PrimalCookie

That's nice, but I still prefer the 24 Eiffel Tower logo from the candidacy.

1 hour ago, dont care said:

Is anyone else getting the adds that fill the borders of the screen and don’t allow you to click anything until they’re finished doing what ever it is? I find it really annoying personally.

Yep, they just came back this morning.

That white helmet from that one picture looks awful, and the red jersey is the worst of the three. Bring back red socks for the away and the Texans don’t need to change ever again. 

8 minutes ago, WSU151 said:

I'm not sure I understand the "Desperados is a ripoff but the Roughnecks is a sweet homage" argument. 

Nostalgia, nothing more. 

11 minutes ago, goalieboy82 said:

what is the deal with the no user agreement.  is this one of those every so often things we need to agree on.  

 

There was probably some small change made, and the site therefore wanted us to accept it again.

8 hours ago, Quillz said:

Here's something that bothers me:

 

I'm fine with #0, it's a perfectly valid number, but what's the deal with #00? It really bugs me. And I'm almost positive at one point I saw both #00 and #0 in play.

The Trail Blazers had this last year.

Enes Kanter: 00

Damian Lillard: 0

1 hour ago, Sec19Row53 said:

Your avatar says 'Save the Rays', but you'll only go to a few games over the rest of the summer?

When I have to make a 4 hour roundtrip drive, alongside actually watching the game? Yeah.

14 hours ago, Maroon&Gold said:

https://www.wfla.com/news/rays-offering-2-tickets-for-games-against-orioles/

 

Looks like $5 tickets aren't cheap enough to get people to actually go to the trop now that Stu pissed everyone off. Maybe he'll cite "lack of money from ticket sales" as another reason to split games/relocate

That’s exactly it. Now that the fanbase is alienated, even less people will show up. He’ll then use quickly dwindling attendance to justify getting out as fast as he can.

Me? I’m taking advantage of those $5 tickets while they last. I’ll go to a few games over the rest of the summer.

5 minutes ago, mania said:

 

This is a myth.

 

Their TV ratings are on the lower end. https://www.forbes.com/sites/maurybrown/2018/10/04/2018-mlb-regional-tv-ratings-in-primetime-shows-continued-strong-popularity/#21d746d46257

I'll admit defeat on this one. I remember hearing about high TV ratings, but I guess that was wrong.

41 minutes ago, Survival79 said:

 

You're welcome! Here's an email the team just sent out.

 

Subject: Tampa Bay Rays Sister City Concept

 

The noses of Sternberg and everyone else involved with this email just grew 10 feet.

Honestly? If I had to choose between this proposal and them moving to Montreal permanently, I’m choosing Montreal for good. If you’re going to relocate, at least have the decency to call it what it is. A relocation.

As long as this team is the Tampa Bay Rays, I will support it. The second it becomes the Montreal Expos, it may as well not exist.

5 hours ago, OnWis97 said:

I'm curious...has anyone here been to MLB games both at the Metrodome and the Trop?  If so, is one appreciably worse than the other?

 

I, of course, have been to many games at the Metrodome.  But I've never had the "pleasure" of going to the Trop.  The Metrodome was just so sterile...I've been to 30 MLB parks (counting defunct; the Metrodome is the only full-time dome I've been to) and it's the worst one by far.  Not sure whether the Trop is as bad, but it cannot be that much better.

 

That all said, the Twins did draw well at the Dome when the team was doing well.  The Rays don't even seem to draw during good times.  As far as I can tell, there are two key possibilities: 1) The interest in baseball / the local club is just not there or 2) the location is really that difference-making.  The Metrodome had one thing going for it; its downtown location.  But I question whether it's a good idea to bank on location / dumpy park are the problem, to the tune of, say $1 billion (and at least half public).

The interest is definitely there. The Rays consistently get high TV ratings, and I always see a bunch of people with Rays shirts or hats on.

I'd say it's a mix of terrible location, terrible stadium in general, and (for most of their history) terrible team. Many still think of the Rays as a bottom of the table team, one not worth paying as much as they charge to see - even in seasons like this, where they aren't bad.

10 hours ago, the admiral said:

I love Quebec, Montreal, the Expos, and the elb, but this is preposterous. Its inevitable failure will only make people rag on Montreal baseball even more than they already do.

What? Every 5 posts on this thread, the one talking about branding, and any other time the Rays come up is “just move the team for good already”.

2 hours ago, AustinFomBoston said:

Is there a reason Tampa Bay won't let the team out of it's lease?

What exactly are they getting out of keeping a team that barely makes any money?

Where are you getting that they "barely make any money"? Even with the second worst attendance in the league, they are still getting tons of money from TV contracts and sponsorships.

Water breaks are mandatory in Orlando if the temperature is above a certain mark (I believe it's 95). However, because we usually get 6:00 or 7:00 games during the summer, it's only happened a few times. I'd assume it's the same in Houston, Dallas, LA, etc.

1 hour ago, B-Rich said:

 

Completely unrelated, but I find it hilarious how the "existing urban areas" on the east coast just stops when you reach the bottom of Brevard County.

1 minute ago, Ice_Cap said:

Anyway my first thought upon hearing this Montreal/Tampa news (well second thought, my first thought was laughter) was “negotiating tactic.” 

 

They say they want a new stadium in each locale but...no. That’s not happening. I think the end goal is clearly to pit the cities in the Tampa Bay area (Tampa, St. Pete, Clearwater) against Montreal.

