mGrowOld

October 26th, 2012 at 9:22 AM ^

To be fair that's not what he says. He says "Roy Roundtree will wear the #1 jersey before he leaves Michigan."  Doesn't say it has to be HIS #1 jersey.  Could be David Terrell's old jersey or even AC's.  And nowhere does he claim he's going to wear it in a game or anything....could be he's going to wear it  to bed like pajamas or something.  And he doesnt claim Michigan is going to give it him....just that he's going to wear it....sometime before he leaves Michigan (I'm thinking the state...not the school).  He might stay in the state a long, long time.

I think he's right.

 

Needs

October 26th, 2012 at 9:44 AM ^

Dumb move. A good chunk of the reason the Nets are getting so hyped up is that they were renamed the Brooklyn Nets, allowing people to wear Brooklyn logoed stuff and creating an affinity between team and borough. It also gave some people who rooted for the Knicks permission to switch alliegence to the new 'home-town' team (assisted by the Knicks decision to construct a team more suited to winning in 2002 than 2012). Remaining the NY Islanders won't do either.

ILMichFan70

October 26th, 2012 at 10:00 AM ^

I was expecting them to change their name from New York to Brooklyn and also come up with a new and improved logo. It gives the fans some excitement when there is something new like that to wear around. On a marketing and fan gear aspect of it all, there's no improvements because of them not making a location or logo change. This would have been a good opportunity to get their merchandise sold if they made changes. Not sure that it really is now

Blue In NC

October 26th, 2012 at 10:14 AM ^

I disagree.  The Islanders have much more of a tradition than the Nets (and the Nets were the New Jersey Nets so that didn't really work).  There is no real need to rename the team for Brooklyn (NY is still appropriate) and if you did, you might alienate a portion of your existing fan base.

ILMichFan70

October 26th, 2012 at 10:27 AM ^

they probably don't have a big existing fan base given how terrible they've been. Agreed that the Nets situation is different due to the New Jersey name. That wouldnt work. Again though you might be able to bring some excitement or even new fans by making some changes to the franchise. If not the location name then maybe a logo/jersey change. I'm sure that already the move from Long Island to Brooklyn may alienate some fans already that have to travel to Brooklyn to see then. Although I can't say that for certain. Maybe they don't need to do anything else and can figure out other ways to bring in fans, new players and excitement to the franchise. Should be interesting to see.

Bronco648

October 26th, 2012 at 10:54 AM ^

Brooklyn is on Long Island.

The other Islander fan in my office suggested the NY Bag-A-Doughnuts (instead of Islanders). I thought that was pretty funny.  The Barclays Center seats about 5K less people than the Nassau Coliseum does. And, the lease is for 25 years. So, I geuess the Bag-A-Doughnuts aren't leaving the NY metro area any time soon. Given their lousy play over the last 10+ years, I doubt there are 10K Islander fans left. Also, this will make it easier for the Ranger and Devil fans to see their teams "on the road".

Needs

October 26th, 2012 at 11:25 AM ^

That last point is important, and holds not only for Ranger and Devil fans, but fans of the Bruins, Wings, Flyers, Sabers, Canadiens, etc, etc. Any NHL team with a significant following is going to have a sizable number of fans in the NY area, and the Barclays Center is super easy to get to given all the transit connections.

Even if they're struggling, they'll be able to maintain a pretty high ticket price point and sell out via the fans of other teams. As a reference point, the cheapest Nets tix are $22, and there are very few of those, with prices for better seats in the upper deck ranging between $42 and $57.

cltjr

October 26th, 2012 at 12:38 PM ^

There are many Brooklyn residents like myself that have been eyeing the Islanders situation over the last year or so, and quietly hoping they would move to Barclays.  As a die-hard Wings fan, I would attend many games (maybe even season tix), and happily embrace them as my "Eastern Conference" team.  There are many young professionals from out of town now living in Brooklyn - I think this demographic, in addition to the existing LIRR fans will be a huge base of support for them.  I think the enthusiasm will return in a big way.

Needs

October 26th, 2012 at 10:30 AM ^

How much of that fan base are they planning on retaining? Aren't they already alienating it by moving away from Long Island?  I question how many fans accustomed to driving to the Nassau Coliseum are going to get on the train to Brooklyn. They could drive, but anyone who drives to that arena for a normal weekday 7:30 start time is asking to sit in their car for half the game. This move has to be based on the idea that they're going to create a substantially new fan base in a new location.

(And yes, geographically Brooklyn is part of Long Island, but people in Brooklyn don't see themselves as living on Long Island and Long Islanders don't see Brooklyn as part of LI, so functionally the Islanders have left Long Island.)

turd ferguson

October 26th, 2012 at 9:17 AM ^

Ah, yes. A several-day-old story that has nothing to do with Michigan or college sports, on the eve of one of our biggest games in years, that poses a question that has already been unambiguously answered.

Fine, fine work here.

justingoblue

October 26th, 2012 at 11:39 AM ^

This is easily the most important game of the season. Alabama and ND count for nothing unless we're looking for a spot in Miami (we're not) or are in serious contention for an at-large BCS bid (almost definitely not).

OSU is only important if we win and then lose another two, or Nebraska wins and loses. Barring that happening, Nebraska is who we go through to get to Indianapolis. Nebraska is the most important game of the season, although MSU could have been if they were any good.

I can't express just how much I hate this, but we're in a better position for the Rose Bowl if we win in Lincoln and lose in Columbus than the reverse. Thank whoever put the divisions together for that fact.

Libertine

October 26th, 2012 at 9:40 AM ^

so I'm pretty excited to have 2 teams I can go see (well starting in a few years). Although I'm pretty sure they picked the 2 most boring NY area franchises to move to Brooklyn.

LSA Aught One

October 26th, 2012 at 9:54 AM ^

The interesting part of this is that Long Islanders consider Brooklyn a world away.  Brooklyn residents see a trip to Long Island as an all-day affair where they have to pack up the kids and the dog.  It's the same reason why most Long Islanders have only been to New Jersey a handful of times in their lives.