Philly not as big a hockey town as it is thought to be?

alrusso

Registered User
Mar 26, 2007
101
0
agree

By all means explain. Please talk about how, outside of the 1985-86 super bowl fever, the Patriots were ever, from 1967-1994, the favored team in Boston over the Bruins. The Patriots were about 6 years old in 1967 when Orr showed up...the Bruins had already been here for 40 years and though they stunk in the early to mid 60's they had a solid home here.
But anyway...please address the latter Sullivan years and the Kiam/Orthwein years of the Pats and the dearth of TV coverage in the late 80's and early 90's (which would cause a full scale riot now but was little more than a "that sucks but so do the Pats" type of stir) at the time. I'd love to hear it from a different angle. The Pats were ALWAYS well liked, that's not even a question, and they probably never got as low as the Bruins are now--even with Rod Rust and the near move to St. Louis.
But the Bruins were always a bit more prominent in the years I can speak to (1967-94). They were not like the Sox or Bird's Celtics but generally, always ahead of the Pats until the Krafts took over. It should be noted that the the Bruins were about as big here in the early 70's with Orr as the Red Sox are nowadays. This is not hyperbole. Plenty of actual natives who were there and are on this board can attest as well.
Sure, yeah, it's possible I missed something but I'm not listening to someone unless they were here or are completely familiar with the entire Boston sports scene for several years before the Kraft's showed up and the Garden closed. You'll have to give me examples and tell me something I didn't see as a fan of both teams all those years.


I've followed the Boston sports scene for 35 years and I think you pretty much have it nailed. However, all things being equal, all the teams competing for the title today in 2007, the Bruins would be fighting for 3rd with the Celtics.
 

ColoradoHockeyFan

Registered User
Feb 17, 2005
9,368
0
Denver area
Minnesota:
Vikings
Twins
Gopher hockey
Wild
Timberwolves
high school hockey
Gopher basketball/football

thats the order I see it in Minnesota right now.
That's probably fairly accurate. You are definitely right about the top two, Vikings and Twins, and there is probably a pretty big gap after that. For all of the remaining teams, it would be interesting to see some actual ratings data to try and place them in order. For example, do you happen to have any numbers that would allow a comparison between Gopher hockey, Wild, and Timberwolves? I'm guessing they all fall somewhere in the 2 range for regular season TV ratings, give or take a point, but that's just a guess.
 

koh19

Registered User
May 19, 2006
1,175
2
Fribourg
I personally think that hockey is number one in Detroit. When I was there this Christmas, after a minnesota-detroit game (28th December if I remember correctly), I was walking back to the parking area and about 3 different people stopped me and asked me what the score was and how they played, I'm not kidding. One guy who stopped me even had a tigers jacket on.
 

ColoradoHockeyFan

Registered User
Feb 17, 2005
9,368
0
Denver area
I personally think that hockey is number one in Detroit. When I was there this Christmas, after a minnesota-detroit game (28th December if I remember correctly), I was walking back to the parking area and about 3 different people stopped me and asked me what the score was and how they played, I'm not kidding. One guy who stopped me even had a tigers jacket on.
Actually, women's softball is number one in Detroit. Because one time, when I was there, there were two people sitting at a table talking about a women's softball game. I'm not kidding... and one of them even had a Tigers hat on!
 

Bear of Bad News

Your Third or Fourth Favorite HFBoards Admin
Sep 27, 2005
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26,528
almost funny....:shakehead

He's right, though. Anecdotal evidence, particularly with the small biased sample size you used, means absolutely nothing here.

Besides, why do you find it unusual that when walking between an NHL arena and the parking area, someone would ask you about hockey? What else were they going to ask about - bus schedules?
 

Bear of Bad News

Your Third or Fourth Favorite HFBoards Admin
Sep 27, 2005
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Public transportation is #1 in Detroit.

True story - I was waiting for the bus today, and someone asked me if I knew what time the Denver bus came. He was even wearing a Yankees hat!

The Denver bus is the number-one sport in Colorado.
 

ColoradoHockeyFan

Registered User
Feb 17, 2005
9,368
0
Denver area
almost funny....:shakehead
I thought it was decent.

Come on, what do you expect? As if the usual anecdotal evidence offered all too often on this board isn't bad enough, you managed to top it all by telling us how you were asked for the score of the Wings game while walking to your car from the Wings game.

I'll contend that your post was funnier than mine.
 

GSC2k2*

Guest
True story - I was waiting for the bus today, and someone asked me if I knew what time the Denver bus came. He was even wearing a Yankees hat!

