Hatchet Job Written by TomahawkDrop on Monday, December 4, 2006 As I watch the my20 Detroit broadcasts, it is obvious that the Pistons are back to ticket sales circa 2000/2001. Struggling to sell themselves in a market saturated with sports success. This in itself is not very surprising. For the last 4 years Ben Wallace has been the image of the Detroit Pistons. Undrafted, hard working, all heart. And now that he is gone, forecasts must be adjusted and marketing strategies revised. Of course, nothing stokes the passions of a Detroit basketball fan like a monstrous block and those passions manifest themselves in fan noise, clicks of the turnstile, hotdog and beer purchases. If you thought Ben walked for $12 million more than the Pistons were willing to pay, consider that the Pistons thought that losing Ben was going to cost them less than $12 million dollars over 4 years in tickets, merchandise and sponsorship revenue. (Click to continue reading)
Good article. Who is Tomohawkdrop? As a guy that has seen all the games through the 90's we are still no where near the sparse crowds of those days. Most casual Piston fans don't care who is on the team as long as they win. With the wins the Palace has gotten more lively over the past few games so they will be ok, especially with Football season comming to a close. Dery did not need to run that piece. Matter of fact if Ben is a malcontent then no one needed to say anything because all that would have eventually surfaced in Chicago. Now if it never does then the Pistons will only come across as a player hostile franchise. Jumped all over that headban incident when it only took the Bulls a day to resolve it. Yes it would have been nice if they would have shown more class. Lot more mudd slingging than when Hill or Houston left where those circumstances were more justifiable.
I agree. The crowds have started to come back with the wins. (was at the Charlotte game and it was close to capacity). Also, the hatchet job on Ben is just rude and childish. He may have been a malcontent, but he was our malcontent and any derisiveness in Chicago should just reaffirm what a good thing Detroit was for Ben as well as for Detroiters.
Yeah, the Detroit Pistons organization and Ben Wallace both played an equal part in developing a championship mentality in Detroit. It really is a shame that people can not see pass the dissapointment of his departure and embrace his contribution to the Pistons organization over the years. Ultimately, we all lose in the current scenario.
