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Will the Pacers remain in Indy?
Posted: Jan 31, 2008 in Things to do
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You know how, when you go to Indiana Pacers games, they shoot free T-shirts into the crowd with those cool tube-shaped air guns? And you know how, despite your best crowd-crawling efforts, you never catch one?
Here's some good news: These days, your odds of catching a T-shirt at a Pacers game are better than ever. In fact, you could probably convince someone else to give you theirs. Because right now, nobody much cares for the Indiana Pacers.
It's getting so bad, it warrants asking: Could the team be on pace to leave Indianapolis? And if they do, will anybody care?
As recently as four years ago, the mere thought of the Pacers leaving was ludicrous. At this time in 2004, the Pacers were contending for an NBA championship.
That The Indianapolis Star ran a rather long story last Tuesday about that failed championship run shows how far the once-mighty Pacers have fallen. Here we are in the middle of the 2008 basketball season reminiscing about something that happened when George W. Bush was still in his first term.
But really, can you blame us? Who wants to read about the victory-repellent 2008 Pacers -- let alone watch them in person?
Startlingly few, it turns out. In spite of our self-proclaimed status as a basketball state, hardly any Hoosiers can be bothered to go to an NBA game anymore.
How bad is it? Twelve NBA teams have worse records than the Pacers. Yet all of those teams have better attendance numbers. In fact, right now, every NBA team has better attendance numbers than the Pacers, who are now the basketball equivalent of baseball's Montreal Expos circa 2001. And we all know what happened to the Expos.
Pundits, both pro and amateur, like to blame the team's descent on the lingering effects of the Detroit brawl. I don't buy it. Fans would love to forget about the brawl.
The problem, quite simply, is the Pacers are cover-your-eyes bad. And their badness is a direct reflection of the team's management. The Pacers' brass foolishly ignored character when picking up plain-as-day head cases like Jamaal Tinsley and Stephen Jackson. Now they've overcorrected by acquiring the soft, uninspiring (but so well-behaved!) duo of Troy Murphy and Mike Dunleavy.
It's been proven repeatedly in recent years that high-character, athletic players and good team chemistry (see San Antonio, Phoenix, Detroit) win basketball games and attract fans. Like everything else in Indiana, this concept seems to have arrived here a few years late. And unfortunately, it may prove too late for our floundering, foundering Pacers.
Matt: I've been a Pacers fan since the team's first game in 1967, so I would be sad to see the team go. What are the ramifications of the Conseco lease? Is there an escape clause if the attendance doesn't meet a certain threshold? Can the Simons ask the city for some sort of bailout? With the current antitax climate, I'd doubt this would be a popular move by city officials, and to tell the truth, I'd probably be among those who'd say, "Bye, team. It's been good to know ya." Who (besides Oklahoma City) would want the Pacers?
Vegas has been an NBA hotspot for the past couple of years, and OK City is pretty desperate for a team, I know. Maybe some other city, like St. Louis?
It seems to me that the Pacers are pretty locked in, and I can't see the Simons moving the team, but that's just me. Money talks, as they say.
Think Larry Bird or Donnie Walsh (or one or both of the Simons) read indy.com and can shed light on the subject?
I'm down on the team a little bit too, and we're still stuck in the destructive wake of Isiah Thomas, but we'll be out soon enough. We'll just have to take our lumps for awhile.
i'm not sure there's a less watchable team in the league. i cannot think of a single team without at least one star. please do not try and tell me Jermaine O'Neal is that guy cuz I got news for ya... he blows.
they'll stay in Indy but they need to blow this team up. get rid of management and start from scratch. the current roster reads like a CBA team. trade Jermaine for whatever you can get (could've had Andrew Bynum and Lamar Odom). keep a few of the workers like Dunleavy and pray that the others contracts are almost up. this current incarnation of the Pacers has no future.
Joe: St. Louis. Now there's a story. It's my understanding that as a result of the NBA-ABA merger, the franchise holder for St. Louis is being paid annually for NOT being part of the merger and for not suing the leagues for excluding the city. Should anyone want to start up a team in St. Louis, the original franchise holder would have to agree to such a move AND would have to give up the annual payments. Now who would want to give up such a sweet deal? In effect, no NBA team will ever be based in St. Louis.
Joe: St. Louis. Now there's a story. It's my understanding that as a result of ...
You're right they are getting paid by the ABA teams that came over to the NBA.
But the Pacers will not be moving. If there is one thing I know its the Indiana Pacers. End this post.
I did not know that. I know of the old Spirits of St. Louis, but I wasn't aware of that arrangement. Interesting.
I do agree with Herr Daytona, though, that the Pacers are unlikely to leave town just after a couple of bad seasons. They're still an institution in this city, even if they've fallen on hard times.
Personally bad as the Pacers have been the past two seasons.With Conseco Fieldhouse being less than 10 years old.It would cost the Simons way too much cash for them to leave here. If you want to blame someone you might want to start with Larry Bird and the silly ass contracts that they have been signing players to...