Fluke or future?

Posted at 2:53 PM on March 3, 2009 by Bob Collins (5 Comments)
Filed under: Sports

Would a guarantee that you could get your money back if you lose your job motivate you to buy a season ticket to the Minnesota Timberwolves? Today, Glen Taylor, the owner of the NBA franchise, unveiled his "No-Risk Pledge," which guarantees a refund for unused tickets should season ticket holders lose their jobs in 2009.

He also announced a $5 reduction in most ticket prices.

The Timberwolves are a tough sell. The front office has been relatively incompetent for most of this decade, penalized five years of draft choices for the illegal signing of a marginal player, and allowing Kevin Garnett to slip away to win an NBA championship, and booting most of the first-round picks they've had in the last few years (Kevin Love appears to be a rare exception).

Beyond that, the Timberwolves appear to be placing all of their hopes in a one-month stretch of otherwise uninspiring -- sometimes insulting -- basketball.

"We are in a rebuilding process with the team, but in January our fans had the opportunity to see firsthand the potential we think this team has. We believe strongly in our core group of players led by Al Jefferson, Randy Foye and Kevin Love, and also believe the future is extremely bright," Taylor said at a news conference today.

He's pointing to the stretch of the season when the Timberwolves won 10 games and lost only 4. It happened immediately after the team fired its head coach. Perhaps it was a sign of the future. Or maybe it was just a fluke. After all, the same players won only 2 of 16 games in December, and were in the process of reverting to form when the team's best player, Al Jefferson, was injured shortly after the January run. The team had lost 5 of its previous 6 games, and although they weren't as lethargic as December, moral victories don't suggest the "bright future" Taylor does.

Meanwhile, Timberwolves fans continue to exercise their own ticket reduction plan. The worst kept secret in town is that you can buy a cheap seat at Target Center, and sneak down to any one of the nice -- and empty -- seats downstairs.

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Comments (5)

Two of the five draft picks forfeited were eventually reinstated.

Posted by CaliGuy | March 3, 2009 3:23 PM

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Right, but the penalty was five years of picks.

Posted by Bob Collins | March 3, 2009 3:27 PM

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So, was it an oversight or obfuscation to not include the actual amount of picks in your post?

Posted by CaliGuy | March 3, 2009 10:59 PM

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Whatever. 3 picks, 5 picks... It was bonehead either way, and helped flush a bunch of seasons (and ticket sales) down the toilet. They can offer all the Randy (Corey) Breuer (Brewer) jerseys and 2-for-1 ticket deals that they want. The best seat in the house is at home on the couch, and then only during the commercials between Antiques Roadshow and The Best of the Joy of Painting w/ Bob Ross on TPT (before it was cut - but that's another NewsCut topic...).

Posted by Former TW Fan | March 4, 2009 8:26 AM

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The season ticket prices are beginning cut next year, but the cuts to the offense and defense already are in place.

Posted by V | March 4, 2009 11:32 PM

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