MLB 2021

[Digby]

you could make the argument that the MTA would be better served as a Port Authority-type structure. If memory serves LA and Portland both have their transit governance at the county level and not state, right?
 

That’s more of a structural thing than location; in Mass. we have Boston as the capital, but the MBTA still falls under the control of the state government and all the non-Boston power brokers who happily mismanage it. Nobody takes the train to work at the State House, even though they could!

[-Akronite-]

On 7/8/2021 at 2:08 PM, BBTV said:

 

Fair enough.  Replace Cincinnati with Cleveland then (or was there some Cleveland show that I don't know about?)

 

Not only was there a literal Cleveland Show (not set in Cleveland), but several shows set in/around Cleveland:

• The Drew Carey Show (loved the first few seasons growing up)
• 3rd Rock from the Sun (very nostalgic for me)
• Hot in Cleveland (not good as far as I'm aware)

These, along with WKRP, are probably completely forgotten by younger generations at this point. Hell, I barely knew was WKRP was growing up and I watched a lot of TV Land as a kid. So it's a good thing LeBron, Baker, and Burrow are around for the relevance of these cities.

[chcarlson23]

On 7/10/2021 at 4:23 AM, Quillz said:

My understanding is this is largely deliberate. Much like the Senate gives a lot of power to thinly-populated states relative to the House, the idea is that capital cities are often away from the big population centers as a way to keep power not entirely with the population, to ensure the more rural parts of the state are represented. How well this actually works, I dunno. Periodically, some states talk about moving the capital. Alaska, for example, has been discussing moving the capital to either Anchorage, or somewhere near by, since at least the 70s. But it's more a talking point than anything that will seriously happen.

Minnesota selected St. Paul as its capital at a time when it was bigger than Minneapolis. They almost moved the capital to the small rural city of St. Peter in the 1850’s just before statehood, in order to be more central. Apparently the chairman of the Minnesota Territory bills committee took and hid the bill that almost changed the location. He apparently played cards and was drinking with friends until the legislative session ended, ensuring that St. Paul would stay the capital into statehood. 

[Ben in LA]

18 hours ago, Silent Wind of Doom said:

It's easily attributed to the fact that Miami has a similar relationship to the surrounding area that Los Angeles and Anaheim have been described to have in terms of different demographics.   If you included the surrounding communities there could be up to double Jacksonville's population.

Jacksonville is definitely the largest city, but the Miami/Ft. Lauderdale area is the larger metropolitan area. Kinda like how Houston is the largest city in Texas, but more people overall live in the Dallas/Ft. Worth metro area.

[Digby]

On the Angels bit, I guess what still confounds me is not the “Los Angeles” thing, but that they did that WHILE ALSO getting special dispensation, apparently, to use the nickname instead of the location name on all kinds of merch and only “Angels” on the unis. The location name is almost moot when they’re the closest thing the league has to a European style one-word club name a la Arsenal or Rangers.

[Gothamite]

2 hours ago, Digby said:

On the Angels bit, I guess what still confounds me is not the “Los Angeles” thing, but that they did that WHILE ALSO getting special dispensation, apparently, to use the nickname instead of the location name on all kinds of merch and only “Angels” on the unis. The location name is almost moot when they’re the closest thing the league has to a European style one-word club name a la Arsenal or Rangers.

 

That's Moreno trying to placate any Anaheim fans who still resent being lumped in with their larger, browner, neighboring city.

 

The Los Angeles Angels can be Los Angeles everywhere it counts, but those few who hate the change can pretend it isn't happening.

[SFGiants58]

12 minutes ago, Gothamite said:

 

That's Moreno trying to placate any Anaheim fans who still resent being lumped in with their larger, browner, neighboring city.

 

The Los Angeles Angels can be Los Angeles everywhere it counts, but those few who hate the change can pretend it isn't happening.

I doubt it’s just a few. Heck, I believe a lot of the locals (the only fans who matter in this issue) despise Arte for his meddling, wasting talent, and changing the name.

[Gothamite]

That could well be true.   There may be those who still resent his changing the name.

 

Sadly, the Orange Curtain persists.

[Gothamite]

On 7/11/2021 at 11:21 AM, Digby said:

you could make the argument that the MTA would be better served as a Port Authority-type structure. If memory serves LA and Portland both have their transit governance at the county level and not state, right?

