I bet if either team was a #1 through #3 seed the place would have been packed. The Pac 10 ought to just say, move the tourney elsewhere if our teams aren't on top because the stadium will be half full otherwise. I can't understand why they ever put it in Staples in the first place. Putting the tourney in LA is what killed it in the first place its first few times back when it was in the Forum and the final game between Stanford and Arizona, with both teams in the top 20, got about 5,000 fans. Someone will have to tell me why they ever give LA any major sporting event outside the Rose Bowl???
One of the MANY reasons I dislike the Lakers.
The people in LA think the LAKERS are the game.
The city of LA is an NBA town, and that is very very sad.
A few years ago I watched the PACKERS-VIKINGS Monday Night game in an LA bar(the one where Freeman made that great game ending catch) and only about 5-6 in the entire bar of 200+ were even watching the game.
I mean, when the majority of your citys favorite pro sport is the NBA, that is not a good sign.
The people in LA think the LAKERS are the game.
The city of LA is an NBA town, and that is very very sad.
A few years ago I watched the PACKERS-VIKINGS Monday Night game in an LA bar(the one where Freeman made that great game ending catch) and only about 5-6 in the entire bar of 200+ were even watching the game.
I mean, when the majority of your citys favorite pro sport is the NBA, that is not a good sign.
The Kings have very good support in L.A. as well. Even when the team was garbage they had their consistent 13,000+ a game. Dodgers also have great support. When the O'Malleys owned the team fan support was the best of any MLB team.
Peronally, I find that the NBA, NHL and MLB are the most entertaining and best run sports, so my taste runs along with the rest of the town. You also have to remember that there is a lot to do in L.A., there are a lot of transports like myself who grew up in other cities and a lot of active people who can devote five or more hours of their lives to sporting events so often.
Another factor is L.A. urban sprawl. In other cities traffic is much easier to deal with and public transportation is an option to get to games.
Peronally, I find that the NBA, NHL and MLB are the most entertaining and best run sports, so my taste runs along with the rest of the town. You also have to remember that there is a lot to do in L.A., there are a lot of transports like myself who grew up in other cities and a lot of active people who can devote five or more hours of their lives to sporting events so often.
Another factor is L.A. urban sprawl. In other cities traffic is much easier to deal with and public transportation is an option to get to games.
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by WildBill:
Putting the tourney in LA is what killed it in the first place its first few times back when it was in the Forum and the final game between Stanford and Arizona, with both teams in the top 20, got about 5,000 fans. Someone will have to tell me why they ever give LA any major sporting event outside the Rose Bowl???<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
seeing where you are posting from - you have a LOT of "cajones" writing what you arw writing for las vegas is right up (down) there with atlanta as one of the worst cities are far as supporting its sports entities. when unlv hoops was all the rage - you couldn't get a ticket to the thomas/mack - but now - as you know - when you call the box office asking what time the game starts - you are asked what time you can get there - and they will wait for you - attendance is that bad. NO ONE attends the minor league baseball team's games. i will admit attendance for AFL games is respectable. but the one thing vegas needs to be blasted for is when the utah jazz played there. don't forget kareem broke wilt's scoring record in a a game played at "T&M" and the crowd was less than capacity - as was the case for all (almost) jazz games. the fact the game started so early had something to do with the fact the crowd was sparse - at best. LA fans aren't the greatest but we are far from the worst, too. as for usc and ucla - the fact both teams were so low seeded turned off a great many fans' desires to attend the game.
Putting the tourney in LA is what killed it in the first place its first few times back when it was in the Forum and the final game between Stanford and Arizona, with both teams in the top 20, got about 5,000 fans. Someone will have to tell me why they ever give LA any major sporting event outside the Rose Bowl???<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
seeing where you are posting from - you have a LOT of "cajones" writing what you arw writing for las vegas is right up (down) there with atlanta as one of the worst cities are far as supporting its sports entities. when unlv hoops was all the rage - you couldn't get a ticket to the thomas/mack - but now - as you know - when you call the box office asking what time the game starts - you are asked what time you can get there - and they will wait for you - attendance is that bad. NO ONE attends the minor league baseball team's games. i will admit attendance for AFL games is respectable. but the one thing vegas needs to be blasted for is when the utah jazz played there. don't forget kareem broke wilt's scoring record in a a game played at "T&M" and the crowd was less than capacity - as was the case for all (almost) jazz games. the fact the game started so early had something to do with the fact the crowd was sparse - at best. LA fans aren't the greatest but we are far from the worst, too. as for usc and ucla - the fact both teams were so low seeded turned off a great many fans' desires to attend the game.
