Attendance

Another playoff game, another blown call....everyone seems to think replay will solve this, and maybe it will...but I don't think totally, because, as with the NFL, there will be something about irrevocable or clear evidence and it will serve to enmesh the original call...no matter what.  I guess I am ok with this, but..not that much.

http://www.coolcleveland.com/blog/2013/09/how-sprawl-has-hurt-indians-attendance/

Aaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrggggggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...

I always get a kick out of these things, because they misrepresent the symptons of the disease of the cause; the commentor on the bottom is correct; sprawl wasn't caused by highways or roads or some evil legislators; the city -- urban core -- simply became unlivable for a lot of people, like families with children, and they left.  I mean, yes, it is convenient to live five minutes from work, but...if you have to spend X on private schools, your insurance is higher because of crime, you're afraid to let the kids out of the house because of the neighborhood pusher, and some sketchy Section 8 types are next door...well, it's not very convenient to live in the urban core.

The fact that the highways were used to accelerate this...well, they did, but if they had NOT been there, would people have moved?  Of course.  I always think of "Oregon Trail;" I mean, people went 3,000 miles in covered wagon through Indian country, pestilence, famine, desert, mountains...to try and make a better life for their families.  IN A WAGON.  Do you really think Americans mind a 40-minute drive in a climate-controlled car with (now) unlimited entertainment options?  And, with the flexibility revolution in work...I mean, I can avoid a LOT of the mess if I desired to work at odd times.  Anyways, people have moved from the core...

But it doesn't mean that they don't want to come to games.  Tickets are expensive; I know ALL of the teams use dynamic pricing, but when you are 28th in attendance...well, maybe you need a new tack.  All the casino parking has jacked up prices downtown.  I used to pay $4 to park, now it is $10.  Tickets are $24 or so...God forbid you want to eat or drink something, or if you have kids, because they need seats and they eat and drink like nothing (or nothing, worst of all).  And there are many other entertainment options, including staying home and watching the game on the plasma screen.  To say nothing of the fact that amid all of this Hope and Change...well, cash is tight for a lot of people.