Lone fan welcomes back Indians

[Johnny_Blaze_47]

http://www.newsnet5.com/sports/14391790/detail.html

Lone Fan Welcomes Tribe Home

POSTED: 7:49 am EDT October 22, 2007
UPDATED: 11:59 am EDT October 22, 2007

CLEVELAND -- The Indians returned home to Cleveland early Monday morning after sharing hugs and tears in Boston after the 11-2 loss that will send the Red Sox to the World Series.

One lone fan was at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport at about 4 a.m. to greet the team. Barb Kovalski was cheering loudly in support of their season.

She wanted them to know this team was loved and that she represented all the fans who couldn't stay up.

"I want them to know I'm here for the rest of the people who couldn't stay up, becasue I was so keyed up I couldn't sleep. So I just had to let them know we love this team," Kovalski said.

"We know it's going to take a few more days to get over this, but everybody in Cleveland knows we love the Indians. They had to come home on the plane feeling down so I'm here to let them know we love this team."

About 5,000 Cleveland fans watched the game at Jacobs Field. Only a few hundred people stayed at the ballpark until third baseman Casey Blake made the final out shortly before midnight.

Blake said the Tribe needed things to go their way, and they didn't.

Bruce Bertolo of Cleveland said he guesses he's not surprised that the Indians blew an early, three-games-to-one advantage by losing three in a row. He said he's a Cleveland sports fan, which means he's been through a lot.

Although fans still stand by the Tribe, the Game 7 loss will definitely hurt for a while.

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A photo of Barb at the airport.



























http://www.clemson.edu/caah/history/FacultyPages/PamMack/lec124/ironeyescody_450.jpg

[Thunder Dan]

haha

[v2freak]

Good for Barb. That is really cool

[Jimcs50]

:toast

[misterx91578]

how sad

[T Park]

props to the lone fan.

A huge fuck you to the rest of the bandwagoning cleveland fans.

[Marklar MM]

Well look at it like this...they were 21st in the league in attendance. They were 17th in terms of average percentage of stadium filled. Just for digestions sake, they had a higher attendance figure for road games then home games...66.7 road to 65.6 home.

All while being a top 5 team in the league through the ENTIRE season.

[BeerIsGood!]

props to the lone fan.

A huge fuck you to the rest of the bandwagoning cleveland fans.

Every other Indians fan isn't legit because they didn't go to the airport at 4am to see the team plane land? If this lady has the time to do this kind of thing then that's cool, but not everyone can go at 4am to the airport to watch a plane land.

[Thunder Dan]

props to the lone fan.

A huge fuck you to the rest of the bandwagoning cleveland fans.


Yeah I went to about 25 games this year and my family has been season ticket holders since 1984. That said, as big of a fan as I may be, I'm not going to an airport at 3 in the morning on a Sunday night, win or lose. Call me bandwagon, but I have to work in the morning.


Well look at it like this...they were 21st in the league in attendance. They were 17th in terms of average percentage of stadium filled. Just for digestions sake, they had a higher attendance figure for road games then home games...66.7 road to 65.6 home.

All while being a top 5 team in the league through the ENTIRE season.

do you want to start compairing attendances? Detroit's wasn't so good untill after they went to the World Series. It's just how it is

[Marklar MM]

we had 70%+ last season.

[Thunder Dan]

we had 70%+ last season.

right you went to the World Series the yeat before

[Marklar MM]

We had 93% this past season, 2006-2007. We didn't make the playoffs.
The season before, we had 70%+, and made the world series.

[Thunder Dan]

We had 93% this past season, 2006-2007. We didn't make the playoffs.
The season before, we had 70%+, and made the world series.

I don't know I remember going to games in Detroit where I could walk right up to the counter and get good seats..

But Detroit is more of a baseball town (saying that from the outside) and Cleveland is more of a football town. I know the Indians haven't drawn well but there is alot factored into that. I'm not saying that Cleveland doesn't have alot of bandwagon fans because they do, but no more really than any city has.

[Marklar MM]

I know the Indians haven't drawn well but there is alot factored into that.


Same can be said for Detroit.

[Marklar MM]

I don't know I remember going to games in Detroit where I could walk right up to the counter and get good seats..



Ya, that is true. Fans still did not know what this team was capable of. If I remember correctly, we also had alot of rain to start the season that year. But everyone has weather problems.

[Reggie Miller]

Here's a thought: Maybe the problem isn't the fans.

"For large cities (250,000 or more people), Plano, Texas, and San Jose, Calif., had the highest median household incomes, whereas Cleveland; Miami; Buffalo, N.Y.; and Detroit had the lowest."

http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/income_wealth/010583.html

Clearly, the problem is the lousy attitude of the residents of Cleveland and Detroit, not that MLB is pricing tickets out of reach for communities with median houselhold incomes under $25,000.00 per year. Just a thought...

EDIT: The sarcasm is directed towards MLB, not you guys.

[Thunder Dan]

Here's a thought: Maybe the problem isn't the fans.

"For large cities (250,000 or more people), Plano, Texas, and San Jose, Calif., had the highest median household incomes, whereas Cleveland; Miami; Buffalo, N.Y.; and Detroit had the lowest."

http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/income_wealth/010583.html

Clearly, the problem is the lousy attitude of the residents of Cleveland and Detroit, not that MLB is pricing tickets out of reach for communities with median houselhold incomes under $25,000.00 per year. Just a thought...

EDIT: The sarcasm is directed towards MLB, not you guys.

well you are right, both Cleveland and Detroit have struggling economies and that does affect the sales of regular season tickets, especially considering that Cleveland is one of the smaller markets in MLB. Cleveland sold out 455 straight games from 95-00 (i think those are the years), but the reason was that the economy wasn't bad around Cleveland, and the Browns were non-existent. So yes you are on to something..

[Spurminator]

Are baseball tickets really that cost prohibitive in those markets?

[Reggie Miller]

Are baseball tickets really that cost prohibitive in those markets?

http://www.teammarketing.com/fci.cfm

It looks like they are slightly lower than average, but not the lowest in the AL (or NL for that matter). It would be difficult to answer, because of promotions, etc.

[MaNuMaNiAc]

Every other Indians fan isn't legit because they didn't go to the airport at 4am to see the team plane land? If this lady has the time to do this kind of thing then that's cool, but not everyone can go at 4am to the airport to watch a plane land.you have to forgive T Park, he typing skills are so profficient, he types about twice as fast as he thinks.

[T Park]

he typing skills are so profficient, he types about twice as fast as he thinks.


As are yours obviously.

[BeerIsGood!]

Here's a thought: Maybe the problem isn't the fans.

"For large cities (250,000 or more people), Plano, Texas, and San Jose, Calif., had the highest median household incomes, whereas Cleveland; Miami; Buffalo, N.Y.; and Detroit had the lowest."

http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/income_wealth/010583.html

Clearly, the problem is the lousy attitude of the residents of Cleveland and Detroit, not that MLB is pricing tickets out of reach for communities with median houselhold incomes under $25,000.00 per year. Just a thought...

EDIT: The sarcasm is directed towards MLB, not you guys.

Those poor fans you speak of should move here and go to Rangers' games. Except for opening day, 4th of July, or when the Yankees are in town you can pay 6 bucks for a ticket and sit behind a dugout anywhere from 3 to 5 rows and up. I did that reguarly this year, and the place is so empty nobody even checks your tickets.