Both Montreal and the Bay Area municipalities have been stingy with public funds when it comes to sports stadium proposals. So the Rays may figure splitting the difference between Tampa Bay and Montreal will create a “who wants us more?” scenario and get one locale to crack. 

More related, this is exactly what they're trying to do. The first city to crack, whether that's Tampa (and company) or Montreal, gets the team. If neither gives them money, they try other cities. All that the Rays owners want is a stadium that they doesn't have to pay much for, no matter where it is.

14 hours ago, Ferdinand Cesarano said:

I do not dismiss the sadness involved in losing a team. I recently wrote on this website about the unpleasant feeling of losing my connection to the Nets

Your team moved 14 miles. My team would move to a different country.

As far as I know, you stopped following the Nets because they adopted the Brooklyn name. I have nothing against that. The difference is, however, you could still go to games if you wanted to. That’s not a possibility for me or any other Rays fans in Florida. Let’s be real, even if the dual-city thing happened, it wouldn’t last for long.

And honestly, I agree with the statement that the Rays never should’ve existed. The Trop was a dump the second it opened. Except they do exist, and whether you (not specifically you, but just saying “you” in general) believe it or not, they will be leaving a pretty sizable fanbase behind.

Florida is the third largest state in the country by population. I know very few baseball fans in my generation that, if they were raised here, don’t support the Rays (or Marlins). Their parents may have their separate allegiances (my dad is a Reds fan), but eventually the kids will grow up and the Rays and Marlins will finally have a fanbase that will pay for merchandise and to go to games. The first few people that fit into that group are just emerging now for the Rays, and did a few years ago for the Marlins.

If you don’t feel like the Rays should stay, that’s fine. I’m not going to take it personally. I just want to give our side of the argument the light of day. Because, at least for me, I’m not moving on to the Marlins or Braves or whoever if the Rays move. If they leave, my interest in baseball will never be the same, if it will even be there at all.

9 minutes ago, LMU said:

Hopefully it’s working now. Otherwise there’s nothing else we can do on our end.

It is, thanks!

3 minutes ago, GDAWG said:

So how is the attendance for the Lightning as compared to the Rays?

You can't compare that. The Lightning are in a modern arena in downtown Tampa. The Rays are in the worst stadium in the league, in St. Petersburg, which is 45 minutes to an hour away from their main fanbase on the Tampa side of the bay.

1 minute ago, Ferdinand Cesarano said:

 

Yes.  I was opposed to the awarding of a team to Miami in the first place on the grounds that Florida is for spring training.

 

 

 

Baseball can indeed work there: spring training, Florida State League, Gulf Coast League.  But a Major League team?  No.

So baseball fans in Florida who want to support major league teams from their area can get screwed?

Stolen from Reddit, but this sums up the situation really well.

..Montreal would sell the  out like crazy in their split of the games becasue YAY BASEBALL IS BACK and maybe we can even get them to move fully to Montreal!

...Meanwhile, back in Tampa, NO ONE WOULD GO. Why would they? They know this is BS and a ploy to get a move to Montreal. If you think attendance is bad now, wait until this happens. They might get attendance in the hundreds for many games.

And then....Sternberg and MLB would be able to say "look see? Montreal will support us, AND they'll build us a stadium. We have to move. Bye Tampa Bay!"

This is a move designed to make this move look great for everyone....except Tampa.

25 minutes ago, Scrumptious Ham said:

Why would anyone in Tampa go to a game after this? This will either end with a stadium in Tampa, or the Rays moving to Montreal full time.

I’m sure that’s the plan. They want attendance in Tampa Bay to plummet, while Montreal’s will be high because they got their team back, even if for just half a season. Ownership then uses those attendance numbers to justify a full move to Montreal, claiming that they “gave Tampa a chance”.

1 minute ago, GDAWG said:

 

Didn't Pro Player/Joe Robbie/Dolphins/Land Shark/Sun Life/Hard Rock Stadium go through major renovations when the Marlins left?

Yes, but I'm not sure if the state paid for it. I was just listing Orlando examples that I know.

7 minutes ago, Survival79 said:

Step 1: Move the Rays or Marlins to Montreal.

Step 2: Move whichever team is left to Orlando.

Step 3: The Florida Rays or the Florida Marlins.

Good luck getting the city/county/state to pay for anything, since they just built the Amway Center, Dr. Phillips Center (a theater), and did major renovations to the Citrus Bowl with public money. Orlando City tried to get tax dollars to build OC Stadium and got hard rejected.

8 minutes ago, GDAWG said:

 

Didn't the Jaguars end up reducing their London games to one? 

They've always had one London game since the program started. However, one year (IIRC, 2012), there was a proposal to have the Jaguars become a dual-city team - they would have a "base" in Jacksonville so that players, coaches, etc. wouldn't have to live in the UK (and thus pay UK taxes), while also playing primetime and playoff games there (they would never be able to have a night game in London due to the time difference, and teams wouldn't have to make the jump across the Atlantic if the Jaguars ever had a home playoff game). All other games would be in London.

I'm pretty sure that the Jaguars at least considered it before the idea fell through.

Not sure what the mods may or may not have done, but now the option to change the profile picture has been completely removed. There is usually a blue box in the corner of your picture that allows you to change it (or, the past week or so, just readjust your current picture), but now even that isn't there.