Last week I committed to re-up my season tix for 2008-09 (Section 112M), and this will be my 12th year as a STH. The group that has purchased my Section 216 seats for about 7 years also chose to re-up.
I was very happy with the product on the floor this season (they neither exceeded nor undershot my expectations), and I saw real effort in about 90% of the games. I saw a few stinkers this year (not nearly as many as last year) and also saw some great performances. While I would have liked seeing one more big player move this year, I understand the difficulty in pulling that off and know that our renaissance time really cannot come until after next season.
I was very happy with the effort made by MS&E representatives to reach out to the STH fan base and actually listen and make changes. That definitely played a role in my decision. They have had to re-learn how to keep customers in the wake of the Kings' slide in recent years, and they have done quite well.
And naturally, both Kingsgurl and I have really enjoyed Kevin Martin continue to blossom as a pro, and we look forward to his taking another step up in the coming season. Our joy in watching Kevin do his thing on the floor also played a key role in the decision.
The decision was not nearly as difficult as in the last 2 years, and it also helped that my new 1/2 season partner for this year was willing to go it again. But had he not, I still would have re-upped and again recruited MS&E help to find a partner for 22 games.
There was progress made this year, and it's not worth arguing the degree of that progress, but I will depart this season feeling better about our team than after last season. In the end, I was very entertained this year by the games I attended, am convinced that Reggie is the right coach (who will make more mistakes along the "learning" way but will ultimately be a good one), believe that Petrie will make a couple good moves in the off season to take the next step in the rebuild (although my recent confidence has been shaken, like many of yours), know that KMart will be better next season and work hard in the off-season to improve his weak points, and will be patient to see what we can do after the salary cap shackles are removed after 2008-09.