Last summer saw the re-emergence of the Sydney Kings after a two-year exile, and although the club struggled to win games, they developed a good relationship with their fans. But the second season blues have kicked in, on and off the court.
After attending several games last season, I took the plunge and purchased a membership for this season.
Despite having paid for my membership months ago, my card arrived on Wednesday, just a couple of days before the first home game. Others weren’t so lucky.
One friend of mine, who has been a member for years, didn’t receive her card. Ringing the club on Friday, she was told they had it and to collect it from a marquee outside the ground.
When she came to the marquee, the people there didn’t know anything about it; and she was given the run-around by club officials and had to tell her story numerous times.
Eventually, after they’d printed a temporary ticket for this game, she was told they’d found her membership and after more dithering she finally got in.
Both my card and hers had seat numbers that didn’t exist.
I couldn’t help thinking that if that is how a club treats their loyal supporters, it’s no wonder they went under once. But many sporting fans across codes could tell you similar stories, and most clubs don’t seem to care.
The Australian sporting public is remarkably forgiving of terrible customer service, and most sporting clubs know they can get away with stuffing their supporters around.
The Kings were drawn to play the New Zealand Breakers, the defending champions, and the Breakers sent an imposing roster of players to the Kingdome for this match.
The Kings had hoped for a marquee signing, with Andrew Bogut close to joining the club during the NBA lockout.
But insurance problems saw the deal fall through; with Bogut watching from the stands and his only contribution being an interview on court at half time.
Before the game, they did the national anthems of both countries, but even that was a disaster.
The New Zealand anthem was badly out of tune, while the singer for the Australian anthem’s microphone didn’t work, leading to an awkward silence before a microphone swap.
But finally the players took to the court and the game tipped off. The Kings took the ball, but quickly turned it over.
“Dee-fence” chanted the crowd, but the Breakers encountered little opposition with an unblocked route straight to the basket.
The Breakers stormed out of the blocks, forcing the Kings to call an early time-out. A brief revival saw the Kings cut the margin back to two points, but it was shortlived.
But the Breakers were landing three-point baskets, while the Kings just could get their shots to fall through the hoop.
By quarter time the Breakers led 26-15; and it would get worse for the Kings. Silly fouls sent the Breakers to the stripe with regularity.
There was little resistance when the Breakers had possession, an uninterrupted route from the baseline to the basket. But when the Kings had the ball, their shots would bounce off the tip of the ring without going through the basket.
The Kings would score just seven points for the quarter, to trail 49-22 at half time.
Through the time outs, the entertainment continued; cheerleaders, a dance troupe, the Lion mascot sling-shotting merchandise into the crowd.
Even a “kiss-cam”, the camera panning to members of the ground to pucker up as uncomfortably as Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard in Parliament.
With such a one-sided match, and the home side being so uncompetitive, the vocal supporter groups around the stadium were more subdued than normal. In seasons past, court announcer Rodney O would have revved up the crowd.
But Rodney O isn’t there this year. The new court announcer is a poor replacement, with little feel for the game and unable to build any sense of excitement around the stadium.
The opening minute of the third quarter saw Aaron Bruce and Julian Khazzouh land three-point baskets, to give some small hope of a comeback. But it would be only temporary.
Playing from so far behind forced the Kings to take offensive risks, and the turnovers would follow. The Breakers were magnificent, the Kings were terrible, and the margin continued to blow out.
The final score was 98-61, a whopping 37-point defeat. It was the Kings’ worst loss in their history, throughout their previous incarnation before the two-year hiatus they were never that badly beaten.
Long before the final buzzer, the unenthused crowd was already filing out of the stadium. It’s hard to imagine that too many of them will be back.
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