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tigerslionspistonshabs

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Everything posted by tigerslionspistonshabs

  1. NFL will never be a long-term success in Toronto. Canadians are just as devoted to their CFL teams as Americans are to their NFL teams. What I'm saying is, no one will push the Argonauts (the self-proclaimed oldest pro football team in North America) aside just to cheer for a new NFL team.
  2. I went to Montreal for the first time this past summer and fell in love with the city. Beautiful downtown, all types of people, a large corporate presence. While yes it's true that even the second coming of Christ would play second fiddle to the Habs, a baseball team would have very minimal direct competition with them. A well placed downtown stadium close to the Bell Centre, where Labatt Park was proposed could work very well. A lot of foot traffic, you can get downtown from anywhere in the city in half an hour or less due to a very efficient public transit system. I was there in July and the city was absolutely booming. Anywhere you looked at any point of the day or night, there's something going on and there are hoards of people walking around. There is a huge diversity in age, culture, interests. It's really tough to call it. The Expos yearly attendance was very sporatic. They were drawing 28,000 fans in the early-mid 80s, and then it varied from 8,000-22,000 until the axe swung. I think at this point, it still may be a bit risky. Has anyone mentioned Vancouver? I think it may be worth a look. - Population of 2.3M. - Not much direct competition other than the spring/fall hockey/baseball lap-over - BC Lions on the odd Sunday in late summer/early fall and then the Whitecaps - It's very much a sports town (so much so that they riot when their team loses ) and very diverse in every way - it has the highest net worth of any city in Canada, meaning a lot of disposable income - Massive media production centre (2nd in North America outside L.A.) It all weighs on whether BC Place could host baseball. It's just been renovated, including the addition of a retractable roof and pretty much new everything else. The place is state-of-the-art. It's mixed on whether it can be properly utilized for baseball however. Other than that, I mentioned Portland but there seems to be hiccups there as people have said. I might take some flak for this, but what about Norfolk/Virginia Beach? It's always flirted with whenever relocation comes up in any league. The Kings looked at it last year, Grizzlies and Hornets in 2001-02, the Expos in 03. It's got a metro pop of nearly 2 mill and growing, with no other major league team. Obviously there would need to be a solid plan on a stadium, but who knows?
  3. They, and the A's, need to get this whole stadium situation sorted out. Both are viable markets in the right conditions. Barely 20 year old stadiums are getting replaced just because, while these two perennial contenders play in absolute s#itholes (in the A's case, literally) As for New Orleans- it's a one horse sports town and they've already got 2 horses. Memphis- the Grizzlies seem to be just getting by. It's a market completely dominated by college sports. Pro will always play the second fiddle.
  4. Don't understand how Jersey is always in the mix. The Devils have always had attendance issues and they've been among the most successful teams in the league for the past 2 decades (even now that they're out of the swamp, still relatively low) The Nets had trouble drawing 14,000 fans when they were a title contender. Now bring in a team that requires at least 25,000 a night to stay viable into a territory where the Yanks and Mets already have their claws dug in. Makes sense. I think the only viable option at this point is Portland. A good sized city with no other summer team and only one other team period (sorry, I still don't count MLS). Montreal, as much as I'd love to see it, I just don't see it working out. At least not yet.
  5. Nope. And if I remember, they played in Memphis for a season. I think the Oilers would've gone to L.A. or maybe even some sort of deal with Cleveland? Why did they keep the Oilers name/identity after moving? Was there a plan to keep it and then changed it; or was there a plan to change it all along? Maybe... New Orleans or OKC? New Orleans for sure. They were a very close 2nd in landing the Grizzlies. OKC wasn't even a thought back then.
  6. That list is the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen. I'm really trying to not be a homer, but Lions at 28??? Behind JACKSONVILLE??? They've sold out every game as long as I can remember and they've been absolutely dismal for the past....forever. To justify my non-homerism...Seattle at 23?
  7. Is there anyone right now with a viable stadium awaiting a tenant? I don't think so. Market wise, I think Portland is the only realistic one. One pro team (sorry MLS fans) in town that doesn't play in the summer. Maybe San Antonio for the same reason. People keep throwing around North Jersey. I just don't see it as viable at all. Even though New York City is massive, those fans are already Yankees or Mets fans. It'd be like opening a mom-and-pop shop next to a Wal-Mart. A nice idea, but not viable. What about Indianapolis? I'm not too familiar with the stadium landscape. They obviously can't use Lucas Oil, but is there a demand for ball there?
  8. Wow...completely forgot about Pippen playing for the Rockets until you posted that. Randy Johnson was drafted by the Expos though. And although it still doesn't look right, I don't know if it qualifies.
  9. A reason (not the main reason) for needing the realignment was the time zone factor and the TV ratings that go along with it. This makes it worse than it was. You'd have teams in 3 different time zones in the same division. Your idea in the East isn't as bad, but it does break up some rivals. You have the New Yorks and Pittsburgh separate from Jersey and Philly. Not a major deal, but it's a factor. I'm ok with the current alignment but Metropolitan is a brutal division name.
  10. I remember hearing this 10 years ago? when they moved into their new arena. It never came to fruition.
  11. (Quebec City) would be the smallest market in North American pro sports Ahem... Quebec (LĂ©vis) : 765,706 Green Bay Metro Area: 311,098 Source: www.citypopulation.de *I realize that the Packers have all of Wisconsin (6 million) behind them, but the Quebec City NHL team would have half of Quebec Province (and probably a sizeable portion of the Maritimes) on its side. That's at least 4 million potential viewers, which is enough of a market for an NHL team. Yes, there is the issue of exchange rates and corporate sponsorship, blah, blah - but most of the profitable teams in the NHL are north of the Canada-US border. Exactly. A city/region of a million people where 75% of the population cares about hockey, is much more valuable than a city/region of 3 million where 5% of the population cares about hockey.
  12. As much as I'd like the Yotes to stay in the desert, if they haven't turned things around by now (playoff runs the last few years, WCF last year), I don't think it will turn out.
  13. This matchup had to have only happened once, right? Would've only played once last season, and no inter-conference play this season.
  14. Almost positive that the Warriors had just rebranded and these Wizards unis were in their last season.
  15. I'll be sad to see them go. Nice identity overall, especially the original set. I've still got the original white jersey tucked away somewhere.
  16. Winnipeg. Were there any other real options at that point though? The cities that had arenas (KC, Houston, etc.) had no interest whatsoever in a team. Seattle wasn't in the mix yet.
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