We have all heard the saying “All good things must come to an end” sometimes it’s for the good and sometimes not. Just ask Lions fans.
Today I got a glimpse into what Pistons fans (as well as anyone who attends an event at The Palace) have in store for them now that Tom Gores and his team have remade The Palace.
Today the media was formally introduced to Dennis Mannion, President of The Detroit Pistons and Palace Sports and Entertainment. My first impression of Dennis is that he is a man that knows what he’s doing. Mannion has spent 29 years working in the four major professional sports leagues (MLB, NBA, NHL, NFL), including two years managing business operations for the NBA’s Denver Nuggets and the NHL’s Colorado Avalanche from 1998 to 1999. Mannion most recently served as President of the Los Angeles Dodgers where he worked from 2007 to 2010. He also previously worked for the Baltimore Ravens from 1999 to 2007, and for the Philadelphia Phillies from 1982 to 1997. If you question his effectiveness as a Front Office Executive, I would direct you to look at the 1996 MLB All Star Game in Philadelphia and the 2000 NHL All Star Game in Denver (Colorado Avalanche), both events he was instrumental in bringing to the cities.
Not only does Mannion have a vision, he has brought in a team of new people and a new philosophy to the Company and organization.
- LUCINDA TREAT – Executive Vice President of Business Operations & Strategy Insideout Sports & Entertainment – Madison Square Garden- New England Sports Ventures – Boston Red Sox – Florida Marlins
- CHARLIE METZGER – Chief Marketing & Communications Officer
- KEN CATANELLA – Director of Basketball Operations
- HARLAN HENDRICKSON – Vice President of Lifestyle Marketing Denver Nuggets & Colorado Avalanche
- LAUREN MILLER – Director of Fan Lifestyles
- IGGY RODRIGUEZ -Director of Promotions
- DANIELLE WILLIAMS – Community Partnerships Manager
- HEATHER COLLART – Community Relations Manager
They really did stress Tom Gores vision of Coming Together.
At first glance, things looked different walking into the West Atrium of The Palace. Instead of the standard wall of photos, you’re now greeted with 3 large screen LED video displays of Pistons Players.
As Dennis spoke he explained that his team wanted to take The Palace to new levels. They are working on a new cohesive color scheme fitting for The Palace, which seems to have landed on silver and blue.
This whole revamp wasn’t just about the Pistons, it was about about everything that has to do with The Palace Sports and Entertainment.
The whole idea of this revamp was to help the fans enjoy their experience at The Palace, if they were going to a Pistons game or coming to the Palace for a concert.
This, of course, meant making the Pistons players happy. The more comfortable the team is, the greater chance you have of a cohesive, winning team. It starts with the door they walk into on game day. The new locker room door encased in silver with a blue neon glow is a very good start.
The entire locker room was revamped with each players personal space a little more personal.
A new media wall to watch clips and videos game day along with one of the best in the biz Charles Klask to bring the team the stats they need to win.- A few steps away…a new players lounge with a big screen TV for players to relax and unwind.
- Less of a drive, as the Pistons team plane now lands just a short drive from The Palace of Auburn Hills.
- A revamped training area right next to the locker room doesn’t hurt either.
- As for Pistons Fans….Come out to see the Pistons Opening Night and you’ll see things you’ve never seen before.
- A new court.
- New banners in the rafters.
- A new video presentation.
- New lighting.
- New giveaways, one for almost every home game.
- New theme nights (yes, there is a Star Wars Night FEB 10th).
- Tons of new Video Features.
- A new intro!
- A new (and I won’t spoil it) kick off to the season for the Season Opener.
- A new way of doing things.
- New Twitter video boards in The Palace come Feb 14th to interact via Twitter with fans at The Palace.
- A New Beginning.
We may not always want change, but it’s inevitable. With Tom Gores and Co. changing things for the better, and giving Pistons fans a push towards a social media, digitally friendly, fan based environment ….we all win.
I haven’t been this excited to go the the season opener since we won the championship in 2004.
To a new and prosperous beginning….that remembers the past.
Good things don’t always come to an end, sometimes they just move into a different direction.
I’ll see you Opening Night!
Ex-#UtahJazz center Kyrylo Fesenko drawing interest from Heat, Warriors, Pistons, Clippers, source says. See Nat “CHANGES”……. even with the return of Tay = } We were held captive but now we’re free. now
LET’S GO PISTONS !!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9D2PQdRPiw&feature=colike
Heard pistons wanted him in 2006 maybe better luck this time..
Oh wow! I really want to go out there to check everything out now! Now, I gotta buy a ticket….and find a day off of work. XD
I hate the changes to the ‘PALACE’ lettering & the banners. It actually infuriates me. People who know nothing about this city come in and think that new automatically means better. It doesn’t. We don’t need giant cartoonish banners or flashy new Palace logos. This city is blue collar & steeped in tradition. We just want to be solid. Let the flash be in Miami or LA. Where are the retired jerseys??? Did they burn them too? Or maybe they’re going to raise new teal colored ones. How about, improve the team, and leave the cosmetics. Nobody was unhappy with the championship banners, last time I checked. Total garbage. Very unimpressed so far. If they keep this up, I am not going to feel at home at the Palace, as I have been for over 20 years. I’ll feel like I’m visiting the project or experiment of a Denver business man who thinks new = good.
I’m not big on change myself, and I grew up going to The Palace. I wasn’t happy about the thought of it but this is a change for the better.
As for the banners…they are new, all the same size, have the same font and are all still there. I see nothing wrong with making them fresh.
As for the Palace logo, it just looks more up to date. I liked it but I can understand if you don’t.
