For This Fan, Islander Loss Was One Too Many By Alan Hahn Staff Correspondent
January 25, 2003
Philadelphia -- Larry Weinberger stormed out of Nassau Coliseum Tuesday night as frustrated and disgusted with his favorite team as any sports fan could be. The archrival New York Rangers were well on the way to pounding his beloved Islanders, 5-0. But instead of ranting to a sports talk radio station or calling in a complaint to the Islanders' offices or posting his anger on an Internet fan bulletin board, Weinberger, 42, put his money where his mouth is.
The Bellmore father of two, who said he is the publisher of the Westchester Pennysaver newspapers, called Newsday and took out a full-page advertisement that was placed in the sports section of Friday's editions.
"Hey, NY Islanders," it started. "Where were you the night we played the Rangers? We, your loyal fans showed up! We braved freezing weather and came out looking for a great game. We came out to support you. Where was the energy, the excitement, the electricity, the intensity? [The latter two words were italicized and underlined.]
"Come on now . . . we deserve a better effort. It's a tough road ahead. Your fans are behind you . . . play with passion!!! Let's Go Islanders!
Signed, A Loyal Fan of the Team."
Weinberger, an Islanders season ticket-holder, said the ad cost him $28,000. "That's actually more than my season tickets cost," he said of his package of four tickets for all 41 home games at the Coliseum this season, which costs him between $17,000 and $18,000. "But I've been working all my life. You have to be able to have fun with some of your money."
Before moving to Bellmore from Brooklyn in 1993, Weinberger said, he was a Rangers season ticket-holder at Madison Square Garden. But he gave up his tickets to Game 7 of the 1994 Stanley Cup Finals against the Vancouver Canucks, a game the Rangers won to end a 54-year drought without a championship. He did so because he changed his affiliation from a Rangers fan to an Islanders fan after moving to Long Island. His reasoning was simple.
"I want to see the home team win," he said. "My home team became the Islanders when I moved to the Island." Weinberger, like all Islanders fans, is thrilled with the team's return to respectability under owners Charles Wang and Sanjay Kumar.
But when the Rangers, who were below the Islanders in the NHL standings, led 3-0 after two periods of Tuesday's game, Weinberger was furious at his team's performance. He grabbed his 9-year-old son, Derrick, and left. "I couldn't watch anymore," he said. When he woke up the next morning to see in Newsday that the final score was 5-0, Weinberger's ire stirred again. He decided it was time to get something off his chest.
"Someone had to say something," he said. "They know they can play better and they have the fans supporting them. I wanted to say something before they played another game."
Weinberger's ad caused a great deal of commotion on the Internet among Islanders fans Friday morning. Although the team already was in Philadelphia for Friday night's game against the Flyers, team spokesman Chris Botta said coach Peter Laviolette was aware of the ad and made his team aware of it before the game against the Flyers.
The franchise appreciated Weinberger's initiative and intensity, Botta said. "This is further proof of how passionate our fans are," he said. "Peter's reaction to it was, 'We hear you, buddy. The result the other night was unacceptable.' He appreciated the guy's support and said the team will do everything they can to make sure it doesn't happen again." Weinberger said he hopes to not have to go to such an extreme again, but he was pleased with the results of his expensive expression of support for his favorite team.
"It created the buzz I was hoping for," he said. "If that gives a boost to the team, then great."
> At least he switched over the year the Rangers were good and the Islanders > were falling. I only switched over last year when the Isles were 11-1-1-1.
Wow... just like everyone else.
Okay, I'll stop posting here now.
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"Bender" <ben...@adelphia.net> wrote: > > At least he switched over the year the Rangers were good and the Islanders > > were falling. I only switched over last year when the Isles were 11-1-1-1.
OK, so to review, he was a bandwagoning fan in 1994 with very bad timing and currently is seen leaving games early when his currently followed team falls behind. ;-)
And he's a *publisher* of the Westchester Pennysaver newspapers. Things that make you say Hmmmmmmm.... Does anyone else here sniff *barter*?
<all kidding aside....give beau coup credit to the guy for taking out the ad...had he actually seen the third period he might've taken out a couple pages or maybe even one of those 8 page Special Advertising inserts.>
Ripper wrote: > For This Fan, Islander Loss Was One Too Many > By Alan Hahn > Staff Correspondent
> January 25, 2003
> Philadelphia -- Larry Weinberger stormed out of Nassau Coliseum Tuesday > night as frustrated and disgusted with his favorite team as any sports fan > could be. The archrival New York Rangers were well on the way to pounding > his beloved Islanders, 5-0. But instead of ranting to a sports talk radio > station or calling in a complaint to the Islanders' offices or posting his > anger on an Internet fan bulletin board, Weinberger, 42, put his money where > his mouth is.
> The Bellmore father of two, who said he is the publisher of the Westchester > Pennysaver newspapers, called Newsday and took out a full-page advertisement > that was placed in the sports section of Friday's editions.
> "Hey, NY Islanders," it started. "Where were you the night we played the > Rangers? We, your loyal fans showed up! We braved freezing weather and came > out looking for a great game. We came out to support you. Where was the > energy, the excitement, the electricity, the intensity? [The latter two > words were italicized and underlined.]
> "Come on now . . . we deserve a better effort. It's a tough road ahead. Your > fans are behind you . . . play with passion!!! Let's Go Islanders!
> Signed, A Loyal Fan of the Team."
> Weinberger, an Islanders season ticket-holder, said the ad cost him $28,000. > "That's actually more than my season tickets cost," he said of his package > of four tickets for all 41 home games at the Coliseum this season, which > costs him between $17,000 and $18,000. "But I've been working all my life. > You have to be able to have fun with some of your money."
> Before moving to Bellmore from Brooklyn in 1993, Weinberger said, he was a > Rangers season ticket-holder at Madison Square Garden. But he gave up his > tickets to Game 7 of the 1994 Stanley Cup Finals against the Vancouver > Canucks, a game the Rangers won to end a 54-year drought without a > championship. He did so because he changed his affiliation from a Rangers > fan to an Islanders fan after moving to Long Island. His reasoning was > simple.
> "I want to see the home team win," he said. "My home team became the > Islanders when I moved to the Island." Weinberger, like all Islanders fans, > is thrilled with the team's return to respectability under owners Charles > Wang and Sanjay Kumar.
> But when the Rangers, who were below the Islanders in the NHL standings, led > 3-0 after two periods of Tuesday's game, Weinberger was furious at his > team's performance. He grabbed his 9-year-old son, Derrick, and left. "I > couldn't watch anymore," he said. When he woke up the next morning to see in > Newsday that the final score was 5-0, Weinberger's ire stirred again. He > decided it was time to get something off his chest.
> "Someone had to say something," he said. "They know they can play better and > they have the fans supporting them. I wanted to say something before they > played another game."
> Weinberger's ad caused a great deal of commotion on the Internet among > Islanders fans Friday morning. Although the team already was in Philadelphia > for Friday night's game against the Flyers, team spokesman Chris Botta said > coach Peter Laviolette was aware of the ad and made his team aware of it > before the game against the Flyers.
> The franchise appreciated Weinberger's initiative and intensity, Botta said. > "This is further proof of how passionate our fans are," he said. "Peter's > reaction to it was, 'We hear you, buddy. The result the other night was > unacceptable.' He appreciated the guy's support and said the team will do > everything they can to make sure it doesn't happen again." Weinberger said > he hopes to not have to go to such an extreme again, but he was pleased with > the results of his expensive expression of support for his favorite team.
> "It created the buzz I was hoping for," he said. "If that gives a boost to > the team, then great."
