Sports: Column

Playoffs bring out crowd

Sunday night, I was surprised to see one of the most entertaining games of my life. The shock hit me later when I realized it was well past 1 a.m., and I had been watching NHL hockey for over three hours — something I hadn’t done in years. I saw the Dallas Stars beat the San Jose Sharks in four overtimes — that’s more than two combined games.

So why the sudden care for a sport that usually bores me?  Besides the fact the game went to four overtimes, I saw that every player played with unbelievable intensity throughout the entire game. Some of the players on the ice were skating for almost an hour and both teams had effectively played back-to-back games. The most incredible part it, however, was that every fan was still at the arena, cheering on their team.

Perhaps it was that the Stars needed to win in order to advance to the conference championship, or maybe it was simply that the NHL has the highest attendance percentage out of the four major American sports at 91.7 percent — either way, the fans showed up and the teams didn’t disappoint.

While the NHL playoffs have been unusually entertaining thus far, the NBA playoffs might just be up to par with hockey’s excitement. The most fun series to watch so far was definitely between the Boston Celtics and Atlanta Hawks. The Celtics are the top team in the league, and the Hawks were one of the worst teams to make the playoffs in history.

Nevertheless, Atlanta put all analysts on mute, ignoring all talk of them being swept by Boston and pushed the series to seven games, winning every game at their home court. During the season, the Hawks’ home crowd never came close to filling the capacity of 18,729.

As a result, some begin to ask the question: If the Hawks played so well at home against one of the best teams in the NBA, why didn’t their fans show up to support them during the regular season?

 Well, simply put, they just weren’t that good.

It’s really amazing how fans can help their home team. Look at the Los Angeles Lakers for example. They sell out every game and their home record of 30-11 showed for it. Maybe if more teams at the bottom of the playoff bracket got some love during the season, their home records would reflect that support the Hawks showed in the playoffs, shocking the Celtics in three of the games.

It does make sense that fans show up when a team performs well, but so much of the time, teams depend on their fans to give them confidence at home. The Badgers, for example, have not lost a home football game under coach Brett Bielema, and he often credits this to the support of the students and alumni.

The best fans are the ones who stick around when their team is in the gutter and support them at home no matter what — that is why some franchises will always be great.

For example, Cubs fans come to games because their team has failed to win a World Series for the past 100 years, supporting them nonetheless — that may be a big reason why they are regarded as some of the best fans in American sports.

Going back to hockey, it seems the reason fans care so much about the playoffs is because players seem to play harder. In games where you have to win to move on, not just the fans, but the players show up as well. Seemingly, any sports fan can enjoy watching an irrelevant sporting event because they want to see the players play harder than they did all season.

Maybe if sports fans start to realize that showing up yields good results, they will make a presence during the regular season and support the teams that don’t always succeed throughout the year, like the Hawks.

Who knows, maybe Atlanta will sell out a game next season.  Chances are they won’t, but if this year’s playoffs are any indication, the Hawks can beat any team with the help of their home crowd.

Jonah is a freshman majoring in journalism. Like rooting for the home team? He can be reached at jbraun@badgerherald.com.