Say hello, everybody, to June. It arrived yesterday and with it came this not-so-subtle reminder that the preseason, also known as the revenue season, is just around the corner.
So what? Well, here's what: With about two months remaining before training camp begins, the Jaguars still need to sell 13,073 general-bowl season tickets to ensure the 2010 season won't be another succession of blacked out games.
Hey, I'm not trying to ruffle your feathers. Yeah, ticket sales have been progressing nicely but, well, this is June and there are still 13,073 seats left in the general bowl, and that doesn't include, of course, the high-priced club seats and luxury-suite seats that produce the kind of revenue on which the Jaguars franchise was built.
June, by the way, hasn't traditionally been a good month for ticket sales. School lets out and families' thoughts tend to turn toward vacations, which is understandable. All I'm trying to say is that we shouldn't get complacent about the needle on the gas gauge leaning toward "F." We have a long way to go to fill the building.
So, as we make the turn toward summer, I'll paint a couple of pictures for you with the hope that if you're thinking about buying tickets, I might motivate you to make the move.
Picture number one—It's 2030 and the Jaguars don't live here anymore. Summers come and go without much fanfare. Sundays in the fall are just another day.
Jacksonville residents spend their typical Sunday afternoons on the couch watching other cities' teams playing against each other. Los Angeles has a good team this year. A lot of the media are picking the LA team to go all the way.
The old stadium where the Jaguars used to play looks more like the old Gator Bowl when it was torn down than it does the stunning teal palace that opened its doors in 1995. Man, if only we could do it over again. This time we'd make sure we didn't lose her.
We still have the Gators on Saturday and they're still winning SEC titles. Hey, they laid one on Vanderbilt yesterday the Commodores won't soon forget. The game was over at halftime; no suspense, just the joy of humiliating a team that had little to no chance of anything else.
Let's see what's on the old tube today: Hmmm, the Colts are at the Titans at one, the Texans play at Los Angeles at four and the Steelers host the Ravens tonight. This is gonna be a fun day.
Picture number two—It's 2020 and the Jaguars are hosting their archrivals, the Titans, today. Oh, this is the big one. I still want revenge for Jan. 23, 2000.
GM Gene sure has built a juggernaut. The Jags are defending Super Bowl champions and they are showing no signs of weakening. That BAP stuff really does work.
Tim Tebow, the old Florida quarterback, became a big Jaguars fan following his brief career in Denver as a backup quarterback and tight end. He comes to all the home games now and roots the team on. The fans still love him.
The town has just gone Jaguars crazy in recent years. It's hard to believe it once had trouble selling tickets. Now, they've got a waiting list longer than the Steelers'.
I'm not sure how it happened, it just all of a sudden did. They won a couple of division titles and the town caught Jaguars fever. Now they're the champs and the national media is calling Jacksonville the best football town in America.
It's too bad the old website editor isn't here to see this. They laid him to rest on a mountaintop in North Carolina a few years ago. He'd be very proud.
So, which picture do you choose for Jacksonville's future?
