I was about 14 years old.
Icing?
No idea what that meant.
Hooking?
No clue.
I just knew I saw some fights.
Saw some pucks go in nets.
Very exciting.
This was The Mobile Mysticks.
I went to a few games with my dad.
Ok, but in the early 2000s we lost the team.
Apparently, it sold off to owners in Georgia, and they no longer use the name.
We went to a few games, but we weren’t die-hard fans.
And the attendance numbers agree with that (stats below sourced from Wikipedia).
And yes, we’ve seen this a good bit in Mobile.
The Mobile Baybears are a good example.
And remember the Baysharks? (more on them soon…)
People offer plenty of reasons as to why things fail here.
Or say, “Mobile just doesn’t support.”
Maybe there’s some truth to this.
But I also watched a 2-day exhibition game produced by the Savannah Bananas sell out that same stadium.
And the USA Jaguar baseball stadium is filled with fans.
I think that people just need a reason bigger than ‘support’.
They’ve got to feel something.
Sort of like the Field of Dreams.
“If you build it, he will come” is one of the main quotes.
It’s true that you have to build it for something to happen.
But that’s not the full story.
In the end, James Earl Jones said, “People will come Ray” because of what they would feel at that game.
So…
Hockey.
What do we know about hockey down here in Alabama?
Not much.
But can something be developed that we can feel
It’s possible.
Does someone have the naming rights to the Mobile Mysticks? (great name).
I have no idea if this is a good idea or if we’ll actually even get a hockey team.
[it was listed in the potentials for the new arena since it will definitely be able to have ice shows].
That’s right, right there in the city’s press release.
I don’t know what will happen.
But I’ll be right here to find out.
