Sox should know they shouldn’t blame the fans

Kenny Williams does some chirping about the attendance — or lack thereof — and talks to the fan base or what’s left of it. He asks where are you, and why don’t you come to see us, so I can go get players when the time comes?

Never a good idea to blame the fans or customers no matter what the business.

Here are the facts: the White Sox in 2006 drew almost 3 million people and now they are on a pace to draw around 1.7 million. Blame can be passed around to everybody, including the fan base, but not solely.

It’s time for the White Sox to take a look in the mirror. The South Siders are 27th in attendance, drawing around 21,000 plus per game, and couldn’t’ sell out the Cubs-Sox series.

Brooks Boyer is the vice president and director of marketing. He must shoulder some of the blame. He has a lot of titles according to his bio, but let’s not confuse activity with accomplishment.

To be fair, I can only give him about 20 percent of the blame, and to give him a higher percent would be a disservice. I think he’s just average.

It appears the rest of the front office is very secure. Take a White Sox media guide out and look at all the departments, then check one out from 2006 — the top dogs are still in place.

Now take a look at the manager, coaches and players from 2006, then check this year’s roster. A completely different scene.

Lack of performance on the field, and you’re gone. Lack of performance in front office positions, and you are secure.

Fans should take some of the responsibility, and Sox fans have to give better support at the park. For instance, I’m writing this column and I haven’t been to a game yet. The darn thing is, I put in a call to Brooks Boyer a couple of weeks ago. I asked him about the protocol for me since I will be coming out to the park as part of the press now, and do I need anything.

He told me to call someone in media relations. I did, and two weeks later I’m still waiting for the call back. I’m thinking if I can’t get a call back, then what are John and Judy from Addison experiencing? Just askin’!

So the fans get 20 percent of the blame, and the Sox front office gets 20 percent That leaves 60 percent and you can play the percentage game and assign a number to the location of the park, the Cubs, or any other factor contributing to the embarrassing attendance numbers. Or email your reason to me at Mike@Northtonorth.com and we might add you to a future column.

See ya at the game soon.

Ÿ Mike North’s column appears each Tuesday and Friday in the Daily Herald, and his video commentary can be found Monday, Wednesday and Thursday at dailyherald.com. For more, visit northtonorth.com.