Why doesn't Wisconsin have an NHL team?

[Ari Gold]

I was/am a fan of the Red Wings only because of NHL 96 -with Stevie Y on the cover-

Tell me Get ready for this in MIDI wasn't amazing. I am tearing up because I miss those days

[Golden Avalanche]

Boo

[TomW1365]

I find it interesting no one has said: "Screw the NHL!  I love the Admirals!"   

[Skatastrophy]

I find it interesting no one has said: "Screw the NHL!  I love the Admirals!"   

The Admirals are a lot of fun to go watch, and it's affordable.  I'm always surprised how few people are at their games.

[Ahoya06]

I'll vouch for the Admirals too. I had a half-season package back in 2000 and 2001 and it was a blast. Don't get to as many games as I'd like these days, but they're lots of fun, especially with no NHL team here.

FYI- Also born and raised in NYC, and am a devoted Rangers fan. I love that when you get MLB Extra Innings, the channels overlap with NHL, so I get to watch the beginning and end of the Rangers season!

[ChicosBailBonds]

Sorry to pile on but isn't that the exact definition of a bandwagon fan? Jump on the fan wagon when it's convenient and jump off when it's not so much fun? Perhaps that's what some people are getting at in this thread -- don't say there's no need for an NHL team in Wisconsin since you have the Red Wings if, in reality, you are not much more then a bandwagon fan.

Also, out of curiosity, what do you mean by this: "full team fandom experience"? I'm guessing it only has to do with not having ever attended a game at Joe Louis Arena.

I thought I would chime in.


People become fans of teams for all kinds of reasons.  Chili's reasons are the as mine in large respect.  Let's not forget that teams that may be good now, weren't back then....or vice versa.  At age 6, I became a Cowboys fan because I'm originally from Texas and they trained in my hometown of Thousand Oaks, CA when I was a kid.  People love to throw the bandwagon thing out but I have to laugh...the Boys have sucked for a decade...no playoff wins.  Exactly what kind of bandwagon are we getting on?

I'm also an Angels fan, and they sucked hard for decades until this decade.

I grew up a Lakers fan, but now I can't stand them.  When I was a kid, they were a classier organization with classier players and management.  Those things changed so I don't give them any love or money at this point.

Grew up a LA Kings fan, but when the Ducks were "born" I began to work for them soon after.  When a team is paying your mortgage, you become a fan pretty quick.

 

[WellsstreetWanderer]

Name a classier franchise than the Lakers. Where people want to play for the minimum at the end of a great career because they want a chance to win a ring. You're not the only one who knows inside information. class and the NBA aren't usually found in the same sentence but the Lakers stand out above the rest for their accomplishments.
A little OC jealousy perhaps?

[ChicosBailBonds]

Name a classier franchise than the Lakers. Where people want to play for the minimum at the end of a great career because they want a chance to win a ring. You're not the only one who knows inside information. class and the NBA aren't usually found in the same sentence but the Lakers stand out above the rest for their accomplishments.
A little OC jealousy perhaps?

LOL.  If I gave a crap about the NBA, maybe.  But there is no jealousy my friend, absolutely none. 

A classier franchise than the Lakers?  I can think of dozens.  Or are you saying a classier NBA franchise than the Lakers?  That's quite different.  Having spent more than a decade in the industry working for some of these teams and dealing with them daily, I can tell you there are many franchises more classy than the Lakers.  As far as NBA franchises, well I would put them near the top but I wouldn't rank any NBA franchise in the top 10 overall for sports.


I'm sure glad Odom is planning on sticking around for that league minimum.      And yes, with Kobe and Artest on the team, class surely rings loudly.  And Walton.....oh the stories that would "blow" you out of the water.

