jeff@dciem.UUCP (Jeff Richardson) (10/05/84)
I can't understand the poor attendance either. I can only think of four
possible reasons:
1) The ticket prices were too high. But if 100,000 Torontonians will fork
out $40 each to see the Jacksons on a cold October night in the worst place
in town to see a concert, then you should have no trouble finding 20,000 to
spend $25 for one of the best hockey games ever. On the other hand,
Torontonians have always been nuts when it comes to paying ridiculously
high prices for tickets and none of the Cup games were played in Toronto.
(If you're wondering why there were no games in this hockey-crazy town,
there's one good reason: Harold Ballard.)
2) Most fans may have thought it would be a blowout like the 1981 Canada
Cup final, especially since Canada hadn't been playing very well in this
year's tourney.
3) A lot of people have trouble getting in the mood for hockey when the
temperature outside is still hitting 70. Summer is too short in Canada and
the last thing we need is a hockey tournament to remind us that it's over.
4) There was free-TV coverage of all games involving Canada and all playoff
games on CTV, and pay-TV coverage of all of the other games on The Sports
Network. Watching it live is certainly better, but compared with baseball and
football, you don't miss very much by watching hockey on TV instead of live.
A lot of fans decided that they'd rather save the money and the inconvenience,
and stayed home with their TV's.
--
Jeff Richardson, DCIEM, Toronto (416) 635-2073
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