From: terry@leland.Stanford.EDU (Terry Wong)
Subject: Re: 1995 All-Star Game awarded to San Jose
Organization: DSG, Stanford University, CA 94305, USA
Date: Sat, 12 Dec 92 03:14:47 GMT

In article <1gbb7dINNduf@male.EBay.Sun.COM>, garyb@bbsqtet.EBay.Sun.COM (Gary Bolles) writes:
|> In article <1992Dec11.231706.7324@leland.Stanford.EDU>,
|> terry@garfield.Stanford.EDU (Terry Wong) writes:
|> 
|> > That's great news for San Jose.  I have to agree though that the Sharks
|> > have to be worried about making it until 1995.    They could not fill
|> > their arena of under 11,000 seats even for a visit by Mario Lemieux and
|> > the Penguins.
|> 
|> Ummm, 'scuz me?  The Pittsburgh game was a sellout - all 11,089 seats as were
|> all but two of the Sharks regular season home games since the franchise
|> started.
|> I won't argue that the curiosity seekers aren't less interested but let's get
|> the facts straight.
|>  
|> > The Sharks are on pace to do worse than last year.  This was expected as
|> > they got rid of a lot of their veteran players to let the youngsters
|> > develop.  It remains to be seen how patient Bay Area fans, who in the
|> > first place, are not for the most part rabid hockey fans, will be.
|> > This area does not support losers for long.
|> 
|> Gimme a break.  This area supported the 49ers for YEARS before they became
|> "winners" in the early '80s.  The same can be said for the Warriors.  Where
|> do you get this crap?
|> 

YOU are the one should get the facts straight.  If you had bothered to
attend any Sharks games this season instead of just looking at the
attendance figures reported in the paper, you would have seen 
hundreds of empty seats on almost any given night.  
The Sharks may report these games as sellouts but a lot
of people don't bother to use their tickets.  This was even true for
the Penguins game.  In fact, the Chronicle ripped Bay Area hockey fans on
Monday when they noted how many empty seats there were.

From today's Mercury News:
"There are many more empty seats at the Cow Palace than last season,
but you can easily fathom why.  Many fans have simply grown
weary of slogging through wretched Penisula traffic, then sitting
in a bad area while eating awful food as the team loses another blowout."

You sure don't know a whole lot about Bay Area sports fans.  There is
huge competition for the entertainment dollar and they are very
fickle. Before the  49'ers became winners in the early 80's, they were 
the easiest ticket in town.  Candlestick
was half full for each game.  Less than 5 years ago when the Warriors
were doing poorly, they were drawing only about 2/3 rd's capacity
at the Coliseum.  You could walk in on any game night and get good tickets.

Bay Area fans will be understanding a while longer, but if the Sharks
continue this level of play for another few years, this team will probably
not survive.  We've already had the experience of the California
Golden Seals to attest to that.

Even the Sharks management acknowledges this, even if you don't.
Dean Lombardi, the Shark's vice-president was interviewed and he said
that he knows this is a rugged market and the fans here can't be fooled
by a snazzy logo for very long. 

					terry@garfield.Stanford.EDU