Comments on Let's Go Birds: Follow up...

WOW ..... In my opinion Andy Kemper in Portland ...

2009-10-14T17:54:19.858-07:00

WOW ..... In my opinion Andy Kemper in Portland is a corperate "yes - man " with little or NO opinions or thoughts. I like the passion and insight, but I agree with Tyler, keep it professional! More money? what does that mean? Are you looking at attendence or % of arena filled? because Medicine Hat only averages 4,006 but it is 100% capacity!

Bob in Vancouver

Who cares about Attendance they won't have any fan...

2009-10-14T06:41:35.487-07:00

Who cares about Attendance they won't have any fans if they keep losing games. That's right they already are little over 3,000 last night.

Tyler, just a correction... Tutt played 3 straight...

2009-10-14T00:19:22.924-07:00

Tyler, just a correction... Tutt played 3 straight games after an ankle injury to begin the season.. he broke his right thumb in practice last week which is why he's been sitting out. He starts practicing again tomorrow.

Hey Tyler! What happened tonight? I didn't get to ...

2009-10-13T22:22:31.998-07:00

Hey Tyler! What happened tonight? I didn't get to the game can you enlighten me? The boys must have been off a little eh?

Brad Haber! first goal of the year.

2009-10-13T21:08:33.815-07:00

Brad Haber!
first goal of the year.

btw... you're still shooting yourself in the foot ...

2009-10-13T15:47:18.175-07:00

btw... you're still shooting yourself in the foot here.

Tbirds Attendance Ranks -

08/09 - 12th
07/08 - 15th
06/07 - 13th
05/06 - 11th
04/05 - 10th
03/04 - 9th

Do I need to continue?

So they haven't been "bottom 5" in any of those seasons.

Want to try again?

Look man... relax. I realize you and I don't agree, but thats OK!

I can't take you seriously though when you aren't coming at me with a more fact based opinion. When you throw things out there like "and they are in the bottom 5 consistently in attendance" and that is just completely 100% false... what am I supposed to think?

I misunderstood then. You said Seattle had "more ...

2009-10-13T15:36:41.285-07:00

I misunderstood then. You said Seattle had "more money" before saying anything about population.

So... my bad...

That still doesn't really mean anything. If anything... being in a big city hurts Seattle... just my opinion.

Go look up median income for Seattle vs. the rest ...

2009-10-13T15:34:14.716-07:00

Go look up median income for Seattle vs. the rest of the cities in the WHL or give me more data on economy is way too different. This go both ways. Do a little research and get back with me.

More money?? Really??? Got any facts for me to bac...

2009-10-13T15:24:25.434-07:00

More money?? Really??? Got any facts for me to back that one up?

So Seattle has more money and a greater population...

2009-10-13T15:23:26.694-07:00

So Seattle has more money and a greater population then the majority of the WHL and they are in the bottom 5 consistently in attendance. That speaks volumes about the product.

The next question is while they have never finishe...

2009-10-13T15:18:29.021-07:00

The next question is while they have never finished last compared to the other teams is that only because of the amount of talent on the team compare with the rest of the US Division. Will need to pull the amount of NHL daft picks that were on the team
06-07
07-08
08-09
Compared to the US teams that finish below them. While we can’t learn everything by that alone a coach with more NHL draft picks should have a better team then one who doesn’t if he is a good coach.

I think this is at least a good argument... backed...

2009-10-13T15:06:10.745-07:00

I think this is at least a good argument... backed by some actual facts.

So I'm not dismissing this as a point of view... certainly valid.

I will also say that you need to have some context to go with the placements. True the teams that "declined" got rid of their coaches but they also always finished 4th or 5th, something that hasn't happened with a Sumner led team.

Also... I totally agree, mediocrity is frustrating... believe me, I'm with you guys on that.... but here is the problem.

Even if I concede that Sumner is only a "mediocre" coach (which I'm not sure I have reached that point of conclusion). Who out there are you going to get who you KNOW is a better coach. It isn't as though there are dozens of super high quality coaches sitting around waiting for a WHL job. (let's not go with the "bench" argument, we don't even know whether Turner wants to be a head coach... so skip that argument).

This is what I'm looking for though. I don't really agree with the conclusion... but I can get down with the notion of the argument.

Since Rob Sumner has been coach compared to rest o...

2009-10-13T15:00:06.303-07:00

Since Rob Sumner has been coach compared to rest of the US Division 04-05-Present.

