The results are in from our Pledge Your Sports Allegiance poll.
First of all, I want to thank all of the people who responded to this poll. Even the person who used the poll to suggest that organized sports get too much attention and `contributes to American obesity.` It shows that people cared enough to take the time to fill out the questionnaire and send it to me.
Secondly, I’d like to say that the results were enlightening, if not a bit contradictory ` especially when it came to views about our minor league teams. Read on, and you will see what I mean.
1. What level of sports do you follow most closely?
It shouldn’t come as any surprise that the level most people follow closely around here is the major leagues. Perhaps it’s because major league sports coverage is everywhere ` from daily newspapers to cable sportscasts. You can’t escape the latest New York Yankees score, even if you tried.
After the major leagues, area colleges received the next highest vote total, followed by high school sports and then minor league sports. I can’t say I’m surprised about those results either, since our local minor league teams haven’t done a lot over the last several years to grab the headlines on a regular basis. Still, it would be nice to see people become more passionate about our minor league teams so we don’t wind up losing them (more on that later).
2. What was the greatest Capital District sports event of the last 30 years?
Let’s jump on the big yellow school bus with the Sackatoga Stables gang, because Funny Cide wins this category. The `gallant gelding` born and raised outside Saratoga Springs claimed more votes than Siena’s historic 1989 NCAA Tournament victory over Stanford and the Albany Firebirds winning the 1999 Arena Bowl in front of a sellout crowd at the Times Union Center on national TV. I guess the Kentucky Derby is still the granddaddy of all sporting events.
But wait this just in from Troy: the RPI hockey team’s 1985 NCAA Championship tied Siena’s victory over Stanford for second place. Wow. Who knew there would still be people in the region who fondly remember that moment, which was seen by maybe 20,000 people nationwide? And that includes the people inside Joe Louis Arena in Detroit that night.
3. Who is the greatest Capital District athlete of the last 30 years?
Perhaps because this is an Olympic year (or perhaps because his backstory of overcoming cancer was so intriguing), 1984 Greco Roman wrestling gold medalist Jeff Blatnick led the pack with three times the votes as the other candidates. The Niskayuna native still has a strong following 24 years after his golden moment in Los Angeles.
The rest of the votes were split evenly among Sam Perkins (who, as a couple of voters noted, is a transplant ` but he still graduated from Shaker High School), Dottie Pepper (yay for women’s golf) and Funny Cide (yay for gelded thoroughbreds). I thought Perkins might give Blatnick a run for his money, but Blatnick pinned him easily.
There were a couple of people who went off the board with their picks. One chose recent Tewaaraton Trophy winner Mike Leveille from Delmar, and the other went with Albany Firebird legend `Touchdown` Eddie Brown. Nice to see there’s still some love for the old Firebirds around here, even though the team left town in 2000.
4. What is the best Capital District sports team?
This wasn’t even a contest, as the Siena College men’s basketball team ran roughshod over the competition (kind of like the Saints did to Vanderbilt in last season’s NCAA Tournament). Fran McCaffrey’s crew racked up more than half of the votes cast, leaving the rest to fight for the scraps.
Among the others who got votes were the Albany River Rats, the University at Albany men’s lacrosse team, the 1984-85 NCAA Champion RPI hockey team (Mike Adessa would be proud) and the University at Albany men’s basketball team. Sadly, the minor league team that gets the best average attendance in the region, the Tri-City ValleyCats, did not receive a vote. What’s up with that, people?
5. If given the choice, what would you spend your sports money on?
This is the one question that I wish I had worded differently, since I think most people would rather go to a major league sporting event than stay at home. Who wouldn’t want to travel to one of New York City’s great sports venues or go to the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day?
So yes, more people said they’d go to an out-of-town major sporting event than stay at home and see one of our local college or minor league teams. However, the fact that the percentages were as close as they were (60 to 40) suggests that there are more people willing to stay close to home than I first thought. And that could be the best news for our sports scene.
6. What is the focal point of the Capital District sports scene?
I don’t know if people were answering truthfully or just picking this because they thought this is what I wanted to see, but the overwhelming majority of votes went to high schools. Either way, it’s a sign that our area’s high school athletes are at the center of the sports scene, which is nice for them. Not only do they work hard on the field, but they also work hard in the classroom. It’s a delicate balance, and one that deserves our admiration when they maintain that balance.
College sports picked up slightly more votes than minor league teams, which means that once again, minor league teams are at the bottom of the pecking order. Perhaps they need better marketing, or maybe they just need to win more often.
7. Would the sports scene suffer without professional minor league teams?
OK, this is where it gets confusing. The majority of respondents said the area sports scene would suffer without our minor league teams. This is contradictory to the responses that suggested people don’t care enough to follow our minor league teams’ exploits. You can’t have your cake and eat it, too.
If you want this area to continue having minor league teams, you need to support these teams and care about how they’re doing. Whether the Albany River Rats are in first place or last place in the AHL standings, you need to be at the Times Union Center to show them you care. When the Albany Patroons are barely clinging to life, you need to help them survive ` even if it’s in the wretched CBA. In other words, show your support by showing up at the games.
8. Do local teams get adequate media coverage?
The vote was split here pretty evenly, as yes votes barely edged no votes. So, I guess we ` the members of the Capital District sports media ` are doing our jobs. That’s good to know.
9. What type of venue should be added to the region?
I guess people around here are satisfied with the venues we have because the vast majority said we don’t need another venue. Either that, or they really don’t want to see any more public money spent to build a stadium or arena that they probably won’t go to on a regular basis.
Of those who did say we could use a new venue, a slim majority said a big baseball or football stadium would be a good idea. So if the NFL or Major League Baseball wants to expand anywhere in the next decade, they should look into the Capital District.
(Side note: Only one respondent said a NASCAR track would be a good venue to add. So, I guess paving Lebanon Valley or Albany-Saratoga Speedway is out of the question.)
10. How proud are you of the area’s sports scene?
Judging from the results, I’d say people are pretty satisfied with what we have because more than 90 percent of the respondents said they were either very proud or somewhat proud of the sports scene as is. So maybe we don’t produce a bevy of major league athletes or have teams that win a lot of titles (state or national) ` but what we have is good.
With that, I declare this year’s `Pledge Your Sports Allegiance` poll closed. However, I plan to do another one next summer with more questions designed to take the pulse of the average Capital District sports fan. And if you have any suggestions for next year’s poll, send them to [email protected]. Just remember, be nice about it. I don’t want any suggestions for me to jump off the Dunn Memorial Bridge or stick the poll in my ear. Thank you.“