause we seem to have a similar situation here but even with a good team or even with having TMac, just isn't enough to have those suits/corporate types to circle the Rox games on their calendars and actually GO. Suits and corporate ticket holders, please give away your tickets if your not going to use it, I'm sure you've got plenty of employees/friends/relatives of employees who would love to go (I really don't care for the Why should they give it away argument, just give the friggin tickets away and go on about your golf games, it ain't gonna kill ya).
I was at the game, lower level sec 124. I thought this was one of the better crowds. I think there is a little bit of a knee-jerk reaction regarding the crowd. When was the last time there was a standing O during the regular season? Take it easy fellas, we won.
On TV, it didn't seem that bad. I think one problem is that the lower bowl and upper bowl are so seperated. In the Summit/Compaq Center, the upper level kind of got the lower level into the game with their enthusiam. But the middle club level is the way most arenas seem to be going. DD had a good point though. Alot of people don't like loud. They can sit back and appreciate the game and give a golf clap. Doesn't make them any less of a fan.
I appreciated the crowd at the sports bar. There definitely seems to be more interest for the Rockets this year among the general public. I went to a buddy's house for the second half and the crowd sounded good on television too.
I was at the game....there was not much to cheer about in the first half. When the play picked up in the second half the crowd did as well.
That little dude hamming it up while dancing on camera helped alot too. He should be the unofficial mascot for the team this year.
look..i love the Astros more than any pro sports franchise...but this just isn't fair. the Astros just came off the World Series...they play before real fans, because the price of a ticket isn't so crazy. they haven't completely sold out the park to accomodate only the wealthy. they don't have their "best fans" forced to watch from home or sports bars. i don't think we have a Rockets fan problem...i think this is a problem around the league. it's a corporate game now. big time. more so than any other sport. it makes for boring crowds. they'll get better as the season goes on.
First let me say that I don't think there is any way letting the upper bowl fans move to the lower seats, nor do I think it's a good idea. However, if they were going to do something like this they would have to keep track of who has arrived, and what seats they are in somehow. The only way I can think to do this is using some computer that gets the information when the tickets are scanned when you walk into the building. When halftime begins allow people to line up for seats that haven't been "scanned in" yet. I don't know if it would be a good idea to give the oppurtunites to certain season ticket holders who may want to pay a little extra for the oppurtunity, or just let anyone line up and first come first server. It would be a lot of extra work, and Les really wouldn't be making much extra money from it. That is the only way I can see this working, but it's just too much trouble for the organization and the fans. Les does lose money when people don't show up, so maybe when the sell tickets to businesses they can make them sign a sheet saying that if they don't show up to X amount of games the tickets can be taken away and they are refunded on the remaining ones. Those extra tickets could be resold to the public. Honestly, there are only 3 logial ways I can think we can fix this problem: 1) Lessen the amount of tickets corporations can buy 2) Lower the price of tickets (definitely not happening) 3) Lower the price of beer Pugs
I agree with all of this except for the last sentence. Last night was opening night. I thought the crowd was better than normal. Just wait until the Tuesday night matchups with the Clippers and the Bobcats of the league. But you're right. It's not the fans fault. The NBA markets to the same demographic that they price out of their games.
I'm curious...how did this suddenly become the Rockets' fault? Madison Square Garden has easily the highest priced tickets in the league and that place is loud as hell. Ditto the United Center even when the Bulls sucked. Since everyone thinks Arco is so crazy, lets do a comparison... Club seating (middle of the floor between the baselines) runs $115-165 at Arco and $110-$185 at Toyota Center. End zone seats at Arco run $89.50-$140 and $35-85 at Toyota Center. Upstairs runs $10-68.50 at Arco and $8-$35 at Toyota Center. So, how exactly is it that Arco is so much louder when the seating prices are comparable to better at Toyota Center? And how exactly is that the fault of the Rockets?