Winky, I grew up in OC. I was at that game I mentioned, Stanford's first trip to the big dance in decades, Todd Lichti was a star. Both teams were great that year, U of A was a perennial star by then and had Sean Elliot tearing it up. You have this great matchup and I had fantasic "Senate" seats as they called them in the Forum...to see a lot of empty seats. It was absolutely pathetic. The tourney got killed off a year later because they said it had no interest. What a crock of you know what that was, when it was held in Tucson you couldn't get a ticket. The Pac 10 just equated no crowd in LA as meaning no one wanted to watch it. PCAA back when Vegas and Fresno State used to go at it got bigger crowds because those two teams and even the local teams, like your faves from Fullerton came out to watch games. SC and UCLA fans are horrible, they won't watch a game unless their team is top 20 and they equated that to no one cared about the Pac 10 tourney. Tonight looks the same, no crowd because LA just doesn't like college hoops. Fine, don't hold it there. Why do they keep putting this travesty to hoops in a place where quite clearly no one wants it?
Vegas fans are terrible, I will agree with that completely. But I think it is something passed down from all the LA people that moved in. My next article is about an LA "fan" I met a few days ago. Stay tuned for that...
Vegas fans are terrible, I will agree with that completely. But I think it is something passed down from all the LA people that moved in. My next article is about an LA "fan" I met a few days ago. Stay tuned for that...
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by WildBill:
My next article is about an LA "fan" I met a few days ago. Stay tuned for that...<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
TRUE STORY
my friend and i were waiting outside the LA Dodgers' offices (on the left field side - right outside the ticket office) waiting to get some "old-time" dodgers' autographs. we know the "old timers" (like don newcombe, ron cey, stever garvey, etc.) leave before the end of the game to "beat the traffic (the most popular "game" in all of so cal). we are there in T9 (road team was winning) when he comes then owner peter o'malley. we decide he would be someone cool to have sign a ball since ones sigend by his father, walter, go for a TON of money. so we ask peter if he can sign our baseballs. peter is more than willing to do so (turn down a customer - not likely) but he tells us, "ok, guys, but we gotta make this quick, i want to beat the traffic."
I SWEAR he said that. we helped him out and made it super quick for him, and 20 seconds later he was gone. nice to see the owner acting like the fans!
My next article is about an LA "fan" I met a few days ago. Stay tuned for that...<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
TRUE STORY
my friend and i were waiting outside the LA Dodgers' offices (on the left field side - right outside the ticket office) waiting to get some "old-time" dodgers' autographs. we know the "old timers" (like don newcombe, ron cey, stever garvey, etc.) leave before the end of the game to "beat the traffic (the most popular "game" in all of so cal). we are there in T9 (road team was winning) when he comes then owner peter o'malley. we decide he would be someone cool to have sign a ball since ones sigend by his father, walter, go for a TON of money. so we ask peter if he can sign our baseballs. peter is more than willing to do so (turn down a customer - not likely) but he tells us, "ok, guys, but we gotta make this quick, i want to beat the traffic."
I SWEAR he said that. we helped him out and made it super quick for him, and 20 seconds later he was gone. nice to see the owner acting like the fans!
At least he waited until the ninth, when the game is tied the fans start leaving in the 7th. When the game isn't tied they start leaving in the 5th. Baseball games are fairly meaningless I suppose in the regular season, no big deal if you miss the ending. It is that moment when Gibson hits the homer in the WS and you see a chorus of red stop lights on the cars in the parking lot all at once, now that is classic LA!
It is an affliction everywhere. I went to an NHL playoff game in 94 in Vancouver, the year Kirk McLean was dominant and almost won the Cup. It was game 4 of the conference championships against Toronto, the stadium was a mad house and the score was 0-0 in the third, but the tension was unbelievable, the Canucks were up 2 games to 1 and this game was huge. About 5 minutes left in the third and some guy and two women with him get up...they are leaving during a timeout! Unfrickenbelievable, how do you come to this game and leave when it is still tied and everything is on the line??? A bunch of people were jeering him and the guy looks up at us and says "hey what can I do, my girls have to catch a plane?" Some guy stands up and says at the top of his lungs "CALL THE BITCHES A CAB!!!". The whole section breaks out into laughter and then hearty cheers and the guy's face is red one of the girls looks like she wants to take a swing at anyone she can reach. Classic moments like that are all part of the reason that going to games is so much better than watching on TV, even if your seats suck.
It is an affliction everywhere. I went to an NHL playoff game in 94 in Vancouver, the year Kirk McLean was dominant and almost won the Cup. It was game 4 of the conference championships against Toronto, the stadium was a mad house and the score was 0-0 in the third, but the tension was unbelievable, the Canucks were up 2 games to 1 and this game was huge. About 5 minutes left in the third and some guy and two women with him get up...they are leaving during a timeout! Unfrickenbelievable, how do you come to this game and leave when it is still tied and everything is on the line??? A bunch of people were jeering him and the guy looks up at us and says "hey what can I do, my girls have to catch a plane?" Some guy stands up and says at the top of his lungs "CALL THE BITCHES A CAB!!!". The whole section breaks out into laughter and then hearty cheers and the guy's face is red one of the girls looks like she wants to take a swing at anyone she can reach. Classic moments like that are all part of the reason that going to games is so much better than watching on TV, even if your seats suck.
