Atlanta; No Chance Against LeBron

Can the Atlanta Hawks win the series against league MVP LeBron James and his Cleveland Cavaliers?

A better question might be, can the Hawks win a single game in the series?

The Cavs disposed of the Detroit Pistons in a four game sweep by almost 16 points per contest. The final blowout at the Palace was a lopsided 99-78 win for the Cavs. The Pistons put up little resistance against LeBron and company as the 24 year old superstar finished the game with 36 points, 13 rebounds and 8 assists.

“We responded very well coming into a hostile building,” said LeBron in the post game interview, ” we got better every single quarter.”

So, why would the Hawks pose any threat at all in round 2? Atlanta is very athletic, shoots well from the perimeter and crashes the offensive glass. The Hawks grabbed 11 boards at the offensive end in game 7 against Miami leading to 16 second chance points. Cleveland should be concerned.

Or should they?

The Cavaliers won the season series over the Hawks, 3-1. The team with the best home record in the NBA, 39-2, is rested and ready for Joe Johnson and Atlanta. Marvin Williams had 19 points for the Hawks, against the Cavs, in their lone win in Atlanta. Williams, who did not play in the last meeting between the two teams due to a back injury, missed games 3, 4 and 5 of the Heat series with a wrist injury. He figures not to be a factor.

The Cavaliers are rested and according to LeBron, they needed to heal.

It is cliche, but the Cavaliers are on a mission. It has been 45 years since Frank Ryan led the Cleveland Browns to an NFL title in 1964. The town is starving for a winner. The Cavaliers have never won a championship.

LeBron is familiar with his seat at this years playoff table, “It reminds me of the days when I was back in high school. Every time we went out on the court we knew we were going to win. So yeah, this is the hungriest I have been. I see the potential in our team.” -ESPN The Magazine

So, is the King of Cleveland going to let the Atlanta Hawks stand in the way of completing his first real legitimate shot at an NBA crown?

Two words; no chance.

Event Ticket Market; Bull or Bare?

Marty Rice owns two small businesses in Mansfield, Ohio and owning a successful company in 2009 is much more difficult than it was even a few short years ago. His corrugated box company, Mr. Box Plus, has seen a dip in sales of about 11% to start the year after posting solid numbers in 2008. Most companies are experiencing similar results as America is faced with one of the toughest economic downturns in history.

Marty owns season tickets to the Cleveland Indians and Cleveland Cavaliers. With the tough economic times, one would think Marty has stopped attending games and sold his tickets to make up for the loss of income.

Or has he?

Marty splits a dugout suite Progressive Field with 6 other guys. He says that everyone of them is back for the 2009 season.  At a cost of $248,000 this year, Marty’s portion of the package is over $41,000. That doesn’t even include food and beverages on game day. No one especially wants to miss the dessert cart. I have personally been in the suite and win or lose; the dessert cart is a highlight of the location! The seats are so close to the field you can even spit on the on deck hitter. I know my kid tried two years ago!

Marty hasn’t given up his Cavs seats either. In fact, Marty or his clients attended all 41 Cavaliers home games in 2008-09. According to ESPN.Go.Com, the Cavaliers averaged 20,010 fans per night this season, slightly down from their 2007-08 showing of 20,465 per night. Marty says he noticed a great turnout at every Cavs game he attended, “the place was pretty much full every time,” he stated.

So, if Marty feels this way, how about the rest of America? Are fans no longer attending events because they can’t afford it? Not according to Harmon Howe, whose job it is to manage ticket partners for the world’s largest secondary market exchange, TicketNetwork Exchange™. “What’s happened is the average price of a transaction has dropped from last year by about 15%,” stated Howe, “the number of transactions has gone up substantially, about 75%.”

“Instead of going to Disney World for a week, parents are taking their children to a kid’s concert,” said Howe. Although, he really feels economic pressure has pushed down the price of a seat, he offered this, “fans don’t want to miss the opportunity to see an artist or musical group that may not tour for several years or never again.” U2 and Aerosmith are two very popular groups that fit this category and have been very profitable in the secondary market.

Carol-Ann Rudy of www.TicketNews.com supports Howe in her article written for the website on April 22, 2009. Rudy cites Broadway sales are up over $26 million versus last year at this time. Wicked continues to hold the top spot in all of secondary market ticket sales. According to the sites ranking system, the popular musical has more market share than the four shows ranked directly below the show combined!

A USA Today poll launched in March asked, “How will the economic downturn affect your sports consumption?” As of April 28th, 48% of responders say they will, “attend fewer events and watch more TV” and 36% of pollsters say the economy will have no effect at all!

So, despite an almost bare economy where company revenue is down, Marty Rice will jump into his 2005 Chrysler 300M, head up I-71 to Quicken Loans Arena and follow the Cavaliers throughout the rest of their playoff run. LeBron James is the favorite to win the MVP award and his team had the best regular season record at home this year in the NBA. According to Marty, it’s worth the money he will spend to sit in Club Section 124. Yep, Marty thinks it would be “bull” to sell his playoff tickets or any other ticket he owns at this point. He feels, “the excitement of the playoffs has overridden the economy.”