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Is Miami really a sports town?

Discussion in 'Miami Dolphins Forum' started by Bumrush, Mar 25, 2013.

  1. gandalfin

    gandalfin Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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  2. jdang307

    jdang307 Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    I sometimes get up from my seat and head to the hall and watch from there (you can still see the field). You need to get a jump on the mob sometimes.
     
  3. djphinfan

    djphinfan Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    I see that side of it, I just never felt that the game was completely out of reach, and considering the circumstances it was kinda bush, up until then I have started to see a much better heat fan at the stadium, one that at least attempts to make a difference,and with that venue, if they really wanted to, they could get pretty intimidating.
     
  4. djphinfan

    djphinfan Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    I love these articles on the new stadiums, here's why, any new concept for a stadium that doesn't revolve around the facility being built to intimidate the opponent and bring the fans closest to the action as possible is making a huge mistake..think about it, talk about a draw, your building the venue with the intention of getting fans closest to the action as law would permit..think about that marketing campaign and how excited your fanbase would be..You wanna talk about " the experience"..... That's the way the owner should go,the 12 th man concept as your leading headline baby..of course you can put all your bells and whistles on it, wifi, big screens, etc..

    It's a revolutionary idea that I hope noone ever gets except us.
     
  5. Frumundah Finnatic

    Frumundah Finnatic U Mad Miami?

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    Shocking that you would post that.
     
  6. Ozzy

    Ozzy Premium Member Luxury Box

    Fans don't care what ESPN thinks about us. This happpens in plenty of arenas and ESPN always wants to make a big deal out of Miamians doing it. Who cares? We're used to it....

    The Heat fan is just fine. Top 3 in the NBA right now.
     
  7. Lee2000

    Lee2000 Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    Some might say it is a sports town about as much as Atlanta is. I don't know. I do agree it is an entertainment town. And in some ways more like a LA.
     
  8. Frumundah Finnatic

    Frumundah Finnatic U Mad Miami?

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    They are absolutely ****ty fans.
     
  9. Justright

    Justright Banned

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    Why? Do you think I made them all leave? Dude, more than 200 people left...a lot more.

    I'm happy for the 2,000 or so Heat fans who left with 30 seconds left. No traffic!— Dan Wetzel


    So many people have left that I'm honestly embarrassed for this city. — Dan Le Batard Show
     
  10. djphinfan

    djphinfan Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    See I see residual affects to the culture depending on what type of culture you want to be, when You see Chris bosh coming out acting disgusted with their own fans, those kind of things creep back into the future and prohibit you from truly becoming a great sports town, but if you don't care of becoming a great sports town and you don't see monetary advantages that tie into it all, then yeah fu&$it, it don't matter..
     
  11. Sethdaddy8

    Sethdaddy8 Well-Known Member

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    This is one discussion I never thought was worth having. Which city's fans suck? Simple. Any city that's not your city.

    People, as a whole, as a mass, always suck.


    Sent from my iPad
     
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  12. Ozzy

    Ozzy Premium Member Luxury Box

    A whooping 200 to 300 people walked out with 28 seconds left. Big f'n deal. Bosh would have never known about it had the people not tried to get in to watch the overtime. It's not a big deal. There is absolutely nothing wrong with the culture of Heat fans. Are they the best? Na, but they're damn good, damn loud and that's allright.
     
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  13. djphinfan

    djphinfan Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    So your fine that we are a punchlne?, cause just in case your not paying attention over the years at the national narrative, thats what we are..you like to dismiss it as no big deal, i think it sucks for everyone involved, the good news, your right about heat fans, their not too bad for having the best players in the world and a wonderful arena..Much better than the dolphin situation.
     
  14. Frumundah Finnatic

    Frumundah Finnatic U Mad Miami?

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    Thats not what I said at all.

    And where did Wetzel get that information? Who is he and why havent I heard of him? Is it because he is a hack?
     
  15. djphinfan

    djphinfan Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    The one guy who is respected, and who I think is a great asset to Miami, and excellent at what he does, and never really cares about stuff like this, is embarrassed..

