Never Thought I Would Say This But...

I held off on posting about this because I really wanted to think through the reasons this happened. I tried to tell myself that there were valid reasons for something this ridiculous to occur but I can't get my head around it. The truth that I must admit is that we Philadelphia fans are perhaps getting away with a reputation of dedication that might not be true. I say that as a full blooded fan myself. I say that as someone who attends multiple games across multiple sports each year and lives in the city. I say that as someone who has so much pride in my fanhood that I get genuinely upset when others give up. Game 6 against the Pistons drew a crowd of 14,000. That is a slap in the face to our reputation as being hardcore, dedicated fans. The final game of the season where the Sixers could have pushed it to Game 7 and gone down swinging harder and a lot of people evidently didn't care. The arena was empty and it set the tone for the game. Here is a picture I took toward the end of the game where more people started leaving. I want you to look at that and tell me if you're happy that it was not that much more full for a playoff game.I personally was mad the whole game about this and never expected people to give up on the Sixers like they had. I know the theory that Detroit is one of the worst draws in the league as an opponent because they lack star quality or an exciting type of game. I don't care about THEM, I care about US. I went to 20 games this year starting way back when there were zero expectations. I got to see a lot of exciting games where we fought and guys matured and we made a run. Are we so far removed from 2001 that we don't care about the Sixers anymore? It can't be money. Basketball is the second cheapest ticket to baseball. And I don't want to hear that it's the NBA when the NBA has received huge ratings and is the second most popular game worldwide to soccer. Stop passing the buck. This is about fan dedication. The Knicks, Heat and Bulls were all within the top 10 in attendance figures this season and they had AWFUL years. In fact those three teams combined only had 8 more wins than the Sixers this season. We often like to laugh at cities like Atlanta who can't sell out playoff games in many sports and wonder how that could ever happen. Well apparently it's happening right here in our own city. I knew a lot of people who bought tickets to Game 6 just because there was a buzz about the Sixers and it would be fun to see them win. That's the spirit that apparently a large group of people need to find again.