May 24, 2013

David Stern, This Is Your Doing…

May 13, 2008 by 13 Comments

Les Levine has a great take on David Stern’s comments about the pyrotechnics used in NBA arenas…

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9VMbvXirHw[/youtube]

David Stern after his recent visit to the Q for game 4 of the Cavaliers/Celtics series-

“I’m going to get into trouble for this: I think they’re ridiculous. I think that the noise, the fire (and) the smoke is the kind of assault that we should seriously consider reviewing whether it’s really necessary, given the quality of our game.

“It may be these are the maniacal rantings of a fan from a different era, and I recognize that. But I’m sitting there waiting for the next cannon to go off and then the fire heats up the arena, so the temperature rises by 15 degrees. That’s if you can see it because you’re waiting for the smoke — which is chemical — to clear, which is invariably done by the end of the half.”

Obviously Stern isn’t just upset about the use of such devices at the Q. But isn’t this Stern’s fault? Didn’t he aggressively market the players? Doesn’t the image of the league then become the image of it’s biggest stars? I think it’s absurd what the teams feel they need to do during timeouts to keep the crowd involved in the game, but as we’ve seen throughout these playoffs, home court advantage is very important. Here’s a thought, how about fewer television timeouts? Wait, what am I saying…

Quotes from USA Today

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  • http://www.waitingfornextyear.com Scott

    I’m torn on this one. I personally think that our intros are pretty cool, but I can see where the issues arise. Do I think that Boston’s are a bit obnoxious, yes…but that’s mostly due to their ventilation. While I type this, Cotton Eye’d Joe is playing at Progressive Field… That is WAY worse for my health than pyro…

  • Tom

    Is the NBA product that bad that all this extra stuff is necessary? Introductions are a part of basketball, but the pyrotechnics isn’t needed to get fired up for a game.

    Then again I don’t have allergies (that I know of) to worry about.

  • http://www.theclevelandsportsanimal.com Dan W

    I heard about this on Rome today and I have to say I agree with Stern, but in the end, he really has no one to blame but himself for these ridiculous introductions. Basketball is perhaps the most exciting sport to watch live, so is it really necessary to have these crazy pyro intros? Are the athletes not entertaining enough to fans to the point where they need to have pyros and non stop t-shirt launching into the stands? It does seem particularly bad in Boston.

  • http://www.waitingfornextyear.com Mike

    I’m cool with the bling that goes with the intros etc., but what really grinds my gears is the need for non-stop entertainment with the dancing kids (or whatever they are called) and all that other junk…including the Mr. Hero chick. Don’t get me wrong, she looks good, but she’s part of what’s annoying during the game. If I pay for good seats down low, I’d like to hear what’s going on once in a while on the floor during a time out.

  • http://basketballnonsense.blogspot.com/ Melvin

    yeah it’s stern’s fault… this is the consequences of the things that he has done…

  • MacNip

    The intros aren’t for the fans who already care about basketball. Same with all the side show BS that goes on during the games (Scream team anyone?). All of the extras are there to try and attract the average fan who doesn’t love the game.

    Honestly, I think Stern needs to focus more on fixing the flopping/diving epidemic. Getting his refs to realize what is and isn’t a foul and maybe putting some effort into not letting owners steal teams from cities. But, I am not the commissioner….maybe game intros are the biggest pressing issue in the league right now

  • Rick

    I hear you MacNip, but to me the intros are becoming a safety hazard. That should be some sort of priority, no?

  • Louis

    this is part of why tickets cost so much money these days, the sideshows are there to “justify” the cost of the tickets. i hate it.

  • MacNip

    Well, ticket prices won’t be going down any time soon regardless of what kind of intro/side show the game has. The justification for high ticket prices is the fact that people are buying them.

    I don’t see the intros being a huge safety risk. The Q is ventilated to handle removing the smoke. I know the fire is hot, but it does not get near the fans. All that being said, I could live without all the pyro.

  • http://blog.cleveland.com/andone Carolyn

    I’m with Mike. Somehow it feels disrespectful when dancing girls race onto the every couple of minutes and coupons fly from the sky.

  • http://www.icanlevitate.com Jeremy

    I disagree that there’s no need to market individual rivalries. And marketing team basketball just isn’t going to sell tickets. I think there needs to be an even greater emphasis on the superstars of the game. There are some terrific players out there that are a lot of fun to watch. Almost every team has a superstar that could sell tickets. The ad campaign for the playoffs this year was a great way to capitalize on that.

  • MacNip

    Ummm…the NBA playoff commercial for the Cavs/Celtics had Ray Allen and Ben Wallace in it. Talk about missing the mark

  • Carol

    I admit it’s been a way long time since I went to the Gund, oops, I mean Q for a game, and recently heard it described as a ‘three-ring’ circus event. Guess you agree from the posts I’m reading. I think I’ll just enjoy the HD at home version. Love watching the playoffs, very exciting without the smoke, etc.