RIP Hiroshi Yamauchi

[Minister of Truth]

http://seattletimes.com/html/jerrybrewer/2021859422_brewer20xml.html

Despite the abysmal state of the Seattle Mariners for the past decade, the man saved the team from leaving back in 1992. He did it as a gesture of good faith toward the local community where he ran a business. Sometimes you have to admire that Japanese business model. I have always found it interesting how the Mariners began to tank at the same time that Nintendo began to deliver a lesser product (Gamecube) and fall behind its competitors. He brought in Lou Piniella, although he never could find a competent GM.

Anyone is preferable to Howard Schultz as a team owner. It will be interesting to see if Nintendo remains in charge or sells its shares of the team.

 

[The Dude]

The mariners still play!

 

[Minister of Truth]

Despite having an absentee owner who never once came to Seattle to watch them play. Still better than being owned by Howard Schultz, though, so I'll take it. Perhaps his successor will try to build a winning product.

Also, they don't "play" - that would indicate there's a possibility of winning. They fill their positions on the field throughout Spring Training and for 162 games every season, and not a single game more!!

 

[Mott the Hoople]

There's only one way to force change in a professional sports franchise if you're a fan. Learned this the hard way during the 1990 to 2006 Bungles losing streak in which the GM showed absolutely no intention to change how the franchise was run. Fan pressure finally made them change. The fans have to do the following though.

Don't go to see any games.
Don't watch any games on TV.
Don't listen to any games on the Radio.
Don't buy any team SWAG.

Those are the four main revenue streams of any sports franchise.

Bengal fans didn't start consistently doing that until 2002. The impact really started to come to bear in 2010 and 2011 when most of the home games the Bengals played were blacked out locally cause they didn't sell out. In 2010 and 2011 only the Cleveland and Pittsburgh home games sold out due to their fans traveling to Cincinnati. Cincinnati also dropped to having the smallest revenue stream of any NLF team by 2010 for Team paraphernalia sales. In addition the Bengals TV market dropped to the smallest TV market in the NFL as local fans either lost interest in the NFL completely or switched over to being Pittsburgh or Cleveland fans. Last year, even though the Bengals had become more competitive and had been to the playoffs twice in five years the problem was so bad that they had to cut ticket prices to the lowest in the NFL. They still only sold out about half their games.

However going to the playoffs two years in a row and seeing real systemic change in the Bengals front office has won a lot of fans over. Most of their home games are sold out this year and ticket prices have gone back up, though there are still issues with black outs as the Bungles years of mismanagement has resulted in them still having the lowest TV market in the NFL, despite their recent success. So the front office in Cincinnati is still motivated to retain the front office changes they have recently made. So the future for Bengal fans is looking brighter.

So that's really your only option as a Mariners fan. Boycott the bastards.

 

[Minister of Truth]

Yes, attendance is way down at Safeco. Meanwhile, next door every Sounders and Seahawks game sells out.