Young: Ranking the Valley sports teams
my vote?
1. Cardinals (always said this was a football town)
2. Diamondbacks
3. Suns
4. Coyotes
Would rather see the Diamondbacks in the #1 spot... How would the rest of you rank the pro sport teams in the valley?
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I would rank them
1. Cards
2. DBacks
3 Suns
4. Sundevils ( or if your a UA fan than UA but in this case I am a Sundevil fan)
5. Coyotes
I know there was no college in the original but I prefer them to the Coyotes.
I'd have ranked the Dbacks #1
before this year’s Super Bowl, and probably put the Cards 3rd, actually. (Again, BEFORE the 2008 NFL season)
Jim Zorn, 55. Sean Miller, 40. AJ Hinch, 34. Notice a pattern here?
Your avatar
left me with no idea you would have gone that way. ;-)
For me, personally, I probably would have put the Cards at #2, both before AND after the SB. I’ve never been a huge basketball fan, and even though I’m a Redskins fan first, I’ve still followed the Cardinals as a casual fan for about the last decade or so. I feel like it makes me a good Arizonan to do so. ;-)
Jim Zorn, 55. Sean Miller, 40. AJ Hinch, 34. Notice a pattern here?
I think it depends on
What they are ranking them for – criteria conspicuous by their absence from the actual post. Popularity? Success? Fan friendliness? You could pretty much pull anything out of the hat there. In terms of personal interest, the Diamondbacks are #1, the Coyotes somewhere in the teens, and the Cards/Suns not on the radar – the Cards probably rank higher, since I have watched the last two games they played, which is two more than I’ve ever watched of the Suns.
"Win, or die" -- Marquise de Merteuil
I'm sorry, but
Phoenix is still the Suns’ town first. The Diamondbacks have certainly had a lot of success in their decade and counting, and the Cardinals have had success…uh, once, but this franchise has been around for more than 40 years and Steve Nash revolutionized the NBA. Yes, this season was a bit down, but even if the past year is the basis for the ranking, no sane person can say the Dbacks had more success or fan support than the Suns.
Dbacks
are 1-0 in world championship opportunities.
Suns are 0-2 in 30 more years.
Jim Zorn, 55. Sean Miller, 40. AJ Hinch, 34. Notice a pattern here?
+1
and then some
"They don't like humanoids in general and homo sapiens in particular. That puts their intelligence in no doubt."
by unnamedDBacksfan on May 12, 2009 9:36 AM EDT up reply actions
The Diamondbacks have certainly had a lot of success in their decade and counting, and the Cardinals have had success…uh, once, but this franchise has been around for more than 40 years and Steve Nash revolutionized the NBA. Yes, this season was a bit down, but even if the past year is the basis for the ranking, no sane person can say the Dbacks had more success or fan support than the Suns.
The “past year” criteria probably hurts the Dbacks more than the Suns. But anyway, in my mind, a franchise with a championship trumps a franchise without. 2001 trumps 40+ years of Suns seasons. So, I think it’d be wrong to say the Suns have had more success IMO. More fan support? Sure. But NOT more success.
Jim Zorn, 55. Sean Miller, 40. AJ Hinch, 34. Notice a pattern here?
Well, I think the IMPORTANT thing
is having won A championship in the past, but yes, the Fish have had more success than the Dbacks.
Jim Zorn, 55. Sean Miller, 40. AJ Hinch, 34. Notice a pattern here?
by DbacksSkins on May 13, 2009 10:36 AM EDT up reply actions
Well...
564-378 (.598), 3 division titles, 9 playoff appearances
913-902 (.503), 4 division titles, 4 playoff appearances
The records for the Suns and Diamondbacks, respectively, dating back to the ‘98 season (this woeful 2009 season for the Dbacks is still in horrendous progress). Yes, it’s easier to get into the NBA playoffs than the MLB ones. But consider this: we won the 2001 title and it was one of the best sports moments of my life. We also won the 2001 title with likely steroid users in the 3 and 4 spots in the lineup (if not elsewhere) and with highly paid talent that crippled our franchise financially once the streamers and balloons were all gone. Was it worth it? Absolutely, but let’s just say the Suns are unable to use a similar process.
This “championship or bust” mentality would dictate that if the Rays had won the World Series last year, their 757-1056 franchise would also be better than the Suns, and I simply don’t see it. But it’s a difference of opinion, so I’ll leave it at that. All I know is that the same mentality led to the Shaq trade that eventually (through many other faults besides O’Neal) destroyed the Suns as contenders.
(NOTE: When I saw people calling out the Dodgers after the Manny suspension to “give back wins” and all that jazz, I thought people should take another look at Gonzalez’s arms as he leaps up the first-base line in Game 7 and maybe reconsider that choice of words.)
If your going on fan support than....
the Suns would be number one as they have had 40+ years to build a fanbase. The DBacks have had about 11 years and it is hard to find anyone that has truly followed the Cards for more than a few seasons. I have to admit that a couple years ago the Suns and DBacks would be switched on my list as watching the Suns play was just fun. If it wasn’t for the Suns exciting play the past few seasons they might have fallen below college sports on my list. Basketball though has been ruined for me since that Tim Donaghy or however the hell you spell his name was caught cheating and since than I have been watching less and less of basketball and found myself not even being interested in basketball anymore.
There's more excitement from the fans
at a Coyotes game than I see from fans at a Suns game. To me, that speaks volumes.
according to many suns fans, as long as the team is “fun” to watch, they are happy and could care less about championships… I wonder if Cub fans say the same thing after all these years?
"They don't like humanoids in general and homo sapiens in particular. That puts their intelligence in no doubt."
by unnamedDBacksfan on May 12, 2009 10:48 AM EDT up reply actions
Always funner to go to a Coyotes game than it is to watch it on TV.