    That's not good publicity,
     
  16. vt_dolfan

    vt_dolfan Season Ticket Holder Club Member

    You know what......heres my two cents. Yes Miami is a sports town. Its just a different sports town. You cant compare Miami to say..Pittsburgh...or St. Louis. Miami's population is much more transient. It also has a very big latin community. I think we should quit trying to compare it to other cities and just go with it.
     
  17. Fineas

    Fineas Club Member Luxury Box

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    I agree that it wasn't completely out of reach. I stayed in my seat. I always stay till the end. But if they were down 12 with 30 seconds left I probably wouldn't have stayed to watch the end and the Spurs championship celebration.

    My point is just that this was not unique to Miami -- it happens everywhere. If there is no big comeback nobody ever says anything about it. And because of the championship celebration I think it is more understandable in a way when it happens in a potentially championship winning game for the visiting team.
     
  18. Fineas

    Fineas Club Member Luxury Box

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    I love LeBatard on the Heat. But he is certainly no stranger to hyperbole.
     
  19. Fineas

    Fineas Club Member Luxury Box

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    Boston fans are like fans everywhere. Yes, they can be very "fair weathered.". But people almost always consider Boston a great sports town. If they aren't one, what cities are? What cities regularly sell out every game for every team in every sport, no matter how good the team is? What stadium/arena is at full capacity in the last minute of a game in which the home team is down by multiple scores?
     
  20. MikeHoncho

    MikeHoncho -=| Censored |=-

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    The MVP chants for a Laker back in 07...

    Sent from my phone using Fapatalk 2
     
  21. Coral Reefer

    Coral Reefer Premium Member

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    Back in Miami
    Respected? Lebatard is a jackarse.
    He's your typical new wave "journalist" that latches on to anything that can stir up emotion regardless of validity or importance.
    He made a name for himself throwing race bait issues around and riling up the masses against each other.
    He's one of the bad ones..... which is why he's made it.

    The issue of whether S. FL. is a sports town or not is absurd.
    As I've said before, S. FL. isn't the best sports town because it has some unique challenges.
    That said, were far from the worst.
    When teams have some type of entertainment value to offer, fans will show up.
     
  22. Fineas

    Fineas Club Member Luxury Box

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    But even in Pittsburgh and St. Louis, fans don't show up when they suck and fans leave early when games seem out of reach. The Pirates have had many years in which their attendance was bottom 5 in league at an average of only around 50% of capacity. When the Penguins have been bad, e.g., 2003-04, their attendance was the worst in the NHL. The Rams are bottom 3 in the NFL in attendance virtually every year, not only in total attendance but % of capacity. So even with its transient population and large Latin community, Miami fans have still supported the Dolphins better than St. Louis fans have supported the Rams (even after having lost the Cardinals due largely to lack of support -- in 1986, the last non-strike year before they moved, Cardinals attendance was never higher then 50,000 for any home game and was under 36,000 for 5 home games).
     
  23. PhinsRDbest

    PhinsRDbest Transform and Transcend

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    the next dimension
    Define "sports town".
     
  24. PhinishLine

    PhinishLine Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    I would define a sports town as a town where sports and its teams are ingrained into the culture of the town itself regardless of performance. The entire state of Texas, Alabama, Cleveland, Boston, Indiana, Pennsylvania are all sports STATES. Then you have cities like NYC, Florida Panhandle, Seattle, Greenbay, and the like that I would consider sports towns. The DC metro area maybe.

    EDIT: Sorry, meant Indiana not Illinois.
     
  25. Frumundah Finnatic

    Frumundah Finnatic U Mad Miami?

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    Or when they all walked out of the wildcat game at the end of the half.
    Someone post that .gif
     
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  26. djphinfan

    djphinfan Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    I think the media consciously and unconsciously picks on Miami sports teams, I also think there were to many people that left relative to the type of situation it was, I realize that it happens everywhere but I don't think that amount would of left in other sports town if in that same situation, I think it would take a bit more of dire circumstances.
     
  27. djphinfan

    djphinfan Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    I'm not gonna go into that deep when it comes to lebatard, I don't look at him as an analyst of sports in the way i like my sports talk on radio, he's just good witty funny entertainment and that's as far as I go.
     
  28. PhinishLine

    PhinishLine Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    Lebetard owes a great deal to Papi.
     
