Hell, no, we won't go!

Wildcat File Photo Arizona Daily Wildcat Kate Longworth

This whole halt on the NBA season has got me thinking. Thinking about how pointless it is to be a Suns' season ticket holder. Thinking about how Patrick Ewing has more figures in his daily paycheck than I have in my social security number, and that's still not enough. Thinking about how I have a better chance of buying ocean-front property in Tucson than I do of stepping foot in McKale Center for a B-ball game.

And the conclusion I have come to is that this is the end of the basketball (and all sports for that matter) world as we know it, if we fans don't take some action.

Now, I don't know all the monetary details or percentage issues involved in the NBA lockout, quite frankly because I think it's absurd. I know it involves a whole lot of money, but I also know that once the player and owner negotiations are set, the games begin and you can guarantee us fans will be feeling the repercussions of the new deals.

Play resumes when Shaq is happy and getting what he wants?

Yeah, something is wrong with this picture. In order for a compromise to be met, more money must be coming from somewhere, and that somewhere is going to be our pockets.

Each year, ticket prices to see your favorite team go up. And not too much of it has to do with the fact that the equipment is costing more. It has to do with the greedy players involved with the sport, on and off the court.

It's not enough for the franchises to make things happen just for the love of it anymore. Instead dollar signs blare out from their eyes, burning holes in my pockets.

Being a proud supporter of the D-backs ball club, I was very happy to see I was a contributor to the record-setting fan attendance mark for a first year franchise. Want to know how they thanked me and the rest of the fans? A rise in ticket prices the week after the season ended - a losing season, I might add.

I'm taking a stand, and I need your help. In order for us not to get used for attendance and abused for ridiculous ticket prices, we need to stop making ourselves vulnerable to the franchises.

Price negotiations would not survive if money was not made. A company goes out of business when its products aren't bought. If a performer doesn't have an audience, the show does not go on.

So, I think it's time for the greedy performers and their agents to start realizing if they keep postponing the show, this is one audience member that won't be at the opening game, especially when I find my ticket price has been raised.

I think silence is the answer to have players understand what it really means to have a crowd chant his name as he steps up to bat or what it's like to have a screaming fan ask for an autograph after the winning dunk.

Maybe if a player walks into a stadium, and instead of seeing a blur of his team's colors decorating the bleachers, the view of empty seats in their upright position because there's not a fan in sight would be enough for him to take a time out and realize what he has.

They need to realize there are people like me, in love with sports and happy to cheer on my heroes, but not when I am this frustrated. Frustrated that I'm involved with a losing game because no matter if the team wins or loses, the players go home and get paid and I pay more money if I want to see the next game because the ticket price still goes up.

But if I'm not at the next game, maybe it'll sink in. Maybe it'll sink in that we fans love the game so much that we're ready to give it up, to save it before things with money get too out of hand. Maybe if we're not there showing our support of ridiculous money talk, the franchises will see that there's more to the game than dollar signs.

So this is one fan who's out.

Kate Longworth is a sophomore majoring in journalism. She can be reached via e-mail at Kate.Longworth@wildcat.arizona.edu.