[WellsstreetWanderer]

After the Magic Johnson era nothing would surprise me.
I have been around the NBA since its inception, my father was instrumental in bringing it to Chicago;the first franchise not the current one. I personally know several NBA presidents and they don't employ Altar Boys.
I used to have Red Wings hang out at my house and knew many NFL players and would have to say that hockey players were probably the best behaved. Been a while, though, I hope they still are as polite as the ones I knew

[ChicosBailBonds]

After the Magic Johnson era nothing would surprise me.
I have been around the NBA since its inception, my father was instrumental in bringing it to Chicago;the first franchise not the current one. I personally know several NBA presidents and they don't employ Altar Boys.
I used to have Red Wings hang out at my house and knew many NFL players and would have to say that hockey players were probably the best behaved. Been a while, though, I hope they still are as polite as the ones I knew

We concur, hockey players are the best in my book as well.  Usually well grounded, good people, haven't had the silver spoon God treatment growing up as much as others.  Plus the money is so much different.  I've also personally had wonderful relationships wtih MLB players....most are fantastic, but when there are that many players out there the chances of having a bad egg or two is increased due to sheer volume.  The NBA....ugh.  To this day I don't know why they had the All-Star game in Vegas and then to be stupid enough to follow it up and have it in New Orleans.  Insane, but they were interesting trips to attend I can tell you that.

[Canned Goods n Ammo]

We concur, hockey players are the best in my book as well.  Usually well grounded, good people, haven't had the silver spoon God treatment growing up as much as others.  Plus the money is so much different.  I've also personally had wonderful relationships wtih MLB players....most are fantastic, but when there are that many players out there the chances of having a bad egg or two is increased due to sheer volume.  The NBA....ugh.  To this day I don't know why they had the All-Star game in Vegas and then to be stupid enough to follow it up and have it in New Orleans.  Insane, but they were interesting trips to attend I can tell you that.

Hmmm...

This brings up a good point:

Do the minor league systems in both Hockey and Baseball ground the players a little bit? I mean, the top picks still make a lot of money, and they are fast tracked to the big club...

But, most players spend at least 2-4 years riding around on a bus from small stadium/arena to small stadium/arean.

Is it this experience that teaches them humility and how to appreciate the fame and $ they eventually earn when they are a professional playing for a major franchise?

[Skatastrophy]

Hmmm...

This brings up a good point:

Do the minor league systems in both Hockey and Baseball ground the players a little bit? I mean, the top picks still make a lot of money, and they are fast tracked to the big club...

But, most players spend at least 2-4 years riding around on a bus from small stadium/arena to small stadium/arean.

Is it this experience that teaches them humility and how to appreciate the fame and $ they eventually earn when they are a professional playing for a major franchise?

Are you trying to say that when you have BJs on-demand as a star on your college basketball or football team it doesn't teach you humility?  I don't think I'm following you here.

[Canned Goods n Ammo]

Are you trying to say that when you have BJs on-demand as a star on your college basketball or football team it doesn't teach you humility?  I don't think I'm following you here.

HA. You're probably right about the BJers. And yea, that's kinda what I'm saying.

Do the minor leagues (in both hockey and baseball) help those leagues develop good players and decent people? Obviously there are still some knuckleheads in both hockey and baseball, but the percentages are probably less than the NBA.

Does working your way up in the minor leagues (in hockey and baseball) help ground the players and teach them to be more mature and professional? Again, there are obvious exceptions to this, but I'm just talking overall.

This is all anecdotal, and I don't have any evidence to support any of this... just thinking out loud.

Why does the NBA tend to have more troubled stars? Is it the culture of the league? Background of the players? Too much $ too young?

[ChicosBailBonds]

HA. You're probably right about the BJers. And yea, that's kinda what I'm saying.

Do the minor leagues (in both hockey and baseball) help those leagues develop good players and decent people? Obviously there are still some knuckleheads in both hockey and baseball, but the percentages are probably less than the NBA.

Does working your way up in the minor leagues (in hockey and baseball) help ground the players and teach them to be more mature and professional? Again, there are obvious exceptions to this, but I'm just talking overall.

