Like Bosh, I'm Contemplating...

[PC11]

It's that time of year again.
To renew or not to renew my season seats.

Here is my dilemma.
Like everyone here, I'm a Raptors junkie. It's in my blood for some reason.
Not sure why when, like drugs, all they do is make me feel good temporarily only to suck the life out of me in the long run.
I've had my season seats for 10 seasons now.
They're pretty sweet seats too (section 309, a few rows up, dead centre) which i share with a friend.
I got hooked on Raptors (thanks, Vince) and particularly in the one good playoff year.
It was the ultimate high and I've wanted to taste that again.
Facing Vinnie and the Nets was a bit of a tease, as the fans were ridiculous awesome.
But of course, we lost and the soul-sucking continued.

It's been 10 long years of suck, and I don't know if i'm ready to keep investing in them, whether Bosh stays or not.
i love the seats (i'm sure they'll be hard to come by down the road), i love the playoff atmosphere, but is it worth it?

My options at the moment seem to be a) renew and hope for the best in the off-season (definitely not hoping for the best in the playoffs) b) try to find two others to split four ways (a very difficult task) or c) cut the cord once and for all.

What would you do?
Deadline is beginning of May.
Suggestions are appreciated. Thanks!

[Doc]

Welcome to the RR forum PC11 and yes you do have quite the dilemma on your hands right now.

I say the best feasible option (both financially and emotionally) is "B". See if you can find two others to split the package with so you don't lose the seats altogether. Because we all know in the year 2051 we're going to finally win the NBA Championship.

[Apollo]

Welcome PC,

I'd cut the cord. If you went out to a restaurant how many times would you go back and have a bad experience before you stopped going there? I would take that money and spend it on recreation like golf or fishing or snowboarding or something that would make me happy now and leave me with good memories. You can share that sort of stuff with your friends too.

I think Bosh will leave, the Raptors will rebuild and next season will be a lotto year. That's my prediction.

[ebrian]

The difference is he's been going to said restaurant for 10 years, and occasionally he's been getting okay food. At some point, 10 years ago, he had one of the best meals of his life and he's hoping that eventually, he'll have that meal again.

I say you stick with it and go with the other suggestion of sharing the tickets with more people to lessen your cost.

[Apollo]

And what if you know the next couple meals are going to be gruel? Would you subject yourself and your wallet to that when you could instead be sipping on a margaretta on a beach somewhere warm or putting for birdie on some beautiful course? I don't, it depends what you're into I guess. I show my team loyalty by investing time watching the games. They would actually have to earn my money by providing a quality product. I would expect them to deliver at the same level of quality as it took me to earn the money to buy the season tickets.

...And we're not talking like it's losing season tickets to the Packers or anything. Its not like you're going to have to wait your entire life for a chance at getting them later.

[PC11]

thanks for the welcome!

Yeah, this is where it becomes difficult.
Eating the gruel for a few more years in the name of hope.
Plus inviting peeps to eat gruel with you, might be a tough sell.
If that option falls through, ugh.
keeping them will be tough. Losing them will be tough.

[verbatim]

You need to do it like a band-aid, right off!

[LBF]

cut it off for a year or two and if you start to like what you see start going to more games and then if you really start to enjoy it buy season tickets.

[drizz]

Sell the seats and take up smoking crack. At least its reliable.

[Prime]

Welcome PC,

I'd cut the cord. If you went out to a restaurant how many times would you go back and have a bad experience before you stopped going there? I would take that money and spend it on recreation like golf or fishing or snowboarding or something that would make me happy now and leave me with good memories. You can share that sort of stuff with your friends too.

I think Bosh will leave, the Raptors will rebuild and next season will be a lotto year. That's my prediction.

Not really a good analogy.

How many restaurants make you pay for food half a year in advance? And for 41 nights of food at once?

A better analogy would be the life of a car. You buy it, then you enjoy it until you end up being disappointed with its depreciating value. Occassionally, you get that enjoyment back (from long car-trips with family/friends, etc.) but eventually you realize the car just isn't built to be your pimpobile for the next 10+ years. What do you do? It should be obvious from this point on.

On-topic:
Just a suggestion but I don't think you should be asking strangers you've never met on an online forum about how you should expend your financial resources.

[Apollo]

Who should he ask, the Toronto Raptors? Looks like the man wants to gauge where the minds of other Raptors fans are at. If I was in his shoes I'd probably do the same. This is a great way to weigh the pros and cons.

[Prime]

It is indeed, but in all seriousness, I'd be wary of finance advice from online sources.

After all, you consult with the doctor about your health issues so I dont see why--unless you count hard speculation by religious Raptors fans as professional advice--you shouldn't consult a financial planner about what to do with your money.

[Apollo]

This isn't finance advice. We're not telling him to put his money into gold stocks or get out of the real estate market. There is no potential to make or lose any money in this. The price of a ticket is the price of a ticket and that won't change from now until next year. He's not going to break his back not buying Raptors tickets. I fail to see the financial risk that you're warning him of.