Everyone has an opinion and I had mine before I saw it…things change.
I disagree. The banners look cartoonish, and the Palace logo used to be classic. It’s just change for the sake of change. I feel no differently about it than I did when we went teal. I’m concerned this is going to become teal era 2.0. Not better to me at all.
Also, is there any reason the retired names were taken off the court, and the retired jerseys out of the stands? Seems suggestive to me.
I think this change more so reflex the change of a new era keep in mind when Mr. D (rip) bought the team we weren’t as high tech as we are now. Mr D did upgrades in his era… what you see now is a new and improved vision of what Mr. D started IMO. Something Old Becomes Something New… Nothing stays the same as far as the names and past.. I think what Gores did was incorporate it all into something new..keeping up with the times. Maybe you need to see for yourself……
Nobody is against improvements and updates, but this mentality of overhaul of all things that are classic does not suit me very well.It’s not all or none.Is there REALLY any reasons that banners needed changing? And at least if they changed for the better, but they look cartoonish to me. And again, no answer to the question of where the retired jerseys went.
As Nat stated …. the Pistons have new banners honoring the franchise’s retired numbers. http://photos.mlive.com/detroit/2011/12/detroit_pistons_locker_room_to_14.html
sage you are one person. if you dont like it dont go to the palace and look at it. who really cares what they do? i dont, i only care if we have a wiining team out on the floor. if they can manage that i dont care what they do they could tear down the palace n play in the parking lot i would still go watch. get over it man.
you’re one person who’s whining about another. you’re the type that probably was crazy about the teal. did you read a word I said? why is the team focusing on changing the color of Hooper’s hair? that’s unnecessary BS! Focus on winning games! Changes to the palace don’t mean squat, even for little Gores worshipping monkey boys, who thinks anything he does must be perfect. Forget changing the Palace font. win games! get over the idea that some people don’t get on their knees and accept whatever’s fed to them like you do, you sad child. go put on your teal jersey now, since I’m sure you loved whatever they gave you at a given time.
in my opinion, the new court design is disgusting..or it’s just me. idk i liked our old one http://www.flickr.com/photos/65516705@N00/4029844312/in/set-72157622502043493
Wonder if new uniforms are in the works as well… blue and silver? = <
I’m pretty impressed with what I’ve seen. If we can combine all of those new features with the ultimate feature of winning some games,I’ll truly be happy.
only change i care about is winning games
ditto.
joe i know its hard to pull off trade with the assets that we currently have but mmm every team has players they cant use. look at sacto and utah they are both currently logged in the front court. i think dumars is waiting to see how the team plays but i know he should have something lined up.
i think this is either good or bad simply by how the players react to it. IF they players love it and brings chemistry then its going to be one of those subtle moves that will be talked about as being genious But if players don’t respond to it then its not a big deal. We just need chemistry and sort of a chip on our shoulders to A little bit on insecurity is good, it makes you go the extra mile
Wow , so many negative response’s about the changes being made at The Palace, change is good. You have to look at it from Gore’s stand point. He’s investing his resources to let the team as well as the fan’s know that he is committed to doing his part in making a difference.
He’s thinking is, if I can change the atmosphere around here it will give the players the feeling of a fresh start. I think it’s smart. We would still be in the stone age if it was up to some of you guy’s.
So, new owner, new coach, new atmosphere, new attitude, now it puts the pressure all on the players to perform because of all this change. And if they don’t, now you have a valid reason to get rid of them.
This also give’s these players to start there own legacy. Maybe this change will be different from the teal years… instead of loosing to winning. At least lets hope so.
Again, the idea that all change for its own sake HAS to be good is baloney. There’s only one change that needs to be made. Not the court, not the banners, not the building……the team’s record. Period!
…and if it’s new Palace font that makes you play better, you need more help than all the changes in the world won’t fix.
just like keeping things the way they are just becuase thats how it has always been is baloney. get over it, watch your team, and root for them to win. PERIOD!!!
telling everyone to watch a crap product that isn’t worth their time just for the sake of it is baloney. you don’t settle for garbage, like you’re willing to do. you demand the best. and nobody needs things the way they are. things are needed to be BEST. and stupid changes for their own sake that don’t improve anything are not what’s best. Period! get an original thought.
the only thing that needs to change is the record.
Some people are taking this a bit too personal, it’s just basketball.
You would rather we concentrate on job losses in michigan, decay of the city, the tax base corruptions, lack of basic services, education, teen pregnancy and poverty?
We got the rest of our lives for that other stuff. For now.
ITS ALL PISTONS AND YOU CANT STOP ME
We did lose games because of the teal uniforms. We sucked and now we hate teal.
If we won 4 championships with those teal absurdities, I would be loving that color.
It’s all gonna be good if we win.
If we lose? I’m gonna hate everything.
Go pistons!
“we didn’t lose”
Prince is gonna get traded, just saying. He’s not gonna like it but Chauncey didnt like getting dealt to the clippers neither.
We got him on a decent contract on the understanding that he could stay in Detroit but that’s a promise we have to break thank goodness.
Hey Nat, which airport do they use?
Pontiac
This stuff is all pretty exciting. I think in this case change will be a good thing. This team needed a facelift big time. And a Star Wars theme night…..one word…..Awesome!! Here’s to a good season and hopefully some playoff action. When you look at the east, it easily could happen.
alright moose i drafted you in my fantasy league. lets them ft’s up and ill be happy. most improved player im calling it right now.
These changes are all about Gores. Nothing to do with the team. He’s pissing on the legacy to make himself feel important.