Unless you actually go to the games and have to deal with having just spent $50 to see your favorite team look like an AHL team, it's hard to fault the fans for any reaction they might have.

I pay $30 for a ticket that requires 20-20 vision to even read the names on the jerseys, $15 for a train ride and a couple bucks for a program that has got to be one of the worst in the league. Even THE DEVILS one is better, at least it has the date on the front and isn't one of like 5 or 6 they use all the time.

You've got guys like Bobby Holik, who when all you ask of them is a simple autograph after a game, they walk right past you without saying anything and nearly run you over. And surely he can speak, we've all heard him criticize his team all year long. Maybe he should be coaching instead, with some of his comments like "It's about time Lundmark played with Jagr," etc. I'm not saying I disagree with him, it's just pointless to not keep that kind of stuff in the room.

You've got ushers at the Garden who won't even let you try to touch gloves with one of the few heroes you have left and guys who check your tickets if you have the audacity to move down during the third period in a game where nearly entire sections are empty, but yet the attendance is listed at 18,200 or darn close to it.

There is no way the frustration of a fan who actually spends his hard earned money, who actually has to scrimp and save for every ticket he buys, can be accurately explained to someone who just watches the games on TV and criticizes his or her team from the comfort of their couch.
I'm sure those people scream and yell and cuss at the TV, just like I'm allowed to do from the comfort of my hard plastic seat that I'll be slouched over in after watching my team get clobbered by the friggin Penguins of all teams.

I honestly have been having a lot more fun going to Devils games lately. I don't really root for either team playing, but at least I know I'll get to see at least one team playing good hockey. The ushers there are even laid back and...GASP...let you go right against the glass to take pictures during warmups.

Perhaps my point is that it isn't just the team that has to change for the Rangers to succeed. Perhaps it's that the game, now more than ever, should be about the fans. But really, I think it's that if I paid $50 and have dealt with such a colossal comedy of errors called the 2003-2004 season, I should be able to vent my frustration at the game and shouldn't have anyone on my ass because of it.

-Mike-

I just read the thread on this on the boards, which I do not participate in, by the way.

I find it really hard to believe that you think the fans were booing the officer in any way or booing his speech. Glen Sather's name came up and they jokingly booed for a couple seconds. Big deal. It was not to disrespect the police officer and I'm very surprised that people would take it that way.

As for the booing at the end of the game, the team lost. They didn't look that good. You want the fans to cheer? Wheeeeeeeeeeeeee, we lost 4-2, beers on me! I assume you're suggesting everyone just be indifferent to what they've just paid to see.

If you're watching on TV, you can just turn it off. If you're there, it's different.

I'm a 21 year-old college kid who loves hockey and I'd like to consider myself pretty knowledgable about the game. I don't drink at games, nor do I drink under any circumstances...so I'm not one of those guys either. All I ask of "my team" is that they give a consistent effort and at least look like they're somewhat interested in winning. If that hasn't been the case at the game I went to, and they've lost, I should be able to express my displeasure without incurring the wrath of anyone else.

I love going to games, it's so much different than just watching it on TV. I'll go to games sometimes just to see a certain goalie play or to watch a handful of players. I've travelled by bus over 2,000 miles just to go to a hockey game. I love hockey, I love going, and I hate being blocked in with the people who do indeed just get free tickets from people too pissed at the team to show up.

A lot of the particular players the fans boo are some of the nicer ones. If you didn't go to the games, you wouldn't know that Tom Poti always throws a puck into the stands after warmups and is one of the more talkative ones if you encounter him after a game.

Mike Dunham may not be the best goalie, but he signed for fans after Richter Night and even posed for pictures, so he'll always have my respect for handling himself with class.

Anyways, just because I'm booing after a Ranger loss doesn't mean I'm somehow less knowledgable or less intelligent than the next guy. I don't shout random obscenity laced tirades like some fans do and I certainly don't make any silly comments such as the Lyashenko comment made about Poti. That is in such poor taste that I'm very surprised the guy who said it walked out unharmed.
I'll boo. I'll drop the occasional "you suck." But that's really the extent of it.

Don't block fans like myself in with a lot of the others who basically show up just to boo and scream and think that just because they paid their money to see the game entitles them to say or do whatever they want. There are limits and there is common sense. But in most cases, when alcohol is involved, both of those things go right out in the window and the fans who give NYC a bad name generally fall in that category, the alcohol indulging one.

I love my team, and I'll support them through thick and thin. I just should be "allowed" to let them know what I think every so often, that's all.

Mike

Thanks for your well thought out posts Mike. Civil debate and respecting one another as people even if we don't agree with each other's opinions has become a hallmark of Hockeybird and I appreciate your taking the time to express your side of the story.

That said, I don't buy the argument that fans who pay for tickets to the games are somehow better fans or more entitled than others. When I lived in NY, I generally went to about 10-12 games a season, which was a lot for someone of my age. (I was in High School at the time, earning minimum wage.) These days, I try to make it down to 2-3 games/season with my son which involves not just the price of admission but an entire weekend and travel expenses. I've shelled out for Center Ice so I can watch my team out of market, spent many, many dollars on Ranger's memorabilia and have donated countless hours of my time to this site supporting and, often, criticizing the team.

I'm not saying people should never boo their team or a particular player -- just that there is a time and a place for everything. I did not believe that folks were booing Stephen McDonald but booing during his award ceremony was, in my opinion, poor taste. (Maybe it sounded worse on the radio and its good to get perspective from people who were there -- I did indeed ask for that feedback on the boards, acknowledging that it might not have been as bad as it sounded.)

Booing after the game makes sense if the team has mailed it in but that was not the case with that game. They may not have one but the yopung players, in partyicular, gave a spectacular effort which should have been acknowledged. Had the firesale not occured, again, booing might be in order to express displeasure over the season in general, as most of the culprits would have been presense. Under the circumstances, however, booing at the end of the game sends the wrong message. It says that New Yorkers do not have the patience to tolerate a rebuilding period where hard played losse may be common. It says that the best efforts of our younger players, struggle to extablish themselves and build their confidence, are not good enough.

I've booed at games before (hello Valeri Kamenski) and I've yelled and cursed when I felt it appropriate. We are all justifiably frustrated and the calls for Sather's head have arguably been productive but, as fans, we should think before we boo.