This is probably going to sound terrible, but, if the Coyotes go bankrupt and have to leave, I won’t miss them. If the Arena Football League has to suspend their 2009 season while they sort through their finances, it’s okay. I’ll live.
I’m not openly rooting for people to lose their jobs. I know many whose careers are tied to those two organizations. I wish them no ill feelings. But it’s a supply/demand world we live in. When was the last time you just couldn’t wait to watch the Coyotes game that night? Or you had a pair of great tickets to the Rattlers game?
I’m not telling you anything you haven’t already experienced first hand. The times stink right now. I mean my gosh, the NFL, the most dominant entity in all of sports had to layoff 10% of its headquarters staff. It’s going to be hard for all the teams, all the leagues. I don’t own season tickets to any of the sports here in town, but if I did, I would have serious reservations about renewing right now.
When times get tough people prioritize. For the first time in years, the Burns family is operating on a budget. And the first thing you do is separate your wants from your needs. Do I really need the cleaning lady? That membership at the really fancy gym?
That’s what we’re doing here, as a sports city. Does Phoenix really need an NHL team? Is the pride of living in a four-major-pro-sport town a defining part of your self-esteem? Do you really follow the Rattlers? I’m guessing you can do without them too.
Right now, the valley sports scene is a busy intersection that’s home to eight different Italian restaurants. Too many choices and simply not enough demand. Would you really be surprised if a couple of them didn’t make it?
I don’t want anything to happen to the Coyotes and the Rattlers. I hope they can find an audience in this town that will support them.
But it’s hard to get emotional when the T.V. show I never watched anyway gets canceled.
Comments? Email me!
As for my family, we would not miss the Rattlers. As for family, atmosphere and entertainment value, we would miss the Yotes, but life would go on. I am a Cardinal season ticket holder and I would’nt miss them if they ever left either. Ditto for the Suns. We would however really miss the D-Backs if they ever left.
I, and many other fans would be really upset if the coyotes left. just because you dont care about the team doesn’t mean everyone else doesn’t either. i dont get excited for any of the diamondback games, but i dont want them to leave town, and i accept that many people can actually stand to watch baseball.
The Coyotes should be moved to Hamilton,Ontario.Southern Ontario can support two teams.Canadians love hockey and Tim Horton’s coffee.
There isn’t any hockey atmosphere or passion,for it in the Valley.Our weather in the Winter is beautifulWho wants to be inside when it’s warm outside?
No, I wouldn’t miss either of them. Hockey is the most boring sport out there. It’s marketed worse than soccer (my favorite sport) and just isn’t worth watching.
The Coyotes would be missed. There is a good core of hockey fans in the valley, (uh basin, thanks wolf!) Deciding on the Glendale location for the arena was a mistake and alienated many of the fans. However, the Coyotes, despite being below average on the ice are a MAJOR league team. The Rattlers? They are a distraction that NFL fans use to avoid withdrawal during the off season. It is bad for our community and our state if we lose a franchise from a ‘big 4′ sport. While hockey may be struggling here now, if they could ever put together a competitive team the fans would be back. Initially, the ‘yotes made the playoffs and had many interesting, gritty and talented players. In recent years the cast has been mostly forgetable, aside from Captain Doan. The Desert Dogs have not been in this valley long enough, especially with the ‘relocation’ to Glendale, to have a tradition here. I hope they get the chance to develop roots and grow. Every arena in the area thrives with youth and adult hockey programs. High school hockey is doing very well here. We are all just waiting for the Coyotes to do something - ANYTHING - to make us believers. Speaking for myself, and I’m guessing many others, we have not yet cut our affiliation with the teams that attracted us to NHL hockey in the first place. To do that the Coyotes management must win us over!
Please Please Please let me see this teams either go bankrupt or leave town. The Valley will be better off without them.
Great story. I am a native Arizonian living in Vancouver BC. Here hockey is everything and sports like football, basketball and baseball get no attention. This is very troublesome to me, so I find myself flying back to Arizona or driving to Seattle just to find some fine American sports culture. I would love to see NHL franchises drop like flies in US markets.
The funny thing is, living up here as an American, I always hear from Canadians how no one likes us. Yet it is the Canadians who will come down to the US to visit and always cry as to why Americans don’t embrace their sport.
I hope AZ residents cherish MLB, NFL and NBA. The NHL, except for Canada and a handful of US markets, simply does not matter.