Mayer: Colin Cowherd Blames Poor Pacers Attendance on Racism

In case you missed "The Herd" yesterday, well, let's just say host Colin Cowherd stirred things up. Speaking about the Pacers poor attendance numbers despite the team thriving on the court, Cowherd asserted that racism was one of the main factors keeping spectators away from Bankers Life Fieldhouse.

Courtesy aviewfrommyseat.com

Obviously, this is a pretty controversial comment, especially with the certainty Cowherd expressed in saying it. I'll start with this. I think Colin Cowherd is a solid sports media personality, radio host, etc. I watch The Herd almost every day while eating lunch and genuinely enjoy the banter. While I don't always agree with what the host has to say, I still respect him. Cowherd genuinely believes and makes solid arguments about the topic, as opposed to a Skip Bayless type who simply tries to incite drama and controversy.

Back to the topic. I disagree with Cowherd on this subject. There are many reasons the Pacers are failing to draw (26th in attendance averaging 14,433 per game) despite Indiana playing so well (1st place in the Central Division and 3rd best record in the East). Is racism the reason? I really don't think so. Is it a factor? I can't definitively say it is not. However, if race is a factor I think it is such a small percentile that it really is not significant. The Malice in the Palace ended some fans relationship with the Pacers forever and could be a reason that some believe racism is an issue in attendance numbers. Makes some sense, but the brawl was almost a decade ago.

Cowherd continually dismissed the notion that Indianapolis is not a pro sports town by using the Reggie Miller days and the support Indy showed for those teams as an example. Great support for the Colts was also brought up.

Courtesy ihsaa.org

I disagree. Indianapolis is not a professional sports town and Indiana is not a professional sports state. That's not to say that pro sports don't have a place, but they are not the focal point. College and high school athletics, especially in basketball, rule the Hoosier state. One of the main reasons the Pacers are not drawing well is simple: Indiana University is back and taking the nation by storm while Butler has developed into a perennial contender. Those two schools are taking fans away. This is a down year for Purdue but it is a rarity and fans in West Lafayette would much rather support the Boilers then travel to Indy for an NBA game.

To further that point, many callers talked about how basketball fans in Indiana enjoy the team first, sharing the ball philosophy which distances the die hards from the superstar driven NBA. Cowherd retorted that is exactly how the Pacers play, so why wouldn't the basketball lovers in "the basketball state" want to see a pro team built in that image. Other callers said that the Pacers don't have a true super star which effects attendance and Cowherd came back with essentially the same argument: people want team basketball but then complain about not having a star.

It is true that basketball lovers in Indiana hate star driven selfish basketball. But it doesn't matter what kind of style the Pacers play because these are the fans that would choose a high school or college basketball game over an NBA game no matter what. So, the lack of a superstar does hurt because the younger generation (many who may not even be huge NBA fans) wait for Lebron or Kobe to hit the Bankers Life Fieldhouse floor.

Courtesy indyhiphop.com

Reggie Miller was a superstar the city and state fell in love with. The Pacers were also massively successful for a number of years. That is why those teams drew well. No one went to Colts games until Peyton Manning came along, became a superstar, and led the Colts to the playoffs every year.  That goodwill has carried over with another budding superstar in Andrew Luck and was not terribly hurt by only one bad year in between.

The Pacers have not had a superstar since Miller and were not particularly successful until recently. From 2006-2011 Indiana was never above .500. Fan bases simply don't have a light bulb go on as soon as the team in their city starts to play well. If Indiana is able to sustain their winning ways and Paul George becomes the player many think he will be, the fans will return. Indianapolis is not a pro sports town, it takes a certain combination of factors for professional teams to keep the turnstiles clicking every year. Are some fans racist and refuse to support non Caucasian athletes? Sure, but that is a truth for every team in every city. Even if the Pacers do draw well in the next couple of years, Indianapolis will always be a small town, underdog, sports city that prefers high school and college athletics.

Courtesy 1070thefan.com