Attendance Non-Story There was much hand-wringing in the local media this week as the Jays drew some paltry numbers for their series against Minnesota. Two of the games attracted just over 11,000 fans, the two lowest crowds in the 21-history of the SkyRogersDomeCentreObservatorium.

"Jays Fans Have Lost Interest!" cried the headlines.

Well, duh.

Let's keep in mind that these games took place:

* in the middle of the week
* or the middle of the day
* the first week back to school
* and featured an also-ran team
* battling another also-ran team

Add in the fact that the Film Festival is in town and suddenly 11,000 people doesn't seem all that bad.

As has been pointed out by ESPN's Rob Neyer more than once, people will come to the ballpark for two things: a winning team and free stuff. There are rare exceptions, such as record watches for the likes of Bonds and McGwire before him, and sometimes the lure of a new stadium - but even that didn't work in the cases of Pittsburgh and Cincinnati.

It's not that the Jays have been abandoned by their fanbase, it's that their fanbase is fairly apathetic about watching them gun for win #63 in September. Win #93? That would be a different story.  ¶ posted by Jim Turner at 9:51 PM