Sixers' Fans Speak: "This Is Disturbing"
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — There was a decent crowd at the Wells Fargo Center on Saturday night, about three-quarters filled, during a holiday weekend for the visiting Dallas Mavericks—minus superstar Dirk Nowitzki.
They were there to see a basketball team that they knew for the most part was probably going to lose.
It doesn't matter what the media thinks. It doesn't matter what national talkingheads feel about the Sixers' woeful situation. The ones that mattered were sitting there Saturday night, the fans who were there to support a winless team with no hope of winning anything in the foreseeable future.
It's their voices that need to be counted and have to be heard. They are the ones paying the bills.
The pressing question, among a potpourri of 23 fans, was why they were there. Some believe in the Sixers' plan of tanking for a better future, others were there just to enjoy the game, and out of the 23 fans walking the corridors before the game that CBS Philly spoke with, only one was a season-ticket holder.
There was a couple who were there as a gift from their son, who owns an 11-game plan, and 18 who were there because the tickets were free or work-related. Two were there because they bought tickets at a discount.
They all said they enjoy basketball, and enjoy watching the Sixers. But most of the small sampling said the losing has been grating, and has them thinking about whether or not they'd support the team in the future.
"The last two years have been tough, and you look back and figure we've won 4 out of our last 50 games, I think, so you just hope that our suffering now will pay off long run and three years from now, this will be a very good basketball team," said Pete from Deptford, N.J., who's been a season-ticket holder for eight years.
"I'm a die-hard Philly sports fan. I love my Phillies, my Flyers, the Eagles and I love my Sixers, too. I was a Sixer fan back when they were 9-73, and this team could be worse than that. You hope the plan pays off. I think next year they have show major improvement, like 30 wins. That's major for this team. We're looking at 5 or 6 wins at this point. They're not good. I've invested in the plan. Two years from now, if they're still a very bad basketball team, I have to rethink it. Right now, I'm going to hang in there."
Trina, from Southwest Philly, was attending her first Sixers' game as a birthday present. "This is very hard to watch," Trina said. "I would come back, to support, but the losing has to change."
Brian, from Blue Bell, gets tickets every year, but admits he wouldn't buy tickets this year and wouldn't have been there Saturday night if the tickets weren't given to him. He said he's been a Sixers' fan his whole life.
"It's horrible, you wish that they wouldn't have made the trades they did in certain years," Brian said. "They're not in it to win, and I haven't bought into the plan. They've been talking about rebuilding the last few years. I was a long-time Allen Iverson fan. My point of reference is winning. I used to go to 18 games a year. I take clients here and I have to be entertaining, but it's hard to watch. It's depressing. As a basketball fan, it's sad to see."
Jose was there with his wife as the gift from his son, who has an 11-game plan. "The coach, the players, I think they want to win," Jose said. "I've been to the Sixers back in the day, when they had Doc and Moses, and they were winning. You'd like to believe that believe that they'll win again. We'll see."
Jermaine, from North Philly, received tickets from a non-profit organization he works with. "We were able to get some tickets and I got a group of 30 us together and this is my first time here, actually," Jermaine said. "We came here to enjoy ourselves. I would come back, if we got the tickets from someone, but if I had to go online and purchase tickets, I wouldn't. This is disturbing watching them lose all of the time."
