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MLB Stadium Saga: Oakland/Tampa Bay/Southside


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This is dumb. I think the Rays have so much positive momentum but the factors of location and all that just aren't translating into the area giving a crap.

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Has there ever been an MLB stadium that supported two teams simultaneously? I wonder if someplace like DC, Atlanta or LA could add the Rays in an extant park. There many obvious obstacles to any of those cities, and scheduling would be a nightmare, but I'm just wondering if there's precedence to that kind of arrangement.

The biggest problem would be that the field would get torn up in a hurry. I think a lot of teams re-sod their grass (at least, the infield grass) around the All-Star break. (I know St. Louis did this, as I saw them doing so while standing outside their stadium back in July.)

I think the province is chipping in a little on the new QC rink, and very begrudgingly. I don't see them underwriting two sports projects at once.

As a lover of all things French-Canadian except gravy fries, I would love to see baseball back in Montreal, but I fear that Loi 101 and the Loria/Selig conspiracy have ruined baseball there forever. Shame.

I love me some poutine. I had to get an order when I went to Windsor a couple months ago.

After living down here awhile, my thoughts on attendance:

- there are a lot of transplants and old people down here, most seem to be Yankee/Chicago/Boston fans first...Rays fan second.

- the stadium is ugly and personally doesn't make sense for the beautiful surroundings. Yeah, it rains...but an open air stadium would draw more fans I believe.

- another knock on the stadium is location. it's an hour trip for those that come from anywhere east of downtown Tampa...same for those in north Tampa or Tarpon Springs area.

I've made this comparison that Atlantans can relate to when it comes to attending Rays games: It's comparable to leaving your downtown Atlanta job at 5pm, picking up your family in Roswell, and then driving to Duluth to go to the game. A ton of traffic, and no way in hell would you do that on a near-daily basis. You'd get there in time for the 3rd inning, and would have to leave in the 7th inning before traffic jams up so you can get your kids to bed and yourself to bed before 11pm (which is the time you might get home if the game ends at 10pm).

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People go to Florida to watch TV?

No, but presumably, most sports fans who live in Florida watch TV, and probably should be watching the Rays if they live in the Tampa Bay area. There's really no excuse for not going to the games, not watching the games, and then expecting a successful, contending franchise worth their salt on the field to stick around anyway.

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So what's the excuse for people not watching the Rays on television, either?

People go to Florida to watch TV?

I've been to Florida numerous times, and maybe have watched TV for a grand total of 30 minutes.

What? This has nothing to do with people visiting Florida on vacation or business.

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Has there ever been an MLB stadium that supported two teams simultaneously? I wonder if someplace like DC, Atlanta or LA could add the Rays in an extant park. There many obvious obstacles to any of those cities, and scheduling would be a nightmare, but I'm just wondering if there's precedence to that kind of arrangement.

The biggest problem would be that the field would get torn up in a hurry. I think a lot of teams re-sod their grass (at least, the infield grass) around the All-Star break. (I know St. Louis did this, as I saw them doing so while standing outside their stadium back in July.)

I think the province is chipping in a little on the new QC rink, and very begrudgingly. I don't see them underwriting two sports projects at once.

As a lover of all things French-Canadian except gravy fries, I would love to see baseball back in Montreal, but I fear that Loi 101 and the Loria/Selig conspiracy have ruined baseball there forever. Shame.

I love me some poutine. I had to get an order when I went to Windsor a couple months ago.

After living down here awhile, my thoughts on attendance:

- there are a lot of transplants and old people down here, most seem to be Yankee/Chicago/Boston fans first...Rays fan second.

- the stadium is ugly and personally doesn't make sense for the beautiful surroundings. Yeah, it rains...but an open air stadium would draw more fans I believe.

- another knock on the stadium is location. it's an hour trip for those that come from anywhere east of downtown Tampa...same for those in north Tampa or Tarpon Springs area.

