Lazy and Stupid

Adam Datar a writer for Versus and blogger that covers the Avalanche, posted on the Versus blog a piece of tripe that was entitled "Music City Off Beat for the NHL". In this article, a tired and disproven meme is trotted out that Nashville does not deserve an NHL team, primarily because the arena was not at capacity for the home opener. Datar points out that Colorado only had 13,000 for their second home game, less than the Predators, but falls back on the fact that the Avs have had a string of 487 sellouts (which has been broken) and that they have merited their team because of their past success at the gate and on the ice.

Frankly, this line of reasoning is both lazy and stupid, and is an idea whose time has long passed. The fact is that hockey in Nashville will always compete with college football, and it was disingenuous at best to say the attendance was bad "even though they were the only pro sports team playing in town that night." There are no other pro sports teams that play against the Predators on a Saturday night. The college football landscape, however, directly affects fall hockey in Nashville. Attendance at Predator games starts to uptick in January and is very solid through the end of the season. You might want to check that out sometime, Adam, except I suspect that would be too much effort for you. Since there is no college football of note in Colorado, there is no worry about the impact of a Buffalo or Rams game on the Avs attendance, and I'm sure it's difficult to draw a comparison.

The truly stupid aspect of the line of reasoning is if you contend that the economy is going to impact attendance, and if you posit that teams that don't sell out or get very close to selling out don't need a team , then you are arguing for league contraction. In that case, let's start with Colorado and then we can move on to say... Detroit. They didn't sell out all their games and their play off games, so according to your logic, they are history. What? That's not what you were implying? C'mon Adam, if nothing else, at least be consistent in your logic.

Sure, Nashville has had bumps in the road- every franchise has. And you're right, Adam, the economy is going to have an impact, a negative one, on all sports. The hockey market in Nashville is strong, and it is growing, and it will succeed. No, there is not a string of 487 straight sellouts, and we will live with the competition from college football early in the season. The internecine bickering from writers such as you and the lazy perpetuation of a stupid theme that has been disproven does nothing to help the game.