Uneasy Rhetoric

Without the Kings, no one would know what Sacramento is. Capital of California? Are you sure it isn’t San Francisco? Really? You kidding? Wow. Where is Sacramento?

ESPN recently issued its fan satisfaction rankings and this is how the Kings fared, compared to other NBA teams (all numbers out of 29 teams):

Bang for the Buck: Fifth. Tickets cost a lot, but they win a lot.
Fan Relations: Eighth. Rabid. ‘Nuff said.
Ownership: 10th! (really? Are the Maloofs that loyal to Sac?)
Affordability: 16th. Oops. Of course, that means more seats for the corporate fat cats.
Stadium Experience: 17th. Uh oh. Fuel for the new stadium fire.
Players: 12th
Coach/Manager: 15th
Championships (won or expected): 15th.

Not so bad, but not so good either. Given that most of these questions are based on a fan survey, I have to wonder about some of the results and the timing of the questions. For example, how well do you think Coach/Manager would have fared had they asked the questions just after the Webber trade?

The stadium experience question is especially troubling, since Sacramento ranked 4th in 2003 and 5th in 2004. What changed? The atmosphere. Talk of a new stadium was not nearly as rabid in 03 or 04 as it is now. Maybe, unfortunately, the powers that be are convincing the public that Arco really does suck.

Play around with the numbers yourself.