"Empty Seats"


This next season there will be a few different players on the ice for the Flyers, and there will be two new people seating in the seats formerly reserved for my father and I. After 30 something years my family is no longer a season ticket holding family to the Philadelphia Flyers.

I was supposed to get the tickets in my name at one point. However I couldn’t make my dad bare the financial burden against his will for another year waiting for me to be able to afford the tickets. I can’t blame not being entustatic to shell out close to 5 grand to see a team who isn’t remotely close to getting a Stanley Cup. I was supposed to keep on the tradition, but not anymore.

Its not impossible to get season tickets again years down the line since many people are giving up their season tickets. We do plan to pick out some games and purchase tickets to a see certain teams play. However we don’t have to eat 3 pre-season games anymore which aren’t even offered at a discounted price, and we don’t have to waste a night in Philly seeing the Blue jackets play Philly. Someone else can shell out that money to pay Leclair to skate around in a daze now. I guess part is me is glad. I am fearing the new "marketing" plan to make the game more "exciting" for the fans that will take place next season. I mean I go for the hockey, not for some lame ass commercial for a company disguised as a game. I can imagine its going to be annoying.

It will certainly be strange not owning tickets anymore, however that’s the changing face of fans at professional sports. There are more tools that got their tickets for free from a company than there are people who actually give a damn anymore. There were more empty seats at the games last season than any season I can remember. Pretty sad for a team that used to have a waiting list for season tickets.

Many player union people honestly think they are having a work stoppage in 2004, so I guess I can also make this serve as a pre-emptive middle finger to the NHL. Perhaps one day, me and other crew members can split the bill for season tickets, I honestly don’t see this team going anywhere for at least 5 years.

So long section 215. So long fat guy that spills over into my chair. So long annoying kid that sits behind me. So long two drunk chicks that pay no attention to the game. So long FU center.