This is all anecdotal, and I don't have any evidence to support any of this... just thinking out loud.

Why does the NBA tend to have more troubled stars? Is it the culture of the league? Background of the players? Too much $ too young?

It's a combination of what you are saying along with where the players come from.  Baseball and hockey players, many of them at least, come from the sub burbs and often rural areas.  I'm sure someone will slap me as some kind of racist or whatever for making that comment, but that's reality.  The guys I knew on the Angels were mostly like this, or they came from poor countries in the Dominican and elsewhere that forced them to absolutely work their tails off to make it.

Hoops has a bit of a different edge to it growing up as we all know.  Different scene, different culture, many urban kids surrounded by a totally different way of life.  Without painting too broad a brush, not all of them come from solid homes or the best influences (some do, of course).

[Canned Goods n Ammo]

It's a combination of what you are saying along with where the players come from.  Baseball and hockey players, many of them at least, come from the sub burbs and often rural areas.  I'm sure someone will slap me as some kind of racist or whatever for making that comment, but that's reality.  The guys I knew on the Angels were mostly like this, or they came from poor countries in the Dominican and elsewhere that forced them to absolutely work their tails off to make it.

Hoops has a bit of a different edge to it growing up as we all know.  Different scene, different culture, many urban kids surrounded by a totally different way of life.  Without painting too broad a brush, not all of them come from solid homes or the best influences (some do, of course).

I think there is some merit to what you are saying.

But, what is the difference between a poor kid from the slums of San Juan who makes it big in baseball vs a poor kid from Miami/LA/Chicago/etc. who makes it big in basketball?

I'm not exactly up to date on my San Juan demographics or politics, but I can't imagine the inner city is much nicer than the major American cities.

I'm just playing devil's advocate here because I don't really know the answer to any of the questions we're posing.

[Chili]

I think there is some merit to what you are saying.

But, what is the difference between a poor kid from the slums of San Juan who makes it big in baseball vs a poor kid from Miami/LA/Chicago/etc. who makes it big in basketball?

I'm not exactly up to date on my San Juan demographics or politics, but I can't imagine the inner city is much nicer than the major American cities.

I'm just playing devil's advocate here because I don't really know the answer to any of the questions we're posing.

I think it has more to do with the psychological upbringing than the socioeconomic ones.

[Canned Goods n Ammo]

I think it has more to do with the psychological upbringing than the socioeconomic ones.

Interesting, so basketball players (on the whole) have a poorer psychological upbringing than baseball or hockey players?

I'm not sure I follow...

Does basketball somehow damage them mentally?


For clarification, I'm not sure I understand how we can say being a parent of a basketball player makes them worse at parenting.

I think I'm missing something, Chili.

[Hards Alumni]

you missed the racism.

wait for it... wait for it...

[reinko]

I would also think kids that grow up in the US also have influences (friends and family), who they themselves may have made bad life decisions.  The poor kid from the DR who immgrated to the US has no such, or less of those influences.

[chapman]

Lemme guess, you cheer for the Cowboys and Lakers too?

Go north of Green Bay.  You're raised to take up the Red Wings once Packer season is over, and there are probably just as many Michigan football fans as Wisconsin fans.  There's this place called da YooPee up der.  I grew up within biking distance of Michigan, and they air FSN Wisconsin as well as FSN Detroit, so northeast Wisconsin gets to watch Red Wings games all year long.

[Chili]

Interesting, so basketball players (on the whole) have a poorer psychological upbringing than baseball or hockey players?

I'm not sure I follow...

Does basketball somehow damage them mentally?


For clarification, I'm not sure I understand how we can say being a parent of a basketball player makes them worse at parenting.

I think I'm missing something, Chili.

I am referring to the overreaching culture differences between different areas. You are looking on a very micro level. Look at more macro and as a segmentation of an area. Just like how people advertise to people differently in different areas for the same product - not everyone has the same upbringings, but on a macro scale - birds of a feather often flock together.