Looking around sun-drenched L.P. Field on a beautiful autumn afternoon, Paul asked me why there were so many red shirts filling the stadium on the day billed as the Tennessee Titans’ annual ‘Code Blue’ game.
It’s an intriguing question.
Sadly, the Titans have become the poster child of ‘mediocre.’ In fact, one of the columnists in this morning’s edition of The Tennessean lauded the potential for another 8 win/8 loss season.
I was reflecting back to my observations from yesterday, this morning, as I read the news of the death of K.S. “Bud” Adams, the Titans owner, at age 90. His dream, like so many other NFL owners (and team owners in other professional sports as well), was to see his team win an NFL title.
You can’t do that when you’re stuck in the middle. That’s where the Titans are fixed in the standings and where they have been for sometime.
Mediocrity frees up a number of tickets for sale when a fan base accepts their fate.
I suspect there is more to this, however, than just the free market reality of supply and demand.
In the NFL more than any of the other professional sports, there are national and regional teams. If you think about it, you could probably name the national teams by heart. These are the teams you frequently find on the late Sunday afternoon game, the Sunday night game and even occasionally still on Monday night as well.
Patriots. Steelers. Cowboys. Packers. There are more. And the San Francisco 49ers, built on tradition from the 1980s, are still a part of that elite group.
Regional teams: Buffalo, Carolina, Cincy. Arizona. There are more in this group, too. When was the last time you saw a marquee Sunday night match-up between the Lions and Browns?
In a similar fashion, the Niners have played in their share of national broadcasts this season and last. You can’t tell me all the red-clad folks at L.P. Field on Sunday – like this Colin Kaepernick enthusiast – made the trek from the Bay Area to Music City this weekend.
When the Jaguars come to town in a few weeks, how many teal and black shirts might you find around the stadium?
We’ve all been hoodwinked into believing that there is true ‘parity’ in the NFL. It may exist on a small level (Kansas City may make the playoffs this year when they missed out last year and Indy could replace Houston as AFC South champs). When you examine the list of teams that routinely win, however, it is an elite clique.
So maybe this all comes down to my basic notion that success sells.
I even saw this during my years in youth baseball. When we were a low-level rec team during our first few years and rarely won, parents were clamoring to get Little Jimmy or Little Johnny off our team and on to another. Once we began winning consistently, people were much more interested in our ballclub.
The thing most of those ‘national teams’ have in common: you’ve seen them in a Super Bowl some time recently. San Fran (last year), Patriots (year before), Steelers and Packers (year before that). When was the last time you saw Cleveland or Detroit in the Super Bowl? How about the Titans?
Sad to say, I can answer that for you. It was Super Bowl XXXIV and we’re now rapidly approaching Super Bowl 50. Unfortunately for Mr. Adams, they never made it back.
Super Bowl 34 was played after the 1999 season and in sports year terms, ‘the 90s’ is starting to seem like a long time ago.
JG
Originally posted 10/21/2013
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