Albom Away...............................

I have a theory..............

I think Detroit Free Press Columnist Mitch Albom is ready to
move on to greener pastures.

This area is a major hockey fan base, and to question the locals' sincerity as fans is like inciting a bull run.

Mitch wrote in his May 9, 2008 Detroit Free Press column: (entire column can be found here)

<<"Wings come out big, so why don't all the fans?

The Wings did their part.

Now what about us?

Plenty of empty red seats

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.

Hey, this ain't Nashville, folks.

This is Detroit, Hockeytown, where every seat should be filled, because these are the conference finals, the bridge to the championship, against Dallas, a team that hasn't been here for the playoffs in 10 years. That last time was a war that ultimately led to a Detroit Stanley Cup.

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.

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..........

.............OK. End of lecture. I don't know if those tickets weren't sold (bad) or just not used (worse). I know only that if the Wings win seven more games, if they capture the Cup, if they keep up this excellence and they do it with this many empty seats, we don't deserve the name Hockeytown. And it'll be our loss....">>

Judging from that column, I believe Mitch had to know that he was going to stir up a hornets nest with the public when posing that question. After all with a talk show and being a writer, he is no stranger to controversy going back to the 2004 story fiasco regarding two NBA players, Mateen Cleaves and Jason Richardson, who attended a Final Four game to cheer for their school, Michigan State University. Later it came out that they did not go to the game, and The Detroit Free Press and Albom had to issue an apology for the story.

The recent response to the latest column was so heavy that the Detroit Free Press had to actually encourage the readers to respond in the forum set up for Mitch's column. Although I am not a Red Wing Hockey fan, even I felt that the tone of the article came off as condescending and elitist. Besides being a columnist, sport reporter, and radio talk host, Mitch Albom has written several books with two of them becoming best sellers and made for TV movies. I have already ascertained that Mitch is pretty well heeled, since I am part of the millions that purchased one of those best sellers that I can't even resell on Ebay's saturated market.

Occasionally I listen to his talk show on WJR radio. I commend comic-former engineer Ken Brown for hanging in there with Albom's lapses in pompousness. I guess working at GM prepared him for the job. Ken, who keeps it together when I sense at times he wants to put a foot up somebody's behind, truly knows what he is dealing with. I have to give it to Mr. Brown, especially after seeing that geeky outdated photo on the WJR site, for sometimes bravely providing eloquent responses and still getting paid for the gig. Otherwise, had he not found his calling, Ken could have been a laid off engineer like many others in this region.

Perusing the Free Press Forums last week, I came across a lot of angry responses, some also threatened Mr. Albom with physical harm. Even white folks that still have good paying jobs can't afford the high cost of the tickets to the Red Wings Playoff games. According to some of them, even if they could, gas pricing, and parking fees makes attending a hockey playoff game prohibitive. In addition, with the current political scandal enveloping the city and the fear of being a crime victim, is reason enough for some to boycott all events held in Detroit.

Everybody in the world knows that Michigan is hurting economically. There are many folks from all walks of life that are trying to survive this economic recession (almost depression) in this state. Even folks in Grosse Pointe are now using a state issued Bridge Card to buy food now. (Being unemployed also, I guess I better drop my pride and get me one too, but they don't take them at Eastern Market where I get more for my money there than at Krogers and other major grocery stores in Detroit...) Cost of living has went up (especially food and insurance!), but the gas costs has really taken a bite of many citizens' entertainment budget, if in fact they still have one.

So being just a common citizen, I had to wonder if Mitch Albom understood that, or was he just trying to elicit a response from the general public for a future column? Is there a radio syndication deal in the works? Or did Mitch Albom make a wager with Illitch to see if he could play the Pied Piper for the Red Wings?