Sports Blog
Check out the sports blog, where the State News sports staff will discuss everything from Spartan to professional athletics on a daily basis.
Check out the Sports Podcast for more from the sports desk.
Recent posts
-
Fantasy football, week 12
No in-depth opening this week, let’s get straight to my picks:
-
Early men's hoops awards
With my term coming to an end as an MSU men’s basketball beat reporter since the spring, I can’t help but still feel connected to the team.
-
Appreciating the great camera work
So after the blizzard that struck during the attempted second half of Sunday’s field hockey game, I have an extra appreciation for what our camera people do.
Wings deserve better home than 'The Joe'
Nothing makes sports more enjoyable than the playoffs.
And I couldn’t be happier that the Red Wings are back.
It’s been a long six years since they won the Stanley Cup, and they look poised to bring the trophy back to its rightful home in Hockeytown.
But they deserve a nicer place to show off the goods.
I’m sure it will make a few people cringe, but Joe Louis Arena is a piece of crap.
When the best team in the league can’t fill its home stadium, there has to be a reason.
Some say the reason lies in the state’s failing economy, a sense of lethargy in the home crowd and the rise of competing teams in the city.
Those are some of the biggest cop-outs I’ve ever heard.
Twice in the past 10 years, horrible Detroit teams have erected new stadiums and watched the seats fill to capacity the following season.
When the Detroit Tigers built Comerica Park, they filled the seats despite many fans ire toward the place that replaced the baseball mecca known as Tiger Stadium.
The Detroit Lions, a franchise whose fans have long since given up on a winning season, sell out every single game in the same failing economy while charging twice the price.
Imagine a home team that actually won moving to a shiny new home.
Comments
steve
05/13/08 @ 9:38am
The Wings don’t need a new home, the Joe is just fine. There is something charming about the older buildings in the NHL. Almost every club has a new cookie cutter arena, you can barely tell what city your in based on the way most of these places look. The seats at these new buildings are also further from the action. While the Joe might be a little crammed, every seat is right on top of the action. What more could a fan want?
Paul
05/13/08 @ 10:27am
A good reason why a lot of seats are empty is because of the price. Yes, I know, it’s the Red Wings, but the normal(and a student) sports fan like me can’t afford to spend that much to see so many games. I went to a game in January and paid $110 for two seats that were in the top row right in front of the FSN announcers booth. I can’t imagine how much it would have cost to get at least 5 rows closer to the ice. Until prices go down, fans like me and others will only be able to afford about one game a year while having to watch the rest on tv.
Chris
05/13/08 @ 12:02pm
I used to think pricing was a legit excuse, but not since seeing the Pistons and Lions game prices. Come on, Detroit fans.
The real issue with Wings tickets is that execs and big spenders throw their money out there on seats to entertain people (clients or family) and never end up going. Records show that the Joe has been selling out, but there are still patches of empty seats come game time.
common sense
05/13/08 @ 2:05pm
Oh no! A bunch of millionaires need a better place to knock around a puck for three hours! Top priority!!!
Detroiters deserve a better home than Detroit.
true common sense
05/13/08 @ 6:02pm
Common sense – While I don’t agree with the exact reasons Joseph has for creating a new stadium, I agree with him that the Red Wings need a new stadium. It’s not there to cater to a bunch of millionaires to play a sport, it’s to make money. But the main reason the Wings need a new stadium is to help spur the Detroit economy. The Wings are way down river where there is nothing else around. If you want to go to the game, you barely have a place to go before or after. If it were placed w/in a reasonable distance of Comerica and Ford Field, it would provide downtown Detroit with a sporting activity throughout the year (since there’s no way the Stones are leaving Auburn Hills anytime soon). This would help attract more businesses to Detroit and help with the numerous renovation projects that are currently under way. One reason Quicken Loans moved to downtown Detroit was to help attract young professionals to the area. Don’t you think that adding the Wings to the area wouldn’t help attract other businesses?
I miss EL
05/14/08 @ 11:44am
The Tigers did not fill Comerica Park to capacity regularly until 2006 when they started winning games.
People don’t come to Joe Louis because they are so used to the Wings being good and then losing in the 1st/2nd round that people don’t pay attention until the conference finals. The same thing happened to the Atlanta Braves in the 1990’s.
Fish
05/14/08 @ 10:48pm
You haven’t seen the Joe until you’ve been down by the basement-like locker room area, the urine-smelling stairway up to the press box and the press box itself, where you can’t move two inches without bumping into someone. I love it though. I’d hate to see them get rid of the place, but a minor renovation would be nice to see.