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BigDaddyChacon, on February 21, 2012 - 21:28, said:
The Golden One, on February 19, 2012 - 22:36, said:
I've been a season ticket holder for 12 years, I live in the east bay and I want them to go to San Jose even though it will be farther away. Bay Area fans are the most fickle in all of sports. People only go to games if it's the in thing at the time and the team is winning.
To the comment that Giants have always ruled the bay area and always will. Is either someone talking out of their ass or didn't follow the Giants before At&T Park. The previous 30 years the A's had the higher attendance more often than the Giants. But then the Giants built a ball park on the water in the middle of the tourist area. People go because it's the in thing to do more than because of the Giants. Ive been to games there and have had people say after the game while leaving "who won?, "Hey, who did the Giants play?" Umm what, you were just there. People all around you aren't even paying attention to the game, while in the stands.
Oakland is in a bad place, the city has way to many problems and there is no way they can keep the team. It would be nice if it was possible but it's just not. The coliseum is in a bad area and the press it get's for that lately makes it sound ten times worse than it is. But that perception can't be shook. A new stadium can't succeed there because fans stay away because of perception and businesses don't want to attach their name to something they don't think will work. It's a never ending cycle there and just stuck in a rut. Especially with the Giants no longer being at Candlestick and bandwagoners can easily attach themselves to going to the nice tourist friendly stadium with the great view.
San Jose on the other option is the best situation the A's could ask for anywhere. (Only thing better would be a ballpark on the water in Sf and that's kind of taken.) There will be a lot of fans that stay A's fans after the move. There will also be a ton of fans in the South bay area that become A's fans out of convenience. Having to avoid SF traffic will be a huge plus. Most areas, especially the east coast fans, could never fathom change alliances because of a team moving closer. But most fans in the bay area are fair weather at best. (There are still die hards of both sides, so no one get offended by my comments. But the level of the die hards here are extremely low compared to other teams.) But the business side, San Jose is a gold mine, There are so many big companies in the Silicon Valley that want to latch on to a team to call theirs. They want something they can buy tickets and suites to give to give out to their customers. That is right in their backyard. Right now they use the Giants to an extent and this is why the Giants are scared. They know that businesses might latch on more to the team right next door. The giants don't want to lose money and also don't want to compete with the A's for attention. They want it all to themselves. Problem is you don't get everything to yourself in this country especially when in a league that you need competition. That's why the Silicon Valley Leadership Group (SVLG) wrote the letter to Bud. But bosrs1 had it slightly wrong. The letter didn't say they would never support the Giants. The letter stated that they have tons of money to support both teams. That the A's moving in to the Silicon Valley would not stop them from sponsoring the Giants also. So that the Giants can not claim they would lose those sponsorships. You can see why the A's are willing to build the stadium theselves with all the Silicon money right their willing to sign up as the letter said. Sadly in Oakland there just is no way to make the money back on a new Stadium. (Oakland would be an example of why new stadiums don't always mean good things for the team while San Jose is the complete opposite)
Yes there is a very vocal group of "Oakland-Only" fans but the truth is the group is a few hundred at most. Yes the facebook page has like 14k likes or so but that doesn't mean everyone that liked it will not support the San Jose A's. Some just liked it because they want the A's to stay in the bay area, some just liked it to get updates on the A's stadium updates. Some like the history of the "Oakland A's" But will realize it will only be 30 miles away. The A's will still be the A's.
If anyone ever wants to learn more about everything, check out http://newballpark.org/ It's a local blog dedicated to the A's search for ballpark. That's very in depth and is run by someone that stays so on top of things, he ha become the go to person on the subject. Yes there are other stadium news there but that's to compare what the A's are going through. Plus earthquakes stadium news is obvious since the A's own the San Jose earthquakes.
To the comment that Giants have always ruled the bay area and always will. Is either someone talking out of their ass or didn't follow the Giants before At&T Park. The previous 30 years the A's had the higher attendance more often than the Giants. But then the Giants built a ball park on the water in the middle of the tourist area. People go because it's the in thing to do more than because of the Giants. Ive been to games there and have had people say after the game while leaving "who won?, "Hey, who did the Giants play?" Umm what, you were just there. People all around you aren't even paying attention to the game, while in the stands.
