mostly nonfiction and bakersfield news | April 30th, 2009
Commentary: Bakersfield Jam Folding Will Be Felt For Years
Some people said, “I saw it coming.” I think it was building the state-of-the-art practice facility that changed some minds, including my own, that pro ball in Bakersfield could survive. Others lambasted the NBA D League in Bakersfield, assumed that games “sucked” because of poor attendance. Let me make it clear. The games didn’t suck. The players were top notch.
During Michigan State’s run at this year’s NCAA March Madness, Bakersfield Jam’s captain, Mateen Cleaves was mentioned in a host of major sports magazines and articles as people looked back at his NCAA run which led Michigan State to a 2000 championship. He was even named Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four. He epitomized the kind of stand-up talent on the Bakersfield Jam.
“I don’t think fans ever caught on to the Jam. With that talent level that was in our arena on a nightly basis, if you’re not getting 1,500 to an NBADL game then you have a problem,” said Jam head coach Scott Roth.
The Bakersfield community not supporting the Jam during their first three years of operation, myself included, just meant the community was short-sighted, worse off than Fresno not supporting their own 60-year hockey legacy with the Fresno Falcons. Bakersfield’s huge basketball community of players, parents and lovers of the game had a bad attitude to begin with.
And as a sad result, once again it was proven that professional basketball cannot succeed in Bakersfield.
The Bakersfield Jam, who called themselves the “proud affiliate of the NBA’s Golden State Warriors and Orlando Magic” sent out an official press release on Thursday suggesting that the failure of the team was not the economy’s fault.
“It’s not a reflection on the economy,” Ellis said. “Our other businesses are doing very well. It’s simply this: we have other business opportunities out there that are scary phenomenal – they’re great. There is so much more potential in those businesses that it’s not fair to the other 300 people we employ to continue to incur the losses of the Jam.”
And if not the economy’s fault, that means fingers are being pointed at the very people in Bakersfield who complain “there’s nothing to do here” and the people who sit on their asses watching basketball on television, yet were not motivated enough to support their community related to a game they love.
It’s the same complacent infection felt at music events, book events, and other sporting events in Bakersfield, which seems to collectively and consistently give itself an ironic nonsensical bad rap: Bakersfield sucks, so I’m going to stay home and surf the Net because I don’t want to be seen at an event when my friends also think Bakersfield sucks and what if they see me there?
On Wednesday night only a handful of people showed up to the Bakersfield Blaze baseball game at Sam Lynn Ballpark. A few days before they packed the cheap seats. In 2008 the team almost folded. Both nights at the local peewee ballpark that’s within spitting distance of historic Sam Lynn, a hundred cars easily filled the lots. Why aren’t the youth, whose parents obsessively put them in sports like baseball and basketball have their kids attend local pro and college games? Is it because parents are the very people who grew up saying, “Bakersfield sucks”? They’ll have their kids grow up playing a sport, yet not support someone who may have played basketball at Syracuse University, Georgetown, or Seton Hall. Yet the same families obsessively watch March Madness on television, ignoring that some great participants of the tournament were playing in their own back yard. Just ask Nick Lewis.
That’s the irony of Bakersfield. That’s the sadness of a city that while growing in population, has infected itself with something far worse than any swine flu: the disease of complacency. I saw it at Bakersfield College when I was a professor. I see it now all over the city. It’s not just Jam games.
At the same time I am unhappy with the Ellis/Higdon decision to cease operations. “When you have bad business deals that start to go south, you cut your losses and go on to the next one. This is a simple business decision.”
Wasn’t the business deal south to begin with? That’s part of why I didn’t attend games until the third season, until I was educated about the talent, the fun, the incredible amount of giving to the community taking place at Jam games. Even so, the Jam, like the Vipers, were south to begin with. The team was barely beginning to inject itself into the community. The hoopla over the training center – all for naught. Didn’t Ellis/Higdon, who lost $1,600,000 over several basketball seasons see the folly in their initial decision, that breaking even would not take place right away in a town like Bakersfield that some say doesn’t even support Buck Owens Crystal Palace enough? (Where Ellis performs on weekends in a country band).
