Yahoo's Ross McKeon just can't stomach a good Nashville story

by Dirk Hoag on Oct 19, 2010 4:58 PM EDT in Sports Business

Normally I save the rankings stuff for Chris' weekly roundup, but Ross McKeon's nonsense has to be responded to. Here's his snippet on the Preds, who leap from #24 to #8 in his latest power ranking at Yahoo Sports:

Ovechkin's stop in Music City drew a non-sellout crowd of 16,144, and this on a lovely fall Saturday with no competition in town for the sports' entertainment dollar and the Preds starting fast. Hmmm...

Ooh, that sounds dire, doesn't it? Are the Predators headed down the toilet since they didn't sell out Saturday's game against Washington?

Let's take a look at some attendance figures from this game, alongside recent comparables (Saturday October home games after the home opener):

Saturday, October 16, 2010 vs. Washington: 16,144

Saturday, October 10, 2009 vs. Buffalo: 14,209

Saturday, October 31, 2009 vs. Dallas: 12,520

Saturday, October 18, 2008 vs. Columbus: 13,259

Saturday, October 25, 2008 vs. Los Angeles: 14,704

I dunno, Ross, but it looks to me like business is up, doesn't it? Oh, but that doesn't fit McKeon's pre-conceived notions of Nashville failure. Remember, this is the guy who pegged the Preds for 29th last season.

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Comments

this is the kind of person . . .

we could win the Cup and he’d have us at #5 or lower in his final rankings. sadly, these guys exist and even sadder, they have jobs in hockey.

by HartnellsMop on Oct 19, 2010 5:06 PM EDT reply actions

Perhaps if he'd done his homework...

…he’d had found out that it was fall break for area schools. Lots and lots of people out of town.

by LuvthePreds on Oct 19, 2010 5:27 PM EDT reply actions

And yet, we’re ahead of his #6 team in attendance.

Section303.com

by Patten on Oct 19, 2010 5:57 PM EDT reply actions

I think he's just assuming...

That people in Nashville would be more interested in seeing Ovechkin than watching any other Preds game. But generally the only team that brings people out of the woodwork to attend games around here are the Red Wings. We are just interested in seeing our Predators and not worried about which “superstar” is coming to town.

Also, the game was not part of half-season ticket packages. Had it been included in half-season packs, it might have been a sell out. But I’m just assuming here because I’m not sure how many tickets are half-season packs.

by JRPred on Oct 19, 2010 6:11 PM EDT reply actions

Look, we know by now that McKeon is a blathering idiot.

That said, I’m somewhat weary of giving these guys page views and paying attention to what the mainstream media says. Our team, for better or worse, lets their play and conduct do the talking – and thats how I like it.

by Chris Burton on Oct 19, 2010 6:16 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs

Forget Mckeon

But we should want to sellout every game.
We were 3-0, taking on Ovechkin and the fastest show on ice, on a Saturday night.
I was disappointed to see any smattering of empty seats.
The goal should be to sell out every game. We have a competitive club, make the playoffs most every year, and lead the world in deals.
I got 4 tickets for tonight for buying 4 tickets to Saturday.
If you have a ticket rep, they let you in on the college night, 25 dollar best available lower bowl seat, the military mondays, the Daily Super Tuesday. a 20 game flex plan gets you two comps in the lower bowl.

We aren’t an expansion team anymore. Aiming for the ‘revenue-sharing cutoff’ is good enough for Phoenix and Atlanta. We should be aiming to be the Southern Buffalo or Edmonton (in terms of fan support, not performance, though in a couple of years, Myers could be a Norris guy like Weber, and Eberle/Hall/Paajaarvi could be the next Crosby/Malkin/Staal or Kane/Toews/Keith cornerstone).

If we did sell out every game, and better yet, follow with a strong playoff run (and generate buzz/merchandise/hype and amped season tickets for the subsequent year) we wouldn’t need revenue sharing, and canada and new york would have nothing to complain about.

by DontfeedtheBelak on Oct 19, 2010 7:15 PM EDT reply actions

Seems that the "Nashville = bad hockeytown" meme is still lurking...

Which is disappointing.

You should never underestimate the predictability of stupidity.

by Steck It Out on Oct 19, 2010 11:15 PM EDT reply actions

I guess my email that I sent made him change his mind!

:) I let him have it. I ripped him up. I’ll post the email I sent to him soon.

by preds4ever on Oct 19, 2010 11:24 PM EDT reply actions

it basically said he didn’t know anything about our team. And doesn’t give our fans/city/players/coaches/ownership/gm any credit. I reminded him that we were a Jason Arnott shot away from getting Chicago on the ropes. And reminded him about the depth of our minor league affiliate and the players we lost are not as good as the players we replaced them with. And I reminded him about the flood, how we came together in tough times. RESPECT!!! WE ARE NASHVILLE!

by preds4ever on Oct 20, 2010 7:44 PM EDT up reply actions