Rank relocations by how much they offended your sensibilities

[FiddySicks]

On 8/15/2024 at 8:08 AM, Sport said:

I imagine losing your team to another city would be a lot more soul-crushing than losing a close playoff series you were supposed to lose anyway. That's just me. 

 

I was retroactively bummed a second time that the Sonics moved because I managed to live a couple blocks from Key Arena in the one decade when it didn't house an NBA or NHL team. 

Hey at least they had the Storm! I used to walk through lower Queen Anne on my days off and there would be people legit just giving out free WNBA tickets. I always passed on them. 

[DG_YouKnowWhatThatMeans]

3 hours ago, FiddySicks said:

Hey at least they had the Storm! I used to walk through lower Queen Anne on my days off and there would be people legit just giving out free WNBA tickets. I always passed on them. 

 

I was at the Storm victory parade in 2010 and it was the players stuffed in the back of Subaru Outbacks waving out at the 60 or so people who showed up.

 

(I was there because I was walking my dogs.)

 

The WNBA is hot now though, so good on the Storm ownership for sticking with it.

[The_Admiral]

Hahaha, had to be Subarus, just lean right into it

[Sport]

On 8/17/2024 at 10:31 AM, FiddySicks said:

Hey at least they had the Storm! I used to walk through lower Queen Anne on my days off and there would be people legit just giving out free WNBA tickets. I always passed on them. 

 

Sad to say I only went to one game and it was because of work and we were in a suite with free food. They beat the Lynx. Only time I ever went in Key Arena. 

 

I did have lunch with Sue Bird once at a charity luncheon. She was great. Also did a photoshoot with their head coach at the time in the Storm's practice facility and I shot jumpers all day. Probably should've been more engaged with the Storm. 

 

 

[VampyrRabbit]

On 2024-08-11 at 5:16 AM, SFGiants58 said:

Genuine toss-up

 

Nets to New Jersey, then Brooklyn (do these moves count?)

Baltimore Bullets to DC (does this really count?)

 

If the San Diego to LA moves count, then the move from Baltimore to DC should count too. As for the Nets, I would say that counts as well. Which I guess means taking into account the Angels moving to Anaheim and also the Warriors moving around the Bay Area.


 

[Lights Out]

I don't see why there'd be any question about whether the SD to LA moves count. The teams moved to a completely different market that's at least a two and a half hour drive away.

[WestCoastBias]

12 hours ago, VampyrRabbit said:

 

If the San Diego to LA moves count, then the move from Baltimore to DC should count too. As for the Nets, I would say that counts as well. Which I guess means taking into account the Angels moving to Anaheim and also the Warriors moving around the Bay Area.


 

 

SD to LA absolutely counts (~120 miles apart and totally different metro areas)

 

I would say Baltimore to DC also counts (only ~40 miles apart but still considered different metro areas) but is just barely a tier above the NJ->NY, OAK->SF, and LA->ANA moves which in my opinion don't count. 

[MrAstrodome]

On 8/11/2024 at 12:54 PM, neo_prankster said:

I still feel like Houston should've got the same deal Cleveland got when the Oilers left.

 

We would of but since Adams saw how the Browns had to abandon their name upon moving to Baltimore, he asked Tagliabue nicely to retire the Oilers name.

[VampyrRabbit]

1 hour ago, WestCoastBias said:

 

SD to LA absolutely counts (~120 miles apart and totally different metro areas)

 

I would say Baltimore to DC also counts (only ~40 miles apart but still considered different metro areas) but is just barely a tier above the NJ->NY, OAK->SF, and LA->ANA moves which in my opinion don't count. 

The 49ers move to Santa Clara I would put in the NJ->NY, OAK->SF, and LA->ANA tier as well. The move away from The 'Stick was badly needed, but so was a stadium that was actually designed with the climate of Santa Clara in mind.

Another move not mentioned - the first relocation of the Whalers in 1974. The team wasn't going to last in Boston in the long shadow of the Bruins and Celtics and would almost certainly not have made the cut in 1979 if the team hadn't moved. It gave Hartford 18 seasons of Major League action, and I doubt the city is going to get any more anytime soon.

[WestCoastBias]

52 minutes ago, VampyrRabbit said:

The 49ers move to Santa Clara I would put in the NJ->NY, OAK->SF, and LA->ANA tier as well. The move away from The 'Stick was badly needed, but so was a stadium that was actually designed with the climate of Santa Clara in mind.

Another move not mentioned - the first relocation of the Whalers in 1974. The team wasn't going to last in Boston in the long shadow of the Bruins and Celtics and would almost certainly not have made the cut in 1979 if the team hadn't moved. It gave Hartford 18 seasons of Major League action, and I doubt the city is going to get any more anytime soon.

 

That was such a massive oversight by the 49ers to not adjust the design for Santa Clara. At the time, I didn't think much of the move but looking back on it now it really sucks they don't play in San Francisco anymore. 

 

However, I do think Levi's gets too much hate. Not every stadium needs to be a modern marvel that one ups what opened the year before. When I went to Levi's I thought it was the nicest stadium I'd ever been to but this was also a night game and in 2016 before SoFi so take that with a grain of salt. 

[FriedPickles]

1 hour ago, WestCoastBias said:

 

That was such a massive oversight by the 49ers to not adjust the design for Santa Clara. At the time, I didn't think much of the move but looking back on it now it really sucks they don't play in San Francisco anymore. 

 

However, I do think Levi's gets too much hate. Not every stadium needs to be a modern marvel that one ups what opened the year before. When I went to Levi's I thought it was the nicest stadium I'd ever been to but this was also a night game and in 2016 before SoFi so take that with a grain of salt. 

