Baseball > basketball? GAGGGGGG....... *pass out* But really you made some good points. The NBA (somewhat deservedly for many reasons) isn't as marketable to people as the other two leagues. If people are going to pick favorites, which many fans do with only so much $$$ to spend, then the Rockets are only going to get die-hards and bandwagoners.
Houston is a football city. Astros season is about to start up and the Rockets season is about to end. I'm not too worried. This is a lotto team this year so I could understand. Next season will be really exciting and we'll have to make room on the bandwagon.
houston does have great fans, i wouldnt call us bandwagoners, some fans may have been die hard fans in previous years but at the same time ever since those t-mac injuries started this team hasnt been firing on all cylinders wich has been demoralizing, but weve hanged in there,...much love for all of us who share that pain. GO ROCKETS!!!!!!!
Nothing is wrong. Houston happens to be a vibrant, busy city. We don't waste our life blindly devoted to following a sports team. We don't waste our time and money supporting mediocrity. Houstonians have real lives. When the Rockets are worth watching, people will watch them.
Actually it does... I assure you that every ticket to each home UK game has been sold out, even during the Gillespie error.. I mean... era. If they hadn't, I would have bought tickets more often than the three or four times in that two year period than I did. People who truly support a team follow even when it's painful to follow. Which is why there were only about 15 people in the game chat last night watching the game together... as opposed to when Yao is playing and there are 50 or so.
You also have to factor in that the Astros fanbase has to pay attention while the team is still not out of the playoff picture. Especially considering there will likely be somewhere between 1,400 and 1,500 games remaining when they're mathematically eliminated... I've never been more excited though about the Rockets future, assuming we're able to keep Morey.
Reasoning based upon my visit to Toyota Center for game 3 versus the Lakers last season: 1.) People really don't like Yao. Especially black people. The casual fan seems to believe all of the negative hype surrounding Yao. I road the train to/from Toy Center and people were continuously crapping on Yao prior to and after the game. 2.) Toyota Center has to be one of the worst new arenas in the league. Sterile as hell and the sight lines aren't that great. 3.) The team has been out of the first round once in the past 13 or 14 years, no? Have a drought that long and tons of people will fall off the bandwagon.
I don't really watch enthusiastically anymore. We play soft, often uninspired, and have lost all of our grit and defensive intensity. I follow, I root, etc... but actually going to a game? I am not paying when Chuck Hayes is the only guy that gives me satisfaction and he only plays 15mpg.
what the hell does that have to do with fan interest in the Rockets? the OP was talking about FAN interest NOT FREE AGENT interest..... and yes, ItsMyFault is right, I hated when the 22 game win streak and throughout the Playoffs, you had people show up which some probably couldn't name a player outside Yao/Tmac hell, last Saturday vs. the Lakers, some dude behind me was screaming to get Jordan Hill out of the game because he's "Knicks Trash", then repeated everything Kam and I said (3 seconds, traveling, etc...) like 2 seconds after we did like they knew what they were seeing....
Most teams' fans are "bandwagon" to one degree or another. University of Kentucky might be an exception but most teams don't have that luxury. I believe even Sacramento Kings fans, who had been noted for their loyalty and how loud they made Arco Arena, stopped going to Kings games in as big numbers since team got crappy. A sports economist with the Parthnon Group said at the MIT Conference that they have data showing to what extent not making playoffs hurts both short term income and longer term team value. So, instead of complaining about fans being bandwagon, the team simply has to win and get them back on the bandwagon. Complaining about fans being "bandwagon" is kind of like complaining about the Hollywood being superficial or Wall Street guys being greedy. Nature of the beast. You can't really blame the fans, either-- people prefer good basketball to bad basketball.
People crap on Yao all the time, like they'd rather we had Danny Fortson down there for all these years instead. Its pathetic, none of them appreciate what he's given to this team.
The fact is that Houston has never really been a city that has ever gotten national attention. It just happened like that and I don't know why. If you're not Boston, New York, Cleveland, and Miami then just forget about it. ESPN and other media partners just pick teams and cities they want to talk about and televise. I personally think we deserve more national attention. And when we win the championship next year we better get some, but I doubt it...
those people weren't from houston anyways. they are responsible for the revenue of adidas, not the houston rockets. nothing is out of the norm on this topic. this is like the steve francis days. it was easy getting tickets to games. also, nba arenas are setup more for corporations than fans. if the corporations don't want to entertain clients at the games, they'll do something else.
