Detroit bloggers’ roundtable (Pt. 5)
Last week, I sent an email to many sports bloggers who cover Detroit teams with five questions about why the city of Detroit is such a great sports city. I received so many great and well thought out responses that instead of posting the answers to all five questions at once, I will spread it out throughout five days.
Today is Day #5 for the Detroit bloggers’ roundtable. You can also view the discussions for part one, part two, part three and part four.
I’d first like to once again thank the bloggers who participated in this discussion:
Kurt @ Mack Avenue Tigers (Detroit Tigers)
Scott @ Quo Vadimus & Cutoff Man (Detroit Sports & Detroit Tigers)
Sean @ Pride of Detroit & Michigan Sports Center (Detroit Lions & UM Sports)
Matt @ Lets Go Wings (Detroit Red Wings)
Paul @ Kukla’s Korner (Detroit Red Wings/NHL)
Al @ The Wayne Fontes Experience (Detroit Sports)
Ripismoney @ Detroit Sports Unleashed (Detroit Sports)
The fifth and final question I asked the panel was… “How has the recent success of three of the four big professional teams done to help a city (and state) struggling so much economically?”
Kurt @ Mack Avenue Tigers: “While Michigan is going through such bad times — and I really start to wonder if it’s going to see good times again — we all come together to root for the Wings, Pistons, Tigers, and yes, Lions. Maybe the teams don’t do a lick to change problems in people’s lives, but if people with trouble can get some enjoyment out of their success, that’s a good thing.
And, unfortunately, a lot of people have had to move away from southeast Michigan or the state altogether. Showing pride in your teams with a hat or shirt is a useful conversation starter and can help Michiganders find each other thousands of miles away. So that’s good, too.
The theme common to both those points? The teams bring people together during tough times. And people need people.”
Scott @ Quo Vadimus & Cutoff Man: “Sadly, probably not enough. The Tigers and the Lions have really helped revitalize part of downtown Detroit, and for that they deserve a lot of credit. It’s allowed a lot of bars and restaurants to flourish downtown, and people aren’t just driving in to Detroit, seeing a game, and driving home immediately afterwards as much as they used to. But, at the same time, ticket prices, especially for Red Wings and Pistons games, in this economy, keep the games out of the reach of ordinary fans, which is really too bad. There weren’t empty seats at Joe Louis during the playoffs or at the Palace during the regular season because of lack of interest. People just can’t afford the incredibly high ticket prices.
Sports, though, can provide a great escape for people from the problems the city is having economically. A playoff run, like the Pistons, Tigers, and Wings have had, or mutual commiseration over the Lions, can bring people of all economic classes together, and can help people, at least for a while, forget about the state’s troubles. For many, that’s a welcome distraction.”
Sean @ Pride of Detroit & Michigan Sports Center: “To put it bluntly, it has given fans a distraction from the absolute joke that is the Michigan economy. That might be a bad thing as we turn our heads from the problem, but ultimately, we always have something to enjoy in this time of unemployment and everything else that is negative from the economy. Sports actually have been affected by the economy, especially in Detroit. Looking at the Red Wings, they didn’t have one sellout during the playoffs if I recall correctly, and that can be attributed partially to the economy. Basically, any sporting event in Detroit provides some relief to the bad things happening in the outside world.”
Matt @ Lets Go Wings: “I think it’s been great. Although I can’t speak from personal experience (no one in my family has been directly affected by the auto industry problems), sports just comes off as a release from the every day grind. For three hours a few nights a week you can forget about all of that — it’s escapism.
The only drawback to success, however, is the ticket prices. You’ve got to pay to see a winner in person and pay good — and that can be hard when your primary focus is on watching your bottom line.”
Paul @ Kukla’s Korner: “The economy in the Detroit area and southeastern Michigan does receive a nice boost when teams are winning and fans are flocking to the venues. But in my opinion, it could so much better. All you have to do is attend some games in other cities and see all the hustle and bustle that surrounds the area before and after a game. Detroit has only a few places to go before and after a game and that must improve. A party atmosphere must be created for fans every game day, and that has yet to happen.”
Al @ The Wayne Fontes Experience: “I’ll just refer back to what I wrote in regard to your first question, why this is the best sports city around.
Our area’s self worth is tied, be it right or wrong, to how well our local teams are performing. The worse our economy becomes, the more important our local teams are in keeping us from worrying about life’s heavier issues, if only for a few hours a day. This area is continually dissed the world over, so being able to point to the success of the Tigers, Red Wings, Pistons, and Wolverines is a way of us saying that Detroit and it’s suburbs are actually a pretty nice place to be. We may be broke, but we have great sports teams! Our teams are an economic and psychological godsend to a struggling city and populace. Anything that can help get you through tough times is a good thing.”
Ripismoney @ Detroit Sports Unleashed: “Certainly the professional sports in Detroit give people something to cheer about. Perhaps people cannot attend as many games as they used to, but sports are such an integral part of the city. After being somewhat abandoned by automakers and manufacturing in general, the economic situation is bleak. It’s great to see that sports continue to provide a small bright spot in the lives of all Detroiters. They can take our jobs, but they cannot take our spirit.”
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One Response to “Detroit bloggers’ roundtable (Pt. 5)”
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June 12th, 2007 at 10:00 am
Great series!
We’re linking to it today from Detroit Sports Bloggers Roundtable on Absolute Michigan.