Quote:
Originally Posted by polak
Okay but it's hard to win. You need to have a fan base that can suck up 4-5 years of suck and still show up in order to keep a team.
This was the whole argument against Winnipeg in the first place. Almost every market can draw well when the team is hot. It's what happens when the team gets in that rebuild stage that matters. In a bigger city with more money and corporate dollars, you can usually still find people and businesses willing to spend money on games even if the team sucks, but in a small city where money is tight for a lot of people? That's a big ask.
If the only way the Jets can stay profitable is by winning then this was a huge mistake. No team wins forever and very few can do it for longer then 3 or 4 years before regressing back into the rebuild. Infact, you're just as if not more likely to have a failed/extended rebuild ala the Oilers, Panthers or Islanders then to have any sort of prolonged success. Even teams like Calgary and Ottawa have sucked for the better part of a decade minus a couple of bright spots.
Considering the franchise that Winnipeg inherited was a disaster, I'm not surprised that they're having issues putting a good long term team together. I'm also not surprised that a city of under a million isn't going to shell out hundreds of dollars a game to go see a loss.
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Chevy is a chicken gm that won't do anything unless he's forced to do so. Fans in Winnipeg are willing to endure losing to a point provided they see progress. It's been a step back this year. Winnipeg has lots of young assets that could be used to bring in young assets that can help win now. Why drouin is not a jet I don't understand. Why hamonic is not a jet is hard to believe. Preaching patience and staying the course wears thin on fans who need to see some light at the end of the tunnel. Winnipeg cut vets loose who wanted to return and brought in kids that weren't ready. Why they brought back burmistrov is beyond me. What really gets me is that Chevy complains about the rotten core he inherited from Atlanta and instead of moving them out he re-signs them. He's been a total disaster and I don't blame fans there for not re upping on tickets. Chipman needs to stop being loyal and sack him. And that coming from someone who isn't a jets fan.