I’m just seeing poor vision here, not just to begin with, but with the training facility. I’m just thinking, why build a training facility if your expectations are to take your team from a million-dollar loss to breaking even within two years? It takes time to build that kind of community support.
Hockey has that community. The Condors representatives can be found at baseball games and grocery stores, in schools and on fan blogs. The Jam seemed to just expect the audience to show up to games. A possible ideology of false expectations may have done them in. The Jam needed to infuse glamour, excitement and more into their marketing literature and their commercials, and their community appearances. They needed to be on the streets showing off their team and innovating in the area of mass relationship building.
When commenting on the move to cease operations, Higdon echoed Ellis, “No one has told us we made a bad business decision.”
I would have told Higdon to his face before the team initially got off the ground that to even bring the Jam here was a bad business decision. That was my poor attitude you can say. I should add that I think ceasing operations, while it sure as hell isn’t my money to lose, is a bad business decision for the community.
The reputation of professional basketball in Bakersfield just went really far south. Anyone who tries it again in this town will be laughed at, mocked and verbally tarred and feathered.
Ellis and Higdon will now direct their attention to their existing business portfolio and their new acquisitions in the clean tech/renewable energy sector. I still appreciate Stan Ellis and David Higdon. I love how Ellis can turn seemingly worthless oil waste into profitable asphalt. But in this case, Ellis, who is a conservative waste manager, really created a mountain of waste that will likely be felt throughout Bakersfield for years. Blame whomever you want. I just can’t help but shake my head on this one.
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15 Responses for “Commentary: Bakersfield Jam Folding Will Be Felt For Years”
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I think you’re spot on all subjects. I also think the NBA should rethink the “D-League” name. It sounds too much like “D-List”
Complacency is also the reason why downtown is still allowed to languish while a new city “center” rises at Riverwalk.
Key sentence: “The Jam seemed to just expect the audience to show up to games.”
It’s pretty simple: you and I might think the product’s great, but if you can’t convince people to come (and come back), it doesn’t matter how good the talent or how exciting the game is. To blame consumers and the community for “not supporting the team” is ridiculous; the Jam is (was?) a business and if they couldn’t get people through the turnstiles, that’s on them and them completely.
Wow what to say. Well let’s start with I agree with you when you talk about bakersfield residents talking down on things to do around here when in fact there is plenty to do out here. I went to every jam I could all three seasons because I do love the game. The jam had talent every year and its a shame that the year they have their first winning record and make their first playoff game the fold and I have no problem blaming both the fans for not take part of a great thing and the jam promtions department
Thanks Johnny for reading. Hot 94.1 commented on Twitter about the article: “Great story. I think the biggest turnouts they had was when we helped them with promotions. Again 3 years to late.”
You’re spot on with this aricle, Nick. I blame the organization AND the community. Fault all around and in the end, everyone is hurt. I’m still heartbroken over this and so will my daughter and her whole 1st grade class who loved the Jam… they even gave me the nickname, “Jam Mom”.
Anyway, if by that lil’ chance they do survive whether the organization that kills it changes their mind or some other entity purchases it, they should hire people like you, me and Johnny Guillen to help run it.
It takes more than just a few seasons to see if something will hit. The Condors worked really hard to get where they’re at. The Jam could’ve been the same way with more community presence. Ugh… I’m just so frustrated with this whole thing….
Bakersfieldians are born with the “complaint gene” – and someone needs to find a cure quick, it hinders growth in this city which has enough people to make anything successful. We need to figure out a way to awaken the sleeping giant. First the Blitz, now the Jam. Maybe the next sports team should stay away action names and stick to animals, like Condors, they’ve had better luck.
