The State of Sports in Charlotte

I've lived in Charlotte for over 15 years. I went to elementary, middle, and high school here, so basically, I'm the next best thing to a person born in Charlotte. I love this city, I love the people here, and hell, I don't even really mind the transplants, as long as they don't try to tell me how they did things wherever the hell they're from.

Charlotte is a great place to live, a great place to raise kids and have a family, and a great place to work. Charlotte is not a great sports town. There are three reasons for this, and the blame falls not only on the shoulders of the fans, but on the teams in the region. 

The fans in the region are guilty on two fronts.

First, there is a large portion of the fanbase that is completely ignorant. These fans don't understand the inner-workings of a championship-caliber program. Generally speaking, they tend to be fans that are new to the NFL who just started following professional football with the Panthers. They are the fans that want more offense, think that defensive football is boring, and truly buy into the idea that the more you score, the more you win.

This segment of fans is one that I find highly annoying, as their ignorance only manifests itself as a voice talking loudly, but saying nothing. While you don't have to have played football to understand it, you do have to have an appreciation for the intricacies of the game to truly comprehend the formula for winning in the NFL. 

A prime example of this is when owner Jerry Richardson was quoted as saying he, "would like for the Carolina Panthers and our team, and our work, and the way we operate our team to emulate the Pittsburgh Steelers." 

Fans called radio stations, sent emails and wrote the paper complaining that this was a stupid decision. That they didn't want the team to emulate the Steelers, the most stable, well-run franchise in pro sports. Instead, fans wanted Richardson to emulate the Patriots.

"Why can't we be like the Patriots?" was the cry. A team, up until 2001, no one outside of New England could care less about. This tier of fans doesn't understand or appreciate the impact that front-office stability and a unified philosophy has on the franchise.

In the last 30+ years, the Steelers have gone through the same amount of head coaches as the Panthers have gone through in 12. The new football fan doesn't grasp the concept that defense is the way to build a team, and a power running game based on a strong offensive line creates more wins than any flash in the pan offensive scheme. 

The second type of fan that is detrimental to the Charlotte landscape is the transplant. A large percentage of Charlotteans aren't from Charlotte at all, they're from Washington DC, New York, New Jersey, and Ohio. These fans already have their own teams, and they aren't changing. This is one reason that Panther's fans are uneducated concerning the game, as they were fans that didn't watch the NFL until 1996.

The fans that did watch the NFL still watch and still root for their respective teams.  At Bank of America Stadium, it isn't uncommon for opposing teams' fans to out number the Panther faithful, especially if the Redskins, Steelers, or Cowboys come to town. This is truly a hindrance, as the Panthers don't truly make inroads into the community as long as the city's residents continue to cling to their old teams. I'm even guilty of this, as my family are Steelers fans, and I fully plan on raising my future children to love the black, gold, and the Terrible Towel.

With that being said, it's tough but true that it will take quite sometime for fans and their children to assimilate to the Panthers truly being "THE TEAM" in Charlotte.

The teams in Charlotte don't help themselves out in the department of increasing fanhood. While the Panthers have had three relatively successful seasons out of 12, they aren't a perennial power in the NFC, let alone the NFL. The Bobcats are even worse, as they are set for their fourth season of sitting home in the summer for the playoffs. 

The NFL came into Charlotte in 1995, and was welcomed into the city with open arms. The Richardsons have, for the most part, treated fans right, and they have been endeared to the people of Charlotte. There are several aspects of the Panthers that have created a less than stellar situation for them in the city.

One is the stadium situation, in which the game-time atmosphere is one of the worst in the NFL. By creating a "high-class" atmosphere, the Richardsons have truly handcuffed the die-hard fan. There are no shirt-off, body-painting football fanatics in Charlotte.

Even if there were, the stadium authorities would ask them to put a shirt on. Sign size is controlled, and massive alcohol consumption isn't a problem. Overall, coming to Charlotte to play is a treat for opposing teams. There is no atmosphere in BOA, unless the other team brings their own, as is the case when the Panthers play teams with rowdy followers. 

On the field, the Panthers have their own problems. Multiple times they've fallen to fan pressure to select the "vogue" pick, instead of fitting players into the John-Fox system. Deangelo Williams and Thomas Davis are just two first-round examples in the last couple years that don't fit into the power running and maintain a strong defensive philosophy.

However, fans wanted "an explosive" running back and a "play-maker" on defense.  Hurney and Fox needed to stick to their system, a power-running back to replace Stephen Davis, a strong outside-linebacker to plug into the system. Not projects that may or may not materialize. Don't try to make an extraordinary pick when an ordinary one will do.

While the idea that the Panthers' casual fans don't grasp the idea of patience and stability being the keys to success, they do understand winning. In the 2002-2003 season, the Panthers played stout defense and ran the ball well, and fans went to the game. Scoring doesn't keep fans in seats, winning does. 

The Bobcats are another story entirely, as they entered the city already despised by a large contingent of potential fans. The arena deal forced through the city, and the way George Shinn treated the city in moving the Hornets and the "thuggish" mentality of the NBA in the early 21st century all turned fans off. The product was incredibly poor, as the Bobcats didn't have any marquee players to draw fans.

To add insult to injury, the prices for Bobcats tickets, and the season ticket policies, are horribly managed. As an upstart and an underdog within the community, the Bobcats need to appeal to the masses, and work overtime to build quality public-relations within the area. Low ticket prices, gameday give aways, and strong consumer-relations would be a major step towards righting the Bobcats' ship.

The other step would be to put a successful product on the floor. Instead of drafting players that will only serve to initially get players to the stadium (Sean May, Raymond Felton, Adam Morrison), the Bobcats need to draft players that will fit into their system.

Herein lies the problem. The Bobcats have no system, no identity as a team. Watching them play is just watching a bunch of guys out there shooting around, sometimes running plays, sometimes just winging it. They need stability and an identity to build success in a horrid eastern-conference.

The last major player in Charlotte's ultimate suckage as a sports town is the region itself. In the south, there aren't a lot of pro sports. Sure, Atlanta has the Hawks (they suck too, almost as bad as the Bobcats) and the Falcons (ew), and Charlotte has the Panthers and the Bobcats, but overall, the south is very new to professional sports.

Down here, fans cling to their college sports; Sunday is nice, but Saturday is king.  Fans here get rowdy on Saturday, and spend Sunday rehashing and recovering while the NFL game is on the tube. It is an even worse situation for basketball, as the NBA isn't even on the radar of a large portion of college basketball fans. They don't love good basketball and talented players, they like the ambiance of the college game. 

The rivalries, the coaching personalities, and the history. Professional sports in the south have always and will always be second best to college. Sure, when teams win they can steal some spotlight, but if the Bobcats were on a 15-game win streak moving towards first place in the NBA East, and the Tar Heels are in the Elite Eight, playing to go to the Final Four, no one is talking about or tuning in to the Cats. The Heels take precedence. It is tough to win the region over, as college sports have always been the South's escape, and professional sports have been focused on the North.