The Denver bus is the number-one sport in Colorado.
The Denver bus WOULD be the number one sport in colorado, but Bettman is screwing it up. Bettman really isn't a "bus guy".
 

trenton1

Bergeron for Hart
Dec 19, 2003
13,504
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So let's see some statistics instead of just "trust me, it's true and all of my friends agree".

You called me out first and gave no stats yourself and not even an attempt at an explanation.
By now, you would have already told where it was you lived here in Boston and given any kind of rebuttal if you had one. I may not have much, but you have nothing at all.
 

Bear of Bad News

Your Third or Fourth Favorite HFBoards Admin
Sep 27, 2005
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You called me out first and gave no stats yourself and not even an attempt at an explanation.
By now, you would have already told where it was you lived here in Boston and given any kind of rebuttal if you had one. I may not have much, but you have nothing at all.

You're the one who made the claim, not me. Burden of proof and all that.

And if I told you where I lived in Boston, that would be anecdotal evidence (and not facts). Wasn't I clear enough about that already?
 

trenton1

Bergeron for Hart
Dec 19, 2003
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You're the one who made the claim, not me. Burden of proof and all that.

And if I told you where I lived in Boston, that would be anecdotal evidence (and not facts). Wasn't I clear enough about that already?

I made the claim because I lived in, and observed, the environment for all of those years. You flatly told me "it wasn't true" and I asked for any kind of explanation to hear your take on it and you won't elaborate. I'm well aware that this isn't science, doctor. It's just observation. But I did live in Boston all those years and still do. On the North Shore it was all about the Bruins until at least 1994 the Patriots were lower on the pole. Did you live here? If so, whereabouts and what was the interest like in your neck of the woods here? I'm actually interested in your observation since neither one of us is going to be able pull out actual stats on such a thing.
 

Bear of Bad News

Your Third or Fourth Favorite HFBoards Admin
Sep 27, 2005
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I'm actually interested in your observation since neither one of us is going to be able pull out actual stats on such a thing.

I'd be willing to bet that someone here could find Boston-area NFL and NHL television ratings for the period in question.
 

Jester

Registered User
Jul 9, 2004
34,076
11
St. Andrews
Don't get me wrong, the Flyers do have their share of fans who treat them #1 like I do and many other people, and they've had great attendance all things considered, but in the big picture the Flyers are a blip on the radar aside from 4 months a year - the 2 months before and after the NFL Draft (let me tell you, there's A LOT of Eagles fans who all of a sudden become draft experts come April).

says the person with the minnesota wild image in their avatar and a constant observance of the LA Kings. sports bygamists don't necessarily have the best point of view...

the Flyers are far from a "blip" as sports go in philly, and easily the second most vocal group of fans in the city of philadelphia (2nd best TV ratings in philly based on stats i've seen). Philly also generally draws extremely good TV ratings for non-philly hockey games... the best ratings for ANY city in the US for a cup final a couple years ago.

you wanna worry about the shadow of the NFL... Detroit is a "hockey" city because the Lions are incompetent, not because they like the Red Wings more than philly does.
 

Bear of Bad News

Your Third or Fourth Favorite HFBoards Admin
Sep 27, 2005
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Will that include those Pats games that weren't even televised in the late 80's early 90's?

Sure. It's not always as simple as you might think to sell out a football-sized stadium, and the NFL blackout rules are the NFL blackout rules.

So, where'd did you live here anyway?

First tell me when I stated or implied that I lived in the Boston area.
 

trenton1

Bergeron for Hart
Dec 19, 2003
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Sure. It's not always as simple as you might think to sell out a football-sized stadium, and the NFL blackout rules are the NFL blackout rules.



First tell me when I stated or implied that I lived in the Boston area.


It's more than obvious that you never have. I just want you to say it.
 

Wooty

Registered User
Dec 31, 2006
4,029
3
Harbor City, CA
I am willing to bet that the StL Rams and the Oak Raiders are more popular in Los Angeles then the Kings or Ducks or the Kings and Ducks combined.

There is also the Chargers who are pretty popular.

The NFL is so much more "culture" then the NHL that there is no chance of it being otherwise.
 

Bear of Bad News

Your Third or Fourth Favorite HFBoards Admin
Sep 27, 2005
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It's more than obvious that you never have. I just want you to say it.

It's not relevant, and I never brought it up. At least your agenda here is finally obvious. Or "more than obvious", as you seem to prefer.
 

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