I thought they were going to build the stadium on the old candlestick site, or was it because they didn't get any taxpayer money to fund it? 

[Kevin W.]

4 hours ago, WestCoastBias said:

(only ~40 miles apart but still considered different metro areas)

It's still all part of the DMV.

[BBTV]

4 hours ago, Kevin W. said:

It's still all part of the DMV.

 

That's still a relocation, even if it's not considered one for people on the outside.  If one of my teams moved out of range of fast mass transit or somewhere where going to a random Wednesday game is simply no longer practical, then for all intents and purposes, they're gone.

 

If the Phillies or Eagles moved to Reading or Dover, they're dead to me.  Hell - if they moved to the suburbs they'd be dead to me.

 

[B-Rich]

19 hours ago, MrAstrodome said:

 

We would of but since Adams saw how the Browns had to abandon their name upon moving to Baltimore, he asked Tagliabue nicely to retire the Oilers name.

 "would have" or "would've" 

Carry on...

[leopard88]

18 hours ago, Kevin W. said:

It's still all part of the DMV.

 

Wikipedia saying "The Washington–Baltimore combined metropolitan statistical area, colloquially known as the DMV"  notwithstanding, the DMV and the CMSA are not even close to the same thing,

 

The CMSA includes parts of West Virginia, Pennsylvania and the Eastern Shore of Maryland.  Those areas are not part of the DMV as most people understand it.  On the Maryland side, it typically only includes Montgomery County, Prince George's County and maybe part of Howard County (and maybe parts of Frederick County and Charles County if you count more exurban  bedroom communities).  I live about 10 miles north of Baltimore and have never considered myself a resident of the DMV.

 

If we follow the federal government, the better breakdown is probably on the level of metropolitan statistical areas.  There are separate MSAs for both markets.  The feds separate the Washington–Arlington–Alexandria, DC–VA–MD–WV MSA (which surprisingly does include a little of West Virginia) and the Baltimore–Columbia–Towson, Maryland MSA.  That feels right.

 

As for rooting interests, I am only a casual NHL and NBA fan, but the Caps and Wizards are my teams more or less by default.  However, going to a game for either team is a chore when accounting for traffic and parking.  It doesn't feel even remotely local.  Meanwhile, I can get to Camden Yards and M&T Bank Stadium in about 30 minutes.

[WestCoastBias]

19 hours ago, FriedPickles said:

I thought they were going to build the stadium on the old candlestick site, or was it because they didn't get any taxpayer money to fund it? 

 

Yeah I think the negations between the Niners and City of SF just fell but can't remember the exact reason. Levi's Stadium was designed for Candlestick though, hence the lack of shade and bowl shape, then they just plopped it down in Santa Clara where their practice facility already was. 

[MrAstrodome]

4 hours ago, B-Rich said:

 "would have" or "would've" 

Carry on...

 

D'oh.

[Klondyke]

Vancouver Grizzlies:

-There was relocations rumors literally in their expansion season (they finished top 10 in attendance that year) 

-They (and the Raptors) were not allowed to have a top pick in the first few drafts (This prevented them from being able to pick Iverson or Duncan - no other expansion teams have ever had to deal with this rule)

-The team tried to relocate to St Louis in their 3rd season.

-They never finished any higher than 20 games below .500

-They finished bottom 5 in foul difference in every season they existed

-Despite being horrid, the franchises' best average attendance in Vancouver is still better than Memphis

 

The league never wanted a team in Vancouver, invented a bunch of rules that handicapped them, and it has been found out Stern was actively shopping the team to other cities before Vancouver even got to year 2.

 

I absolutely do think it's a coincidence that as soon as David Stern retired, we immediately saw an influx of small market teams winning championships. During his entire 30+ year run, the same 7 markets won all the championships, which is absolutely insane with a draft lottery system and a salary cap. In the 10 years he's been retired, 7 different markets have won championships.

 

He was openly vetoing trades, got caught influencing the Hornets to trade Kobe, was involved the Ewing draft thing, etc, etc

 

 

Stern was a lot of things, but above all else, he was a ruthless businessman. I think he just realized the NBA was more valuable with big markets winning. When he took over the NBA, it was probably only a smidge more popular than the NHL. Today, it's probably 2-3rd most popular sports league in the world.

[FiddySicks]

On 8/27/2024 at 1:25 PM, WestCoastBias said:

 

That was such a massive oversight by the 49ers to not adjust the design for Santa Clara. At the time, I didn't think much of the move but looking back on it now it really sucks they don't play in San Francisco anymore. 

 

However, I do think Levi's gets too much hate. Not every stadium needs to be a modern marvel that one ups what opened the year before. When I went to Levi's I thought it was the nicest stadium I'd ever been to but this was also a night game and in 2016 before SoFi so take that with a grain of salt. 

I genuinely don’t get the hate, either. It’s a fine stadium. Very nice, in fact. Is it in SF proper? No. But where the hell were they actually gonna put that thing? There isn’t any room up there! Candlestick point was about it, and for a variety of reasons, it was an AWFUL location. Santa Clara is just fine. 
 

I also don’t see the complaints about it being “too hot” to be anything other than Bay Area people doing what they do best. Bitching about trivial things. I spent the three years before Levi’s stadium opened watching Sun Devils games in Tempe to help prime me for the “heat”. It’s never been a problem for me. I’ve been to Stanford games that were just as “hot” and “uncomfortable”, and nobody ever bitches about that. 

[SFGiants58]

And it’s privately funded! I see no big reason to complain about a stadium that cost taxpayers nothing.

At least we don’t have the Escalator of Hell from publicly-funded Paul Brown stadium.

 

 

Are they ever gonna remove that death trap?