Where with the Suns you get a lot of fans watching them on TV, there also always sold out. My point though was an established fan base. The Suns are really the only professional team in Arizona that has an established fan base.
We will see next year
The last time they missed the playoffs (2001-02) the Suns only sold out one game and that was when MJ was on his last tour with the Wizards. Many of the games that year had a fairly vacant upper-bowl.
When I get sad, I stop being sad and be awesome again. True story.
-Barney Stinson
And how....
Jim Zorn, 55. Sean Miller, 40. AJ Hinch, 34. Notice a pattern here?
by DbacksSkins on May 13, 2009 10:36 AM EDT up reply actions
Well of course
Which ever team is winning gets the fan’s entertainment dollar. I am just saying that the Suns’ fan isn’t has loyal as your previous post.
When I get sad, I stop being sad and be awesome again. True story.
-Barney Stinson
I never really said they were loyal.
I was trying to say their fan base is more established than any of our other professional teams.
I guess established kind of implies loyal
but I doubt we will ever have loyal fans here unless we do what no team has really ever done and that is have a winning season every season.
I understand what you are saying.
My only point in my post was that there is precedent for Suns fans being as fickle as the rest of the Valley. The Suns have the most fans here and PHX is more of a basketball town than anything else, but they have been known to disappear when things aren’t going great.
When I get sad, I stop being sad and be awesome again. True story.
-Barney Stinson
Certainly today's fans are a bit pathetic.
Bright Side of the Sun has had a number of posts chronicling both their misguided notions for how the franchise should be run and their general apathy when they show up at games (although this is most notable at the seats closest to the court). However, back in the days of the Madhouse on McDowell, this was a different story entirely.
Back in the days of the
Madhouse on McDowell, it was actually a lot of fun to go see the NBA
"They don't like humanoids in general and homo sapiens in particular. That puts their intelligence in no doubt."
by unnamedDBacksfan on May 13, 2009 2:23 PM EDT up reply actions
I saw a few games there
in 1990, in the middle of the Suns’ resurgence from the terrible drug years of the late-’80s. That team really had everything together — Chambers, KJ, Majerle and Hornacek could each go off on any given night, and that tiny enclosed building was rocking at each home game. The Barkley trade pushed us to the finals and really into the national awareness, but the four years before he arrived were still very good.
Tom Chambers scoring 55 points
in a game where we had over a 100 points; at HALF TIME.
Dan Majerle getting booed as his name was called out at the draft and Cotton saying we would all regret feeling that. Then watching Thunder Dan with a monstrous slam dunk over Manute (sp?) Bol of Golden State in the playoffs.
the first time we BEAT LA to advance in a playoff series in G_d knows how long….
Walter Davis, Larry Nance, got to see them play for us….
those were some good days…
"They don't like humanoids in general and homo sapiens in particular. That puts their intelligence in no doubt."
by unnamedDBacksfan on May 13, 2009 2:55 PM EDT up reply actions
Why the NBA is sinking fast
in the American sports scene:
"They don't like humanoids in general and homo sapiens in particular. That puts their intelligence in no doubt."
by unnamedDBacksfan on May 12, 2009 10:14 AM EDT reply actions
Hmm
A year ago, it would have been an easy Suns/DBacks/Cardinals/Coyotes ranking. Now, I’d probably put the Cardinals at #1, but that’s a very, very precarious spot for them, given the fickle Phoenix fans.
"Sadly, faced with his mother's twisted, yet impeccable logic, Richard Castle's head exploded."
In terms of popularity
the Cardinals are currently #1, and I dont see their local position as particularly precarious. It’s a dynamic ranking and things happen, but there’ll be tremendous interest in the Cardinals, well into next year certainly.
If the FO is the focus of anything, something is seriously wrong with the picture ! - unnamedDBacksfan 2/20/09
Really?
You don’t think a bad season for the Cardinals would drop the interest right back to where it was, say, a year ago?
"Sadly, faced with his mother's twisted, yet impeccable logic, Richard Castle's head exploded."
I think for most people another bad season would drop them.
For most people even now they probably not even at number 1. Bob young says that this state is a football state but I beg to differ, if you talking about college football than maybe but pro football I would have to say no. This state is a basketball state, has been for the last 40 years and probably will be for a long time as the Suns have been the only team to actually have the time and success to build a fan base here.
No
I think a Super Bowl appearance has a healthy shelf life, especially in a rather obvious football town where other teams are perceived to be in decline. The sky high expectations probably wont be objectively met in 2009 (if ever), but embedded in those expectations is enormous hope and excitement.
You know how they say the opposite of love isnt hate, but indifference? If the Cards fall on their face (5-11? Warner injured in preseason,etc), there’ll be alot more “hate” (*ie anger) than indifference, imo. People are invested in this team – it’s players have captured fans’ imaginations, young fans especiially, and I dont see that dramitically dissipating anytime soon.
If the FO is the focus of anything, something is seriously wrong with the picture ! - unnamedDBacksfan 2/20/09
by Diamondhacks on May 12, 2009 8:56 PM EDT up reply actions
edit
there’ll be alot more "hate" (*ie anger engagaged disappointment) than indifference, imo.
If the FO is the focus of anything, something is seriously wrong with the picture ! - unnamedDBacksfan 2/20/09
by Diamondhacks on May 12, 2009 11:16 PM EDT up reply actions
edit
engagaged engaged disappointment
I really have to stop drinking ;-)
If the FO is the focus of anything, something is seriously wrong with the picture ! - unnamedDBacksfan 2/20/09
by Diamondhacks on May 12, 2009 11:18 PM EDT up reply actions
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