-=> Quoting Ed Grinnell to Scott Zolnoski <=-
 EG> Right, however, the Indians drew 2.1 million to their old park. Those
 EG> years of building a winner and signing their core players convinced
 EG> the fans that they were committed to winning and THAT is what brought
 EG> the fans (and the increased revenue) back. 
I can't argue with that; after all, it seems that every team (especially
those "rebuilding") are trying to mimic the Cleveland example.  However,
I also think that Cleveland has been lucky, in that the young players they
signed to long-term contracts have continued to produce.  After all, the
Royals would feel like real chumps if they'd given Bob Hamelin a big
contract after his rookie season...
 EG> The Packers sold out their games in Milwaukee and only the fact that
 EG> they didn't get all the revenue from the games forced them to stop
 EG> playing in Milwaukee. The Brewers drew 1.9-2.0 mil when they were
 EG> winning but once they started letting people go and Selig kept whining
 EG> about the stadium, the fans just stopped going to the games. 
I realize that this is the baseball conference, so I won't EVEN get
started on football.  But I will say that after the league allowed
the Browns to move to Baltimore, I have lost a bit of my enthusiasm for
the NFL.
 EG> You can't blame them. I consider a person a fair weather fan if he
 EG> only comes out when the team is winning and even at that, won't come
 EG> out until late in the season. I don't think that I'd say the same
 EG> thing about the situation that you're talking about. You're seeing the
 EG> CORE of the fans staying at home and that happens when their team
 EG> jerks them around (Even the most die-hard fan gets fed up with the
 EG> same song and dance). The Royals have been losing their core, not
 EG> their fair weather fans. When they dipped below 20,000 fans last year,
 EG> that was the first time that it had happened since 1975. Even during
 EG> the losing years that they had from 1976-1991, they still managed to
 EG> keep above 23,000 most of the time but in the past 5 years, they've
 EG> been dropping steadily. 
I think that a lot of KC fans lost faith after the free-agent spree the
Royals went on in the late 80s and early 90s.  I know that *I* lost a lot
of faith in the front office, and that includes the old GM Schueroltz
(incorrectly spelled, I realize, but I'm too lazy to look it up! :) ).  The
Royals blew a LOT of money on free-agents that produced little of value
for the team.  Before that, the Royals really were the kind of team that
built from within and retained their talent.  I really hope that they
can return to that method with their current crop of young players; I think
they've got a shot in a few years if they can retain players like
Damon, Tucker, Rosado (although 10 starts does not an ace make!), and
Goodwin.
... It wasn't a rock; it was a rock lobster! -The B-52's  
--- Blue Wave v2.12 [NR]
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