Seattle
04-05 first
05-06 second
06-07 third
07-08 third
08-09 third

Tri-City
04-05 fourth
05-06 fourth
06-07 second
07-08 first Lost Western Conference final
08-09 first

Spokane
04-05 fifth (coach fired)
05-06 fifth (new coach)
06-07 fourth
07-08 second Won Memorial Cup
08-09 second

Portland
04-05 second
05-06 fifth
06-07 fifth
07-08 fifth (coach not resigned)
08-09 fifth

Everett
04-05 third
05-06 first Lost Western Conference final
06-07 first
07-08 fourth (new coach)
08-09 fourth (coach fired)

So in the US Division Any team that has not gotten better, the coach has been let go with exception of Seattle. Seattle has never been as good as the first year that Rob coached. I will agree they have never been last but is mediocrity OK.
That is the real question.

I'm on the fence in this argument... I am not plea...

2009-10-13T14:48:55.985-07:00

I'm on the fence in this argument... I am not pleased with the product on ice. But I expected that this year.... We all knew the T-birds could not afford a bad season to rebuild at the Key Arena. But now in Kent we can afford to rebuild for a real contending team in the future. I really don't think we need to trash the players for what's going on. Schappert and Neilsen catch most of the flack for basically being 20 year olds.... They aren't top tier players but they are trying to win, we can pick up cast off 20 year olds from other teams and it still won't improve anything on the ice so it's useless.......... On the other hand being a T-birds ticket holder for so long, you can't mask the fact that they T-birds have been the standard of mediocrity in the league forever. And the proof lies in our pretty empty rafters. Do we need a change? Most teams probably would have a long time ago in our situation. I definently see why people are down on Farwell. As for Sumner I think we need to wait and see how the young players turn out. This season was going to be bad we knew this after last year ended. I say kick back and hope the young guys get valuable experience and give us hope for a bright future instead of bashing someone online for giving his thoughts on the T-birds.....Andy Kemper dealt with this the past 3 years for being positive about the Hawks'.... Good luck Tyler your in for a long year.

Thanks Tyler, I too think Farwell is waiting for t...

2009-10-13T14:22:56.932-07:00

Thanks Tyler, I too think Farwell is waiting for the best offer. It would just give me peace of mind to know that! LOL

To Anonymous you are comparing apples and oranges in the attendance. Seating capacity is too different, economy is way too different.

To TBird fan, Nielsen not being a good captain is your opinion, not fact. Pretty much like everything else you posted.

Couple things... One, you still present no "facts"...

2009-10-13T14:20:23.276-07:00

Couple things... One, you still present no "facts". Opinion is not fact.

Two, my point is I couldn't care less whether you pay for tickets or not so that "fact" is irrelevant.

Third, nobody ever said I didn't "like" the opinions of other fans. In fact I openly encourage it... I'm just also encouraging people (you) to articulate intelligent points and try to have supporting evidence to back it up.

FACT is... that neither one of us will ever know whether a team would claim Nielsen or Schappert if they were released because that won't happen. Very convenient to use a hypothetical situation to support your opinion.

Look... I'm not at war with you "anonymous" nor am I at war with anyone else. I'm just saying... let's try to RAISE the level of discourse. Let's try to be better and smarter than "he's stupid, fire him... he sucks trade him". Tbird fans want to claim they are an intelligent bunch... I'm saying... prove it to me "anonymous".

fact is Nielsen is a poor captain and would barely...

2009-10-13T14:15:09.079-07:00

fact is Nielsen is a poor captain and would barely make a 3rd line center. Not a 1st or second line 20. fact is Shappert is a poor defensmen who can hardly skate pass or shoot. Another waste of a 20. Fact is if you put both players on waivers neither one would be claimed by another WHL team. I dont know what kind of blinders you put on when you go to the games but i have whatched the WHL for over 15 years and seen many good players come and go. These two are not good players. All you have to do is watch the on ice verbal communication captains and alternates have with their team. I know you ask if its so bad why do you go? I pay my money to watch hockey because i love WHL hockey. With that said as a fan i contribute to the revenue of my team and as a fan i have the right to voice my displeasure with the on ice perfomance of players on the team. With no fans buying tickets there would be no team in Kent. If you don't like the opinions of other fans i would not suggest having a blog for fans to post comments.

Good... in fact... Great. I'm all for encouraging ...

2009-10-13T13:46:05.972-07:00

Good... in fact... Great. I'm all for encouraging points of view based on facts. You think they should make a change because attendance has been consistently down. Fair enough.

Here is a stat: the attendance is down 29% since ...

2009-10-13T13:22:09.846-07:00

Here is a stat: the attendance is down 29% since 1996-1997 seasons one year after Farwell started sorry could not find attendance for 1995-1996 season compared with 2008-2009. That is a staggering number. But let's not blame the economy its worse if you use the 07-08 season number and it's even worse if you use the 06-07 season number and we have lost a basketball team since then there should be more money to spend on sports. If you produce a sub par team year after year people don't come back but the few die hard.
The moral of the story they need to make a change.