Oakland is in a bad place, the city has way to many problems and there is no way they can keep the team. It would be nice if it was possible but it's just not. The coliseum is in a bad area and the press it get's for that lately makes it sound ten times worse than it is. But that perception can't be shook. A new stadium can't succeed there because fans stay away because of perception and businesses don't want to attach their name to something they don't think will work. It's a never ending cycle there and just stuck in a rut. Especially with the Giants no longer being at Candlestick and bandwagoners can easily attach themselves to going to the nice tourist friendly stadium with the great view.
San Jose on the other option is the best situation the A's could ask for anywhere. (Only thing better would be a ballpark on the water in Sf and that's kind of taken.) There will be a lot of fans that stay A's fans after the move. There will also be a ton of fans in the South bay area that become A's fans out of convenience. Having to avoid SF traffic will be a huge plus. Most areas, especially the east coast fans, could never fathom change alliances because of a team moving closer. But most fans in the bay area are fair weather at best. (There are still die hards of both sides, so no one get offended by my comments. But the level of the die hards here are extremely low compared to other teams.) But the business side, San Jose is a gold mine, There are so many big companies in the Silicon Valley that want to latch on to a team to call theirs. They want something they can buy tickets and suites to give to give out to their customers. That is right in their backyard. Right now they use the Giants to an extent and this is why the Giants are scared. They know that businesses might latch on more to the team right next door. The giants don't want to lose money and also don't want to compete with the A's for attention. They want it all to themselves. Problem is you don't get everything to yourself in this country especially when in a league that you need competition. That's why the Silicon Valley Leadership Group (SVLG) wrote the letter to Bud. But bosrs1 had it slightly wrong. The letter didn't say they would never support the Giants. The letter stated that they have tons of money to support both teams. That the A's moving in to the Silicon Valley would not stop them from sponsoring the Giants also. So that the Giants can not claim they would lose those sponsorships. You can see why the A's are willing to build the stadium theselves with all the Silicon money right their willing to sign up as the letter said. Sadly in Oakland there just is no way to make the money back on a new Stadium. (Oakland would be an example of why new stadiums don't always mean good things for the team while San Jose is the complete opposite)
Yes there is a very vocal group of "Oakland-Only" fans but the truth is the group is a few hundred at most. Yes the facebook page has like 14k likes or so but that doesn't mean everyone that liked it will not support the San Jose A's. Some just liked it because they want the A's to stay in the bay area, some just liked it to get updates on the A's stadium updates. Some like the history of the "Oakland A's" But will realize it will only be 30 miles away. The A's will still be the A's.
If anyone ever wants to learn more about everything, check out http://newballpark.org/ It's a local blog dedicated to the A's search for ballpark. That's very in depth and is run by someone that stays so on top of things, he ha become the go to person on the subject. Yes there are other stadium news there but that's to compare what the A's are going through. Plus earthquakes stadium news is obvious since the A's own the San Jose earthquakes.
The Golden One speaks the truth. I remember seeing tons of A's memorabilia when I was little. Ever since AT&T Park opened, the tides turned. Now it seems like everybody in the Bay Area is a "die-hard Giants' fan." They don't go to see the Giants, they go to experience the ballpark.
Can't really blame them. The Coliseum is pretty bad even for a ballpark of its era these days given the destruction of the place since the 1995 expansion and the continuing decay of the surrounding neighborhoods (if you can call them that). After having gone to A's games for over 25 years I was blown away when I moved to San Diego part time and started going to Petco Park regularly. If I didn't have my ingrained hatred of the Giants and all things related to them I might have been seduced by the lure of the newer park in San Francisco. The new breed of parks are just so much better than the 60's parks (with 3 big exceptions in LA and KC). And their locations make them better still. The A's need that and their fans deserve that, be it in Oakland (which doesn't seem likely given that city's financial problems) or San Jose.
