David Staples column on fans complaining about sucking again next year, and it isn’t even September!
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This in from long-time Oilers fan and Twitter humorist Mental Gas @mental_gas, who recently tweeted: “Looking at my Oilers season ticket bill and I am currently regretting renewing my seats. My interest in the team is waning. First time in years I haven’t looked forward to the start of training camp. I hope that changes this season…. I think between the cost, entertainment value and the often negative SM (Social Media) narrative, it’s not a relationship that makes me excited. Muting Oilers made my TL (timeline) a lot more tolerable…that’s not a good sign… The allure of the new arena is gone… I’m actually dreading the start of the season.”
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This pre-amble is my way of saying that when I hear a fan like Mental Gas talking about losing interest in the team, I put a lot of weight in that. I take notice. He’s not a complainer. He’s a loyal and generally optimistic fans. In that way, he’s like the vast majority of folks who follow the Oilers and buy tickets. But it does not surprise me in the last that he’s losing interest. I’m also losing interest. I get it.
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More fan quotes:
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”I hear you. Had to pick up extra shifts this summer to manage them this year. I’m tired and really hope they don’t let us down again… The new arena is a total bust as far as I’m concerned- it has no personality; the rules there are unbearable. The game atmosphere is non existent; no crowd involvement etc. Management doesn’t give a sh*t. We’ve had our tix since 79 – they could have grandfathered in some discount to season tix holders at Rogers. The team stopped caring about the fans the year they started a wait list. They didn’t need to be loyal to us anymore.”
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Even more fan quotes:
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”The org. has stopped connecting with us. The on-ice product no longer draws us in. I wonder what things look like on the same track in 2-3 years, if they stay as is?”
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Hahaha, what will it look like in 2-3 years? What about the last decade?
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The only thing that’s going to fix the problem is winning. I get a sense that if the winning doesn’t happen fast, the first to pay the price will be coach Todd McLellan and GM Peter Chiarelli, but it’s also the case that the wrath of the fans will turn on Katz. He is the common denominator of this miserable losing era of Oilers hockey. Of course, no one can fire the owner, and I’m also going to suggest that Katz has taken a number of solid steps to improve the management structure of the team, such as bringing in a businessman in Bob Nicholson to run the show and hiring both an experienced manager and an experience coach.
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Oh yeah, been a big success so far.
https://edmontonjournal.com/sports/h...team-is-waning