Gothamite

The fact that they're a good team makes their attendance problems even worse.

We can all be sympathetic to fans who have to suffer season after season of mediocrity and at some point stop coming out to the arena, but that's just not the case with the Coyotes. They're a very good team, and can't get anyone in Arizona to notice.

Sorry, I didn't mean that at all.

I meant "Uh oh, here we go down this thread-killing rabbit hole." So I borrowed the graphic, if not the meme.

Uh, oh.

Yeah, that's pretty scummy if true.

This page is the perfect example of why I can't stand college sports. It's a mess.

Championship rings, watches and related commemorative items are the only gifts which a university, bowl game, or similar entity can give to participants without risking sanctions under NCAA rules, and even in those cases the amount which can be spent on them is severely regulated.

The proliferation in rings stems, at least in part, due to guilt on the part of universities, boosters and so forth who understand they're making millions for their respective schools but without compensating the kids directly. Throwing them a bone, if you will... with a wink and a smile saying, "There's nothing preventing you from selling these once your NCAA eligibility period ends."

Even if that was true, which I doubt, it makes it worse somehow.

This page is the perfect example of why I can't stand college sports. It's a mess.

It is defensible when you go to Florida Marlins games a decade ago and the usher tells you not to go to your $5 "Fish Bowl" seats in the top two rows of the upper deck because there is no one in the first 20 rows of the upper deck. "Just sit here." And I like sitting with no one behind me...

As the man said, that's a ballgame of a different color.

I agree. Buy the seats you want, and then sit there.

Well, since this has now officially become one with the Sacramento thread, I'll repeat what I posted there:

"Commissioner David Stern indicated this week that the decision of whether the Kings can be sold to Seattle investors could extend beyond the NBA Board of Governors meeting April 18-19 in New York.

"It had been widely expected that the board's vote on the proposed sale and relocation of the team would be the final say on the matter, but Stern told reporters there were 'complex' issues that needed to be resolved before a final decision could be reached.

Translation: the NBA doesn't think that either plan represents its group's best offer, and it's waiting for the groups to sweeten their offers.

And why not? The NBA can only win by dragging out negotiations between two interested ownership groups. Unlike other prolonged relocations, the Sacramento fans won't abandon their club, needing to show support. So the Kimgs can stay put while the NBA squeezes every last cent. I don't know if the NHL can afford to wait until the dust settles there.

the owners as expected are pushing for relocation because they're sick of subsidizing Bettman's failure. It'll either be Quebec or Seattle depending on what the NBA does.

Well, that's a long time coming.

Do we anticipate the Sacramento Kings situation being settled early enough to make Seattle a real possibility?

That's nice.

Quebec City has hordes of educated, passionate fans ready to plunk down hundreds of dollars each for season tickets

Yes, but you're forgetting the very important fact that they're not the right color dollars.

I mean, I've never even heard of most of those Presidents.

Norfolk Admirals 2012 Calder Cup ring. The weird thing is that the team that won the Cup is now the Syracuse Crunch. The raised a banner in Norfolk for the team, but none of the players were on the Calder Cup team.

Welcome to the minor leagues; I'm sure that's not the first time it's happened.

I think we can add Phil Anschutz to the list of "NHL Owners No Longer Interested In Owning The Phoenix Coyotes". I know the Kings are internet-cheeky, and I understand the disclaimer at the top of the post, but holy crap, this is on the official website of an NHL team.

http://kings.nhl.com...s.htm?id=660988

Holy crap, those were just awful. All the new Coyote templates are the same to begin with. The Seattle one is so much of a Starbucks ripoff, there's no way a pro team would be allowed to play in Vegas, the Quebec one looks eerie similar to the New Orleans Fleur-de-lis, and all the work for the Toronto one is just putting a blue maple leaf in the picture (possible trademark violation).

Woooooosh. The point wasn't that the concepts were bad. The point was that the Los Angeles Kings official website used them to mock the NHL's league owned franchise. You expect to see that on fan blogs and hockey writers, but not on one of the league's franchise's websites.

Notice this:

Disclaimer - The contents of this page have not been reviewed or endorsed by the Los Angeles Kings Hockey Club. All opinions expressed by The Royal Half are solely (and most likely) his own and do not reflect the opinions of the Los Angeles Kings or their Hockey Operations staff, parent company, partners, or sponsors. His current whereabouts are not known to the Kings and he has no access to information beyond the access and privileges that go along with being a half-season ticket holder

MLB sites also host bloggers whose posts aren't regulated or approved by the clubs. In baseball's case, they're not paid by the teams either, but I don't know about hockey. We can't read anything about Anschutz into this post.

Those bloggers are only governed by libel laws, not the feelings of any owners, and this jibe is so mild that I can't see it causing many ripples - the Coyotes might move? Welcome to 2008.

Surely the new Seattle arena will be hockey compatible, right? They're not going to make the same Key Arena/Barclays Center type facility designed to squeeze hockey out?

I can't speak for Key, but that's not what happened with the Barclays Center. Rattner desperately wanted a hockey tenant, but the city approval process was brutal, and he had to keep chipping away at the design until he ended up with a footprint not suited for a rink. Not part of the "design" at all.

Isn't the Seattle arena dependent on them getting an NBA team first?

While the Kings situation plays out, they're not going to move an NHL team there.

And according to that article, even if he did want the team, it would be to move it to Portland.

Sorry, Gary. Time's up.

Yeah, but that would mean tacitly admitting that the southern strategy wasn't perfect and brilliant. The NHL might suffer a moment or two of crow.

It sure seems they'd rather say they're right and lose money hand over fist than admit a mistake and make money. Great businessman, those guys.

While the venue will leave much to be desired, I actually think this is an inspired solution for the Isles.

They weren't getting a new arena in Nassau, and this keeps the team close to their existing fanbase while giving them real access to the huge NYC-proper market. They get to grow, perhaps exponentially, without leaving anyone behind.

Ah, some of the seats will be lousy. But not all.

Good thing the LIRR goes right to the team's new home...

Tweaks sure, but you can't change the overall design. It's going to be a U shaped arena on the lower level and have obstructed views on the upper even after their tweaks.

Sure, but that shows you how dire the situation is out in Nassau County, and how desperate they are to tap into the city's fanbase, that the Islanders would rather play to capacity crowds in a tiny, ill-suited arena than stay where they are.

The City of Phoenix might be interested, unless they already do a good job stocking the Suns' off-dates with concerts and the like (was it Ice Edge who offered to run the Job at a lesser cost if the Coyotes moved by doing just that?).

But the Suns would be better off with the Coyotes out of town, and one less competitor for their dollars.

I'm not sure why the Suns would be terribly interested in buying the Coyotes. If they can fill their empty dates with concerts and the like, why would they want the competition for fan dollars? They'd be better off if the Yotes left town altogether.

I'm, biased, but I don't see how this can possibly be seen as anything other an a very large black eye for Gary Bettman and the NHL.

You have a major league team for sale. One of the "Big 4". And they can't find anybody willing to take it off their hands for a measly $170M? With a sweetheart lease deal from the city thrown in for good measure?

Looking around that BIg 4, do you think that Bud Selig, or Goodell or Stern, couldn't pick up the phone and find someone outside of the club to open their wallets and put Jamison over the top? Bettman has had four years, and can't come up with the money unless he makes the owners themselves pay it. Hell, the next MLS expansion fee is expected to get near $100M, and that doesn't even cover a single cost of building the team. $170M for a whole organization (and a good one) is peanuts.

That's a sign of a league in very deep trouble, when people with money don't actually want to be part of it.