Adam is a San Francisco lawyer who will probably buy tickets when the Warriors come to the Embarcadero. While I wouldn’t be so rude to ask him about his salary, I’m assuming Adam does decently enough. In theory, this is the profile of someone who should sap future Warriors games of their enthusiasm. In theory, this is a smartphone-juggling suit who knows less about basketball than he does about playing polo in a monocle and lounging on a tiger skin rug.
Except, this Adam is Adam Lauridsen. The dude needs no introduction in these parts, but I should mention to non Dubs fans that Adam writes the fantastic Fast Break Warriors blog. Perhaps Adam’s not the norm, but I wonder if we’re stereotyping a professional class fanbase as a worse one. Guys with advanced degrees aren’t bad fans by definition. We have no clue what the new crowd will sound like at the end of a tight game.
It’s taken as an article of faith that a new San Francisco Warriors crowd will be a diminished one. I’m not so sure. For all the mockery of stuffy, latte-sipping Giants fans, you’ll be hard pressed to find a louder ballpark in the playoffs. And baseball is a bit different from basketball. The buzz in a destination arena can build on itself. Madison Square Garden and Staples Center derive a heightened sense of excitement from being places to be.
This isn’t to say that the San Francisco atmosphere would be exactly the same. Oracle has a beautiful harshness to it that I expect to lose. It’s the only arena I’ve ever been to where fans jump up and point at humiliated players.
But, I would balk at dismissing any Bay Area crowd before it gets a chance to roar. This place isn’t like, say, San Diego, the city I originally hail from. The Bay Area is old and deep rooted like towns on the Eastcoast and in the Midwest. The 1849 Gold Rush birthed this place, not World War II’s Sunbelt expansion. And the region maintains a sense of community because everyone is looking at each other from across the water. So I expect a damned enthusiastic, knowledgable, partisan Warriors crowd, even with all the tailored suits.
Yeah it will be a whole different deal. Now with the success of stub hub I figure that the high class people getting their season tickets will be posting them on there for a good reduced price because they have golf to play down in Pebble Beach. It will be different but it will be good, why? Because its still the Warriors! I will still be getting some tall boys and drinking them in the vicinity of the Stadium and sneaking some in, I will still be yelling and screaming till I go horse. It will attract bigger free agents and it will become a nice destination for stars to play in.
I’m for it.