Do you back the D-backs?

A blog is supposed to be written based on the opinion of the writer. Allow me to break the rules because this blog is about your opinion.

What is it about the Arizona Diamondbacks that has your attention?

Actions speak louder than words. Every topic selected on Doug & Wolf is chosen by your actions and not your words. What sports do you watch on TV? What do you buy tickets to see? What play-by-play do you listen to on our station? What previous topics were brought up on our show that spiked our ratings?

We get bombarded with requests to talk about different sports but if there aren’t actions that actually back up those requests, a lot of weight isn’t given to those requests. This is not meant to sound offensive, but we are not a charity. This is a business. If we are talking about a sport, team or topic that does not interest you, you flip the station. When people flip, we lose ratings. Lose ratings often enough and people (namely, me) lose jobs.

If skateboarding suddenly becomes a sell-out draw at either of the arenas and television ratings explode, we’re going to talk about it at least once an hour. A great example of this is the Coyotes. A few years ago our show barely discussed hockey, but this year attendance and ratings kept trending upward. Correspondingly, so did our Coyotes coverage on the show.

In the month of April, the D-backs were atrocious. Every game they were finding different ways to lose. The ratings on TV and radio showed you didn’t care to go through the pain with them. The Doug & Wolf show responded by going heavy NFL Draft, Suns and NBA playoffs in April. I’m a baseball guy. As much as I’d like to talk D-backs for four hours, your listenership is more important than my opinions. I haven’t given up watching the D-backs, but I was under the assumption that we weren’t going to be talking much more about them through the rest of the year.

In the last two weeks, my assumption has proven to be wrong. I’d like to know your opinion as to why you’ve come back to the D-backs. Lately, ticket sales are up. Walk-up crowds have increased. Ratings are going up for Diamondbacks baseball broadcasts. You are interested again in watching and listening to the Arizona Diamondbacks. I’m thrilled, but I have to know one thing: why?

We all know this is a fair-weather sports town. Everyone’s a fan of our local teams when they win. However, most “Arizonans” drift back to their original hometown team when a local team goes in the tank. It is not normal for one of our teams to put themselves into a playoff position that isn’t “mathematically eliminated,” but is “mathematically improbable” while you grow more interested.

This is great for my profession because the more loyal you are, the better for sports radio. Truth is, it’s also the better for you because the more loyal a fan base is, the stronger their voice is in the future of the organization. No franchise will ever admit that, but if a loyal fan base turns on ownership, management or the players, change comes very soon.

Your eyeballs, ears and wallets have spoken loudly for the last two weeks. Tweet me @doug987fm or e-mail me
here and answer one question: why did you come back and “back the D-backs?”

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