76ers President Pat Croce met with 210 "angry season
ticket-holders" on Thursday, and Raad Cawthon of the
PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER writes that "one by one the fans stood
up, gestured strongly, spoke emphatically, and delivered" to
Croce "the same message: his team stinks and they're mad as
hell." Although Croce "expected criticism," he began by
reading a list of the team's accomplishments this season,
from "involving the team more in the community to improving
the attitude of the ushers." The fans were "barely patient.
... more interested in what they perceive as the Sixers'
lack of hustle on the floor." One fan responded, "I work
hard to spend $4,000 to come down here. ... It's terrible.
It's an embarrassment." Another fan: "You've got to clean
house because you've got a dirty, stinking, messy house ...
This team is so bad I couldn't even get a friend to come
with me to this" (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 2/21). The DAILY
NEWS' Rich Hofmann notes that Sixers coach Johnny Davis
"endured a firestorm of criticism from the paying customers
during this one hour of chitchat last night, but he received
not one syllable of defense from Croce or [Sixers GM Brad]
Greenberg" (PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS, 2/21).