 

The MTA and Port Authority are both state-level agencies.  That's what "Authority" means here, at least.

 

Port Authority would be worse from our perspective, because that involves two states, New York and New Jersey.  At least with our transit we are only beholden to one far-off governor.

 

TriMet in Portland is a state agency.  LA's Metro is indeed a county-level agency.

[SFGiants58]

25 minutes ago, Gothamite said:

That could well be true.   There may be those who still resent his changing the name.

 

Sadly, the Orange Curtain persists.

So, you want the Los Angeles Ducks? 

[Gothamite]

I don't think I ever said there must be a one-size-fits-all approach.   Sometimes narrowcasting is the smart play: the Brooklyn Nets say hello.

 

If the owners of the Ducks ever decided to expand their reach beyond their immediate market, then that might be appropriate too.  If not, then not.

[SFGiants58]

1 minute ago, Gothamite said:

I don't think I ever said there must be a one-size-fits-all approach.   Sometimes narrowcasting is the smart play: the Brooklyn Nets say hello.

 

If the owners of the Ducks ever decided to expand their reach beyond their immediate market, then that might be appropriate too.  If not, then not.

The implications about the Orange Curtain made me think otherwise. 
 

Honestly, once Anaheim got its sporting identity with the Ducks, it only made sense for the Angels to adopt it. Honestly, trying to become an LA team after all this time was offensive to the local fans. Bad marketing whose only purpose was to maybe threaten the city of Anaheim into paying up to keep them around.

 

Once you narrowcast, you shouldn’t go back unless you leave.

[Gothamite]

1 minute ago, SFGiants58 said:

Once you narrowcast, you shouldn’t go back unless you leave.

 

I don't think I can go quite that far.  
 

You want to be able to give teams the ability to back out of marketing mistakes that looked good at the time but didn't pan out.

[Gothamite]

3 minutes ago, SFGiants58 said:

Bad marketing whose only purpose was to maybe threaten the city of Anaheim into paying up to keep them around.

 

It's the opposite, though - the only reason they adopted "Anaheim" in the first place was because the city paid them to.

 

But not enough to overcome the name's limitations, as it turns out.

[SFGiants58]

16 minutes ago, Gothamite said:

 

I don't think I can go quite that far.  
 

You want to be able to give teams the ability to back out of marketing mistakes that looked good at the time but didn't pan out.

Marketing mistake? I’d love to see the evidence of their being a correlation between city name changes and overall success and revenue.

 

Besides, there’s one thing the Anaheim Angels will always have: a title gift-wrapped to them by Dusty Baker. 

[damnyoutuesday]

They're doing team photos at ASG in regular team uniforms. Makes me sad we won't get to see the regular looks in the actual game

[Sport]

On 7/8/2021 at 9:41 PM, tBBP said:

 

You make some good points here. And to contribute my 2/100s of a buck, just given how low a profile Cincinnati has on a national stage, it not for the Reds and Bengals I doubt most in the country would have a reason to know or care about it--which is really crazy because even with the Reds and Bengals, and now FCC, Cincinnati still gets so criminally overlooked and underrated its almost comical. (I still consider it one of the nation's best-kept secrets. If not THE best-kept secret.) 

 

Easiest place I've ever lived with still so many things to do, but it won't stay a secret for long if people keep blabbing about it!

 

The last year and a half it didn't feel like I even lived here, but after being out and about on Friday and Saturday night I can tell you the city is officially back. The mood on Main Street Friday night was quite revelrous. 

[TheBigFiz21]

1 hour ago, MNtwins3 said:

They're doing team photos at ASG in regular team uniforms. Makes me sad we won't get to see the regular looks in the actual game

I see all the players wearing 44. Any significance to that?

[damnyoutuesday]

3 minutes ago, TheBigFiz21 said:

I see all the players wearing 44. Any significance to that?

Hank Aaron

[Gothamite]

3 hours ago, SFGiants58 said:

Marketing mistake? I’d love to see the evidence of their being a correlation between city name changes and overall success and revenue

 

I would image that each one is different.  Becoming the Brooklyn Nets, for example, was without a doubt the single best thing that team had done since trading for Dr J. 

 

But yeah, if on balance it cut off their revenue streams, selling the naming rights to Anaheim was a mistake.