Friday, May 09, 2008

Screw Mitch Albom. Screw him long and hard

In today's Freep, the Little Fella takes Detroit sports fans to task for not filling up the Joe last night.

Before I spend one more word on how good our hockey team played Thursday night, I have to say how bad it looked to see so many empty seats at Joe Louis Arena. Cheaper seats. Expensive seats. Empty clusters. Half-empty rows.

Uh, Mitch. During the playoffs, THERE ARE NO CHEAPER SEATS! Just less overpriced ones...

Remember the Cup? We loved that thing. We felt like we earned it -- every step. So what's the problem now? I know the economy is bad. I'm not telling people to hock the jewelry or find a job.

When you have to use the caveat "I'm not telling you," you actually are telling me...

But we're not talking 100,000 spots here, either. There are enough fans and money in our area to fill those absent clusters. Hey, if we can fill Lions seats, we can fill Red Wings seats.

My response? Fuck you, you heartless, over privileged fuck!

I know, it's not exactly Shakespeare, but "Fuck you" truly encapsulates exactly how I felt after reading Albom's self important tripe.

(By the way, when was the last time Albom was at Ford Field? Otherwise he'd know the expensive club level seating is mostly empty, and the Lions often filled their stadium only in thanks to the fans of the opposition team. You'll see just as many Bears and Packers fans at Ford Field, as fans of the Lions.)

It takes a ton of balls, or what's much more likely, being completely oblivious to the situation the middle class finds itself in here in Michigan, to call out fans for not spending money. What a clueless dumb ass. Just thinking about Albom's faux righteous indignation gets me furious.

I'm guessing Albom, when not churning out Oprah approved pap, spends his time in LA and New York rolling around in large piles of cash. Back here in rust belt reality-land, everyone I know is watching their money. Watching it closely.

I don't know a soul who could afford to drop several hundred dollars to attend a hockey game. Not one. I sure as Hell can't. Neither can anyone in my family, or my friends off or online.

I've used this analogy before, but it remains true. When given a choice between keeping a roof over your head, or buying overpriced Red Wings playoff tickets, there really isn't a choice.

Albom was once tuned into the pulse of Detroit, he knew what made the fans tick. Not anymore. He hasn't for over a decade. Not since Albom became a gasbag ESPN pundit, better known as an author, rather than a sportswriter, and spending most of his time on the left coast.

Otherwise he wouldn't have written this column, calling out hard working folk who are more worried about being foreclosed upon, paying medical bills, buying $4 a gallon gas, food prices rising, if their manufacturing job will even exist 6 months from now, than lining the pockets of a multi-billionaire, Mike Ilitch.

At this point, Albom would be better off sticking to writing saccharine novellas Oprah can turn into TV movies, than being the national voice of the Detroit sports fan. Because he has as much in common with we fans as I do with George W. Bush. That being nothing.

Mitch Albom can go to Hell. Or just stay in LA. Either is better than his remaining the "Voice of Detroit." Speak for whom you really know, the media elite. You sure as fuck don't speak for me.

Edit 4:00 PM: Albom doesn't speak for the Chief over at A2Y, either. IwoCPO went off on the Little Fella too.

7 comments:

  1. The best(or worst) part of his drivel is that he doesn't even know the difference between "good" and "well." As in "...how good our hockey team played." The correct word in this instance is "well." Only a self important ignoramus or an uneducated dolt (or, perhaps, a Freep commenter) would butcher the English language in such a fashion. I am sure that there are dozens of 6th graders in Michigan schools asking their English teachers how a wealthy and famous writer such as the Little Fella could make such a glaring mistake.

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  2. Nice catch, Uncle. A millionaire, best selling "author" should know better.

    As for that "author," over at A2Y, Mlive's Wings blogger, George Malik, mentioned something he heard Terry Foster say on the air.

    “That’s a what I would write if I had a million dollar column.”

    'Nuff said.

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  3. Now that The Worldwide Leader has hired Canada's Moron in a Clown Suit as a Hockey Commentator (Don Cherry) he has decided to call out Detroit fans as well. Well, screw him and the horse he rode in on.

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  4. The only entertainment value I get from Don Cherry is calling my mom to have her turn on CBC and see what fashion disaster he is sporting this time. Then we speculate where he got the fabric.

    The last Pepto-Bismol pink number we figured had to be from drapery he stole from a Chinese brothel.

    The man is an ignorant bigot.

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  5. You hit it Big (Boi) Al, and it actually has nothing to do with the Red Wings in my humble opinion. It truly shows how far the 'all knowing' Albom has come. He has no understanding of the plight of the common folk. Here in Indy we have Kravitz, and he can be quite the ass (and I agree with about 4% of what he has to say) BUT he does speak from a more centralized pole. So, with Albom and his bourgeoisie affect, who does speak to the sports fan in Detroit and surrounding states all living through the same plights?

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  6. Yeah, I always get a charge out of the "why are there empty seats?" columns coming from those who don't have to pay for admission. Hmmm...when the economy was GOOD, the arena was sold out....hmmmm...I wonder if there's a connection here?

    Besides, there are only eight Lions regular season home games @ 45,000+ a shot. That's 360,000 fannies, and with the Red Wings it's 41 X 21,000 PLUS playoff games. You're talking about over a million seats.

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  7. I wonder if Mateen Cleaves and Jason Richardson were at the game. Oops! Sorry, Mitch.

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