  29. djphinfan

    djphinfan Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    why are we considered the worst though in terms of perception?, is it jealously? Is it that the outside world sees our fans behavior over the course of time and grows a disdain for them in that sense, so then the hyperbole comes in waves?, is it because we're known for having a lot of beautiful people and the beach and seriously, just downright jealousy?
     
  30. djphinfan

    djphinfan Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    imo that is an educated fanbase that understands how to behave so your team gets every advantage it can.
     
  31. Fineas

    Fineas Club Member Luxury Box

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    The "regardless of performance" part is where almost all of those fall apart. As I mentioned before, Pittsburgh has had virtually league-worst attendance for the Pirates and Penguins when those teams have been bad. The Sixers were at only 82% capacity at home last year, which put them in the bottom 10 of the NBA. In 2011, the sixers were dead last at 72% capacity. The Cleveland Indians have the absolute worst home attendance in the MLB this year (yes, even worse than the Marlins) despite actually being good. Cavs attendance has been bad since LeBron left. When the Celtics sucked, so did their attendance. When the Patriots sucked, their attendance was laughable (i.e., below 20,000 for some games in the early 90s). As much of a basketball state as Indiana is, Pacers attendance has been in the bottom 3 of the NBA when they have been bad (e.g., 2006-7, 2009-10). Hell, they were last in the NBA in attendance in 2011-12 despite being a very good team. Astros attendance has been among the worst in MLB the last few years. When they were bad, the same was true of the Rangers. The Dallas Stars have had some pretty good teams, but fan support has not been good. Alabama has no pro sports teams. Sure they support their major college football teams pretty well for 6 home games a year, but they don't even support their college basketball teams very well (roughly 66% capacity). The Florida Panhandle has never had a pro sports team. Jacksonville is as close as it gets and Jaguars support has been pretty weak. Seattle lost the Sonics in part due to lack of fan support. Mariners attendance has been very bad when they have not been a very good team. Washington has never supported the Wizards very well and interest in the Caps or Nationals is pretty lukewarm, at best, unless those teams are really good. Green Bay has one team to support for 8 home games a year and they have been good for a very long time. Despite its massive population, NYC supports most of its teams only when they are good. Look at Mets attendance in recent years, or even Yankees attendance in 91-92, or Nets attendance for most of their time in NJ (where they played as close to NYC as the NY football teams).

    The bottom line is that no city (with the possible exception of GB which has just one team to support for 8 home games a year) supports its teams well "regardless of performance" and therefore no city would qualify as a sports town by that definition. And when you go back to the early 90s when the Packers were bad for a few seasons in a row, attendance was down then too. They used to play 2 games a year or so at Milwaukee County Stadium and those games often weren't at capacity.
     
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  32. djphinfan

    djphinfan Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    To me the correlation that is strong in this subject is the venue, if the venue is built right, those cities, teams will have a better reputation as a fanbase..
     
  33. PhinishLine

    PhinishLine Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    I think attributing being "ingrained with the culture" and attendance isn't an accurate reflection. Attendance will slip if the team doesn't do well. That's just a fact. But the city of Pittsburgh rides or dies with the Penguins and the Pirates. Yeah. they'll talk bad about them, but that's still their team. Its still Penguin territory. It's still Pirate territory. Pittsburgh owns those teams. You have the hallowed Quarterback ground there. I don't get that vibe from Miami. If you aren't a winner....we lose interest and go follow something else that wins until the Dolphins start winning again, save for us few that are gathered here I guess. Pittsburgh, Cleveland, these cities have what you describe as "rabid" fanbases. Miami doesn't have that. It has nothing to do with attendance. Hell....Pittsburgh fans watch the game in 30 degree weather with snow and will even take their shirts off. Miami fans will leave the game because its too hot or rainy as if it is only rainy and hot in the stadium. Two Halls of Fame are located in Ohio, along with one of the most storied and rabid collegiate fanbases. This isn't just about pro sports. This isn't just about attendance. I think the fact that the discussion only resides at the "professional" level is telling of a sports town. How ingrained is your culture in AAU.....college sports.....high school sports. These things make you a sports town. It's not just about your franchises' health and bottomline.
     
