The fall of the Blazers…
By Robert Przybylo
BPrzybylo@opubco.com
It’s an interesting topic. What led to the fall of the Blazers franchise? I’ma take a swing at it in Saturday’s paper. I’m sure some won’t agree with me, and that’s OK. I was truly writing what I felt from what I’ve gathered and observed.
To me, there were three big reasons: 1. The Oklahoma City Thunder; 2. The state of the economy; 3. The city out-growing the CHL.
I have a strong feeling there will be much debate about reason No. 3. There is probably some hurt feelings among Blazer die-hard fans when it comes to something like that.
But devoted readers of this blog aren’t (well, for the most part) part of the No. 3 reason.
However, on NewsOK right now, we’re running a poll about what fans will prefer. And right now (as of 6 p.m.) it is 77 percent for the AHL and 22 percent for the CHL.
The dedicated, passionate Blazer fan has never been a question. I know some of you would come to a game in a middle of a snow storm. That’s never been the problem.
But I’m not sure the fanbase was growing anymore. The Thunder is the toast of the town right now.
There is a lot of backlash from some readers saying “oh, just wait five years when the team still stinks and nobody shows up.”
We’ll see. Maybe that’s true or maybe Sam Presti is on the road to building a solid, competitive team that is led by one of the NBA’s future stars in Kevin Durant. Time will tell on all accounts.
There is also a lot of sentiment of “the city turned its back on the team that carried OKC for years.” Mayor Mick Cornett certainly doesn’t believe that is the case.
“Baseless.”
That’s what he said about those type of accusations about the Thunder running the Blazers
I haven’t been around the game and the Oklahoma City area long enough to give an accurate account on something like that. All I can say is that I did my best to give the Blazers the best coverage I could give because the fans, the players, the staff deserve that type of commitment.
I’ve asked former beat writer Bob Hersom to weigh in on things and the feedback is still rollin’ in from readers. I say let it roll.
Scott Ellis has been the most frequent commenter, so I was a little shocked that it took to Friday afternoon:
Though I am sad to see this incarnation of the OKC Blazers fade away, we
as hockey fans should look toward the 2010-11 AHL season with a renewed
spirit. To the City, Media (expect for Mr. Przybylo and Bob Hersom ):
This is A Hockey Town, even before the dreams of an NBA franchise here.
The Blazers or Stars’ made Oklahoma City an unusual place for hockey.
But you forgot about them, treated them like the forgotten step child of
this town. Or even give them a front page article on your newspaper,
until they decided to close up shop. Now you (as the media) want to jump
on the ship sailing for a new territory.
***
Hope you have a wonderful 4th of July. Boneman is headed to the RedHawks game. Back either Sunday or Monday. Keep updating with more Blazer thoughts but a lot of attention will now be toward the prospects of an AHL team in Oklahoma City.
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Comments
Sorry, I made a mistake, I was saying “Mick WASN’T transparent about his desire to bring an AHL team as seriously as he has shown in recent days.”
I’d love to see the terms of the new 3 year lease that was offered to the Blazers compared to what it was before the Thunder showed up. Then we’ll see if it’s “baseless” Mayor Douche!
I concur — seems like the Oklahoman and the City has seem to forget about the old CHL and the almost 20 years of fan and city support to this great league of the 60’s, 70s and early 80s — THAT is the model and caliber of play which will come with an AHL franchise and the fans WILL LOVE THE PLAY AND THE PLAYERS AND CHEER WHEN THEY make it to the show.
OKC city govt/mayor; Bricktown business association; Chamber of Commerce and Conv and Visitors Bureau — where is your voice — where is your voice to “OKC is a Hockey Town — Keep Hockey in OKC!”….
Any investor knows a successful key is to diversify. The City of OKC and the SPORTS fan base of OKC had better get their thinking caps on this week and get moving out on a plan and develop/find an owmership group to incentivise (with a nice Myriad lease) to get a franchise here to this outstanding minor league hockey market. It is critical to diversify for long term economic interests, the sports fan and the business’ and tourism of downtown OKC.
This is a “civic” priority — I hope Mayor Mick and former mayors will rally around “Keep Hockey in OKC”" as much as they were worried about the “future canal system”.
Notice I refered to “sports fans”…this is not about Blazers fans vs Thunder fans which too many times people tend to talk about. I am season tickets to both events — I travel into downtown OKC easily over 120 times a year to spend money on the OKC downtown tax base….that little gas station on the corner of Reno is doing very well thank you along with many eating establishments.
This is not the mayors fault. The Blazers were losing at least $600,000 in advertising money compard to last season. If Devon Energy advertises with the Thunder then the Blazers could not be paid one red cent for advertising. This season the Thunder became the primary tenant of the Ford Center- blame this on Brad. The Blazers were already operating in the red- how could they sign the Ford Center lease?
I know we are all upset about this but the mayor or the city is not at fault.
How could the city justify spending over a million dollars to repair the ice at the Cox Center only to use the ice for one season of hockey? The AHL will play in the Ford Center.
It is partly the Mayor’s fault! He is the one who showed up to a game. And asked the audience to support the Ford Center renovations. Which we all knew was just a ploy, just to make the necessary improvements just for the thunder. Mayor Mick never explained how this would benefit the Blazers. So in other words, the Blazers got screwed since the Hornets show up on the scene. And the AHL will NOT play in the Ford Center. If you look at the Letter of Intent that the City Council will vote on Tuesday morning from AHL Hockey Club, LLC. It describes what is laid out, that the AHL team wants to play in the Myriad(a.k.a Cox Center). They want the dates that will be most beneficial to getting the maximum amount of fans. Also the AHL team won’t have to worry about filling as many seats in the Myriad. It’s all about the economics of the situation. And if Mayor Mick is TRULY a hockey fan. He and the City Council should vote to accept the Letter of Intent from AHL Hockey Club, LLC.
I think the AHL coming will be a big boost for hockey here in OKC. I was even checking ticket prices for Grand Rapids and Springfield and the ticket prices are similar to what we pay now for Blazer games $30 next to the glass. So I don’t think it will be that much more expensive either maybe another $100 for season ticket.
Plus the caliber of hockey will be better too.
In my personal opinion, I feel that the backlash against Mick, all pertains to the fact that he was transparent about his desire to bring an AHL team as seriously as he was. Had he held a news conference to say he was tempted to not resign the Blazers in an effort to bring better Hockey here there might have been less of a feeling of betrayal. But it’s like it was all done under the table without the fans knowing his intentions or asking what we thought.
Secondly, the biggest complaint I had was that now we have no hockey for year, when we don’t even have an AHL team lined up. Just like I don’t quit a job, without having another job lined up. I wouldn’t have punted the Blazers without knowing an AHL team was coming. But I guess I am not mayor, so there you go.