I've made this comparison that Atlantans can relate to when it comes to attending Rays games: It's comparable to leaving your downtown Atlanta job at 5pm, picking up your family in Roswell, and then driving to Duluth to go to the game. A ton of traffic, and no way in hell would you do that on a near-daily basis. You'd get there in time for the 3rd inning, and would have to leave in the 7th inning before traffic jams up so you can get your kids to bed and yourself to bed before 11pm (which is the time you might get home if the game ends at 10pm).

St. Louis resodded the field because of the U2 concert they hosted. For baseball purists, this was a big controversy and any misstep in fielding for the first few nights of the new turf was very much overanalyzed.

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So what's the excuse for people not watching the Rays on television, either?

People go to Florida to watch TV?

I've been to Florida numerous times, and maybe have watched TV for a grand total of 30 minutes.

What? This has nothing to do with people visiting Florida on vacation or business.

My point is that, resident or tourist, there's so much to do in Florida besides watch TV.

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So what's the excuse for people not watching the Rays on television, either?

People go to Florida to watch TV?

I've been to Florida numerous times, and maybe have watched TV for a grand total of 30 minutes.

What? This has nothing to do with people visiting Florida on vacation or business.

My point is that, resident or tourist, there's so much to do in Florida besides watch TV.

Because there is nothing to do in New York.

:rolleyes:

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I'm not sure I get the argument here. Are we supposed to say that it's okay that the Rays have crap attendance even though they have a winning team? Or that they shouldn't shouldn't be a candidate for relocation because, eh, Florida?

Florida has sports fans -- lord knows they show up to football games. Why not baseball?

1 hour ago, ShutUpLutz! said:

and the drunken doodoobags jumping off the tops of SUV's/vans/RV's onto tables because, oh yeah, they are drunken drug abusing doodoobags

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So what's the excuse for people not watching the Rays on television, either?

People go to Florida to watch TV?

I've been to Florida numerous times, and maybe have watched TV for a grand total of 30 minutes.

What? This has nothing to do with people visiting Florida on vacation or business.

My point is that, resident or tourist, there's so much to do in Florida besides watch TV.

This is the biggest misconception about Florida. The locals also don't go to the beach. Museums and art galleries are in short supply down here and the ones they do have are tiny or full of "dolphin art". Locals may go to the theme parks a few times a year, but it seems like they just enjoy complaining about the prices instead. Having lived in Pittsburgh and Indy (Two cities not known nationally for having tons to do) before coming to Tampa I can tell you that they blow this area away with the diversity and quality of attractions and people willing to put in the effort to experience them.

I live less then a mile from the Trop. People make a ton of excuses as to why they don't go. The only one I buy is most of the "locals" are transplants and don't care about the Rays.

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TV viewership was among top in the league before this season, yet whenever I mentioned that before it was dismissed out of hand. Now that it went down, it's somehow a valid point? Right.

TV Viewership is just one tiny part of the picture. By itself, it's not enough to outweigh the pathetic attendance.

But now Tampa Bay defenders don't even have that tiny scrap to cling to.

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I'm not sure I get the argument here. Are we supposed to say that it's okay that the Rays have crap attendance even though they have a winning team? Or that they shouldn't shouldn't be a candidate for relocation because, eh, Florida?

Florida has sports fans -- lord knows they show up to football games. Why not baseball?

Agreed. I don't understand how that argument could possibly be used to defend the Rays. If anything, that should be a justification for relocating the team to somewhere other than Florida. If fans aren't coming because there are better things to do, why not ship the team to a city who shows interest in baseball?

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I think the province is chipping in a little on the new QC rink, and very begrudgingly. I don't see them underwriting two sports projects at once.

As a lover of all things French-Canadian except gravy fries, I would love to see baseball back in Montreal, but I fear that Loi 101 and the Loria/Selig conspiracy have ruined baseball there forever. Shame.

I know the wheels started in motion for the Expos' demise around 2001 or so (if not with the 94 strike), but do you think Bud regrets pushing the Expos to Washington now? It sure would have been nice if the Expos worked out their stadium deal to stay in Montreal. Then the Rays would have been free to move to Washinton, and the only bad stadium situation (outside of Toronto) would be Oakland.

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