That is what it is all about. As ever, I am getting to bed a little later than I want to, but this time was because I was talking to some new hockey fans, Frank and Rose. Aside from being curious about my trip, they wanted to know more about the game that hooked them into being season ticket holders. I am not guru of the sport, but these guys were asking me about the game, and telling me about what made them passionate about the sport. It’s one of the problems the hockey blogosphere and hockey fans have, that being smart and superior is more important than bringing someone into the conversation. It’s worse in places like online forums and hockey hotbeds.
Places like Rapid City, SD, Ontario, CA, Ft. Collins, CO, Stockton, CA, and smaller towns where booster clubs are necessary, size is trumped by desire, and teams are scrambling for fans because they know where their bread is buttered know what the real deal is. You can not turn your back on the first season jersey buyer, the guy who brings their friend to a game because “you have to see this.” The hockey fan is built on the fifth time icing is explained, or when the reason a fight happens is understood, or a t-shirt is less important than a solid effort. Hockey fans are built on backchecking and forechecking, even though they may not know it.
While the NHL looks to expand their efforts into the south and “large markets,” the fan is build in places like Rapid City, in places that don’t seem like hotbeds. And this is where the hard work is being carried out, in the small markets, the markets that are minuscule. A team can make a name for itself in places like this. All they have to do is try.
And that’s all I have to say about that…
for now…