  34. Fineas

    Fineas Club Member Luxury Box

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    No way to prove it either way, but I think a lot of people would have left in that circumstance from any arena in any city. Again, I really believe a lot of the people leaving were not leaving because they were fair weather fans or "not real" fans, but because they are very real fans who didn't want to see the Spurs celebrate on our home court. In 2006, I went to Game 3 with one of the guys with whom I used to split my Heat tix. The Heat were down 2-0 in the series and were down 13 with 6 minutes left. The guy I shared the tix with left and Wade and the Heat went on that historic comeback to win the game and eventually the series. The guy just couldn't take it. There wouldn't have been a championship award ceremony as it was only Game 3, but he just couldn't take it. Not because he wasn't a real fan. The guy practically had a heart attack and/or aneurysm watching that game. Of course, he will never live down having left that game and there will never be a time that I see him that I don't mention it. But it wasn't because he was a casual fan or didn't care about the team. For most of the people who left on Tuesday, I think it was the same kind of thing.
     
  35. Fineas

    Fineas Club Member Luxury Box

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    I don't know if that is true. Camden Yards was built right, but attendance in recent years has been poor to mediocre (even in a very good season like last year). From what I understand, Raymond James Stadium is a very good venue but Bucs attendance in recent years has been poor. Etc.
     
  36. Fineas

    Fineas Club Member Luxury Box

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    You're not supporting your team if you are not going to the games. When your attendance is the very worst in the league, you don't get to claim to have a great, or rabid, fan base. At least not in my book. And although I don't have the ratings figures, I'd bet that in those seasons when Pirates or Penguins attendance has been at the bottom of their leagues the TV and radio ratings were bad too. Wax poetic all you like about the rabid fanbases in Ohio, but color me unimpressed. As I mentioned, Indians attendance is the worst in MLB and lower than the Marlins. The Cavs are second worst in the NBA in terms of % of capacity. The Browns and Bengals are in the bottom 10 of the NFL in % of capacity. Etc. Cavs local TV ratings dropped 53% after LeBron left. Think about that -- they lose one player (albeit the best in the world) and 53% fewer people in Cleveland watch Cavs games. If people aren't going to the games or even watching them on TV, how exactly are they supporting it? How are those great sports towns?

    If you want to include college sports (which I think are a different creature, but . . .) then I think you have to at least be consistent about it. If Pittsburgh is such a great sports town, why is support for the Pittsburgh Panthers so weak, for both football and basketball. Ohio State gets great support because it is one of the largest universities in the country and has generally had good teams. But what about all the other colleges in Ohio?
     
  37. PhinishLine

    PhinishLine Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    Oh well. Guess you can't be a sports town if you don't have pro stadiums in your backyard.

    Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 4 Beta
     
  38. Fineas

    Fineas Club Member Luxury Box

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    Well, yeah. Pretty much.

    College sports are different. Towns that only have college sports have a captive audience, a small number of games per year (relative to pro sports), and a culture of school spirit and support that is not really about the sports. In college towns, a lot of people go to the games and support the college team because there isn't much else to do and because it is an event. It's a party. And it is also generally within walking distance of most students. A very large number of the students at the game are not there for the sport they are there for the event. There is obviously some of that in some pro cities too, with places like Miami, LA, NY, etc. being more "event towns" than some others.

    All that being said, I don't think it really matters whether we agree on whether college sports-only towns are true sports towns because even if you think they are, they cannot be compared straight up to metropolitan areas with pro teams and pro team ticket prices (as opposed to steeply discounted student ticket prices).
     
  39. WhiteIbanez

    WhiteIbanez Megamediocremaniacal

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    Miami is town full of fair weather bandwagon jumpers. If I had a dollar for every time I hear "if they start winning the fans will show up"
    That is an issue about the casual fans who don't really care about the team. It's just a scene man.
    Then their are those fans who only show because of a certain player. Remember the ratio of Marino fans to actual die hard Dolphin fans.
    I don't have the exact numbers but those empty orange seats sure do reflect my take on it all.
    It is a fair weather city as far as the fans.
    Not a good sports town.
     
  40. djphinfan

    djphinfan Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    what was our reputation for cane and dolphin fans when we played in the orange bowl.
     

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