Matt: I don’t know. I’ve been researching local pro baseball. There were the Bakersfield Badgers and the Bakersfield Bears… Bakersfield Foxes would be cool! Then any pro team, even if they are kayakers can reuse the cool Swish costume.
chingpea: As long as they don’t use Wordpress I can run it! Just joking. Like I said, I still have a lot of affection for the folks at the Jam office. The Jam just ended up a derailed train that almost hopped back on the tracks…
UPDATE: will be writing a follow-up article on the Jam closure as I spoke with team owner Stan Ellis today. Was a good phone call. More details that will enrich perspectives. I will eat some of my words too as I learned some new details…
This isn’t a Bakersfield thing, it’s an American thing, or maybe a TV thing. The D-League isn’t the best there is, so why bother? You see the same thing in American soccer, where we have leagues but can’t get people to come to the games because, they say, it’s not as good as the English league, which they can watch on TV.
I think the fact that the NHL is not as big as MLB/NFL/NBA is one part of why the Condors succeed while the other minor league teams fail. The Condors can present themselves as unique, and people are less likely to tune in to the TV version.
Good article. I agree. Where was the glamour? Not enough marketing. Look to the Condors for an example; they have positive marketing down to a science, and they worked it until Bakersfield bought-in.
I agree with the above comment on NBA-D League. Should call it triple-A.
Onward to baseball: GO BLAZE!
One of the reasons I believe the Jam did not succeed is the “D-league” moniker. Like Mike said before, D-league = D-list. Why do we want to bother to watch the bottom of the barrel. I am all for watching a minor league team. I am a regular at Condor’s and former Blitz games. The Jam, and their baseball brethren the Blaze are plain boring. I have witnessed one Jam game. It was a free ticket, so I couldn’t pass it up right? I made it through halftime before I walked away. the exciting game play that is expected was not there. It was almost painful to watch. It reminded me of watching the Blaze. Slow and bring.
I disagree, Daniel. It’s an attitude like yours that makes it hard for franchises like The Jam and Blaze to continue existing. Are you an athlete? Can you call yourself a true fan of any sport? I don’t see where you have any expertise or sense to say that Development and/or Minor Leagues are boring or equal the D-List.
These athletes work really hard to get into these leagues you’re bashing. These are leagues that are just as hard to get into just to be step closer to the ultimate dream of playing in the highest leagues. So are you one of these community members who continue to complain that there’s never anything to do around here? Yet, you probably sit at home or drive everywhere but here moaning and whining that you’re bored. You must just be bored with your own lifestyle. No support or motivation whatsoever… I feel sorry for you.
You must look down on the kids around here too that play in their school leagues, summer leagues, parks & rec, etc…. because their levels are much lower than that of the D- and Minor leagues you walk out on. These are the same kids who’d be happy watching teams like the former Bakersfield Blitz, Bakersfield Jam and current Bakersfield Blaze games. These are/were OUR community teams… not everyone can afford Lakers/Dodgers/Kings, tickets.
You say like the Condors. Aren’t these guys just playing in this league in hopes to get into the NHL? Ugh… I seriously don’t get you.
Whatever.
Wow, Daniel just slammed all Bakersfield sports with his negative statement, from the little kids in the peewee leagues to high school sports and university and junior college sports programs. Because, local athletes, though they are wonderful, rarely attend prestigious university programs for athletics. I guess he didn’t read that there are athletes in the minor leagues who played for the most prestigious universities in the U.S.? What Bako high school B-Ball player wouldn’t want to go to Michigan state, who participated in two NCAA finals appearances in this decade alone? Daniel missed the point completely.
Agree with the comment on positive marketing for the Condors. That team can choke in the playoffs every year and continue to be loved. They’ve developed a model that entertainment and looking good in the community are more important than winning, and it inexplicably seems to work.
The problem is not the franchise it is the mental attitude of Bakersfield. The city has grown but has grown into 4 seperate locations. You have the NW, SE, SW, Eastside. None of them crossover to visit the other side. This situation is more about the city management and not correctly handling the growth. So Bakersfield residents don’t have cross town freeways which we desperatly need. The city has grown but the thinking is small.