For all the various verbiage that's spewed forth by a sportswriter, there are two genres of articles that are, by far, the most insipid and lazy.
The first is the "crystal ball" satire, in which the author will predict the next season or year for a particular sport or franchise; the insights are shallow, the jokes either forced, repetitious, or omitted. You could fill the same space with WNBA preseason box scores and it would be a better use of real estate.
The second is the "mock draft," especially ones that exhibit an elementary level of reporting that trades accuracy for piss-poor prognostication. Mel Kiper gets to have a mock draft because he spends every waking moment studying everyone from the top pick to Mr. Irrelevant. The beat writer for the local football team shouldn't write a mock draft because he hasn't.
At least those publications that traffic in amateur prospects have some base knowledge and context when they unleash a mock draft. Take the "Red Line Report" in hockey, billed as a scouting newsletter. Its 2007 NHL Entry Draft predictions were published recently on USAToday.com, and offered a glimpse at this weekend's two-day affair in Columbus. (An event that I will be attending on behalf of The Fourth Period Radio Show and NHL FanHouse on AOL Sports.) It's solid, save for two pet peeves; the most prominent being that the author predicted a draft-day trade involving the No. 1 pick. That's like calling the winner of the Super Bowl based on whether or not you think it might rain.
The other pet peeve is found within the summary of the No. 2 pick:
2. Philadelphia Flyers — James vanRiemsdyk. Makes perfect sense from a marketing standpoint as he's from just up the road in New Jersey. Plus, he fits what the Flyers are looking for better than anyone as a big, rugged power forward.
First of all, do the Flyers really need a local hook to generate interest in the team? Last season Philadelphia was — as the kids say — "teh suck," yet they drew to a 98.9% capacity. The Flyers could send out alumni from the 1985 Philadelphia 76ers on skates and would still draw over 19,000 a game.
Beyond that: does this guy own an atlas? VanRiemsdyk is from Middletown, NJ — a.k.a. two towns over from where I grew up. It's roughly 25 minutes away from the Outerbridge Crossing into New York, and about two hours away from Philly. Saying vanRiemsdyk would have an impact as a "local boy makes good" is like saying the Dallas Stars would get a boost at the gate from someone born in Tulsa.
Forgetting about this geographic blunder, let's focus on the real question here: can a locally-born athlete really make an impact on a team's popularity?
No, sir, I don't believe he can.
How many tickets did Jim Dowd sell as the first New Jersey-born member of the Devils? How many tickets did Jeff Halpern sell for the Washington Capitals because he was from suburban Potomac, Maryland? To be honest, in the conversations I've had with Caps fans, he might have sold more because he was Jewish.
How many people come to Shea because Damion Easley of the Mets was born in New York City? How many new fans came to the Dodgers because Mike Lieberthal is from Glendale? I know a lot was made about Stephon Marbury becoming a New York Knick because he was born in Brooklyn; besides his immediate family and homeboys, did MSG pack a single extra fan in the joint because of that fact?
Or did they come because he was Stephon Marbury? The "local hero" angle is more important for someone like Marbury than it is for the Knicks. He grew up cheering for the team, and I imagine it's a thrill for him to wear the uniform and play in the Garden.
The only place where the "local hero" thing is a factor is in a city like Montreal. Every season, there's a rumor about Vinny Lecavalier of the Tampa Bay Lightning "going home" and playing for the Canadiens one day, and it would be a big deal for Habs fans — not only because he's an all-star, but because of his heritage. Please recall the riotous outrage when the Habs selected Doug Wickenheiser instead of Denis Savard in the 1980 NHL draft...
I don't think, in professional sports, where an athlete was born matters all that much. If there's a palpable impact from anything in a player's background, it's where he played his college ball. The Detroit Lions drafting a University of Michigan player is a big deal. The Charlotte Bobcats grabbing a Tar Heel could help at the gate. Down here in D.C., several University of Maryland players have eventually hooked up with the Washington Wizards, and each time it seemed like the acquisition was based more on marketing than on the player's impact on the court. It could happen again with D.J. Strawberry this year.
Collegiate allegiance can make a difference at the gate. The impact of "local heroes," however, is limited to an occasional piece of trivia traded between fans, an annual feature story in the community weekly or a reason why he gives the home team a discount when he becomes a free agent.
Any perceived significance beyond that is, for the most part, mythology.
In the case of James vanRiemsdyk, it shouldn't mean anything to the Flyers that he's from Central New Jersey, just like it shouldn't mean anything to James vanRiemsdyk if he becomes a Flyer...
... after all, he grew up rooting for the Rangers.
Greg Wyshynski is the Features Editor for SportsFan Magazine in Washington, DC, and the Senior Sports Editor for The Connection Newspapers of Northern Virginia. His book is "Glow Pucks and 10-Cent Beer: The 101 Worst Ideas in Sports History." His columns appear every Saturday on Sports Central. You can e-mail Greg at [email protected].
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