Expos get a banner after all.....

[VitaminD]

Would you go to games if the new owners always gave up your best players for nothing?

I have, and I still do go to the games.

I go to about 5-10 Pirate games a year.

I go, but I've only paid for tickets once in the 2 years CBP has been open in Philadelphia. Like HL, I never say no to free tickets. Or free meals. Free is good.

[tp49]

I went to see the Expos for one of thier "final years" back in 2002. The Big Owe reminded me of the indoor pool both by the acoustics and the smell. Then again there is an indoor pool attached to the building. I did have a great time and still remember the beaver tails one of the best dessert things I ever had (even if it brings up the obvious jokes). Montreal is a hell of a town as well, very underrated and a lot of fun.

The only thing that would have made the banner ceremony better is if Carter had the 'fro.

[-Helix-]

I don't get what the Expos have to do with the Canadiens.

Personally, I'd be pretty mad if I was a Canadiens fan. Holding up a game for a ceremony about BASEBALL? Gag me.

[Jigga]

The only thing that would have made the banner ceremony better is if Carter had the 'fro.

Wouldn't that have violated the "Dress Code?"

[GeorgesL]

What the Expos did for Maurice Richard's legacy, the Habs returned the favour.

This just goes to show Montreal is the best sports city in the world! 'Nuff said. The teams back each other all the way, through thick and thin.

[sean69]

Hey Alouettes fan .....did you catch the final score in todays CFL game between Toronto and Montreal? Kidding just messin with you. I've said before and I'll say it again Montreal didn't lose baseball....baseball lost Montreal!

[EagleFan344]

What is the Expos logo anyway? Just a wierd looking M?

[Jigga]

What is the Expos logo anyway? Just a wierd looking M?

Correct me if I'm wrong, anyone...

The Expos logo isn't just a "weird M" it's actually a stylized "M" for Montreal, also including the letters "e" for Expos) and 'b" for Baseball.

[CC97]

What is the Expos logo anyway? Just a wierd looking M?

Correct me if I'm wrong, anyone...

The Expos logo isn't just a "weird M" it's actually a stylized "M" for Montreal, also including the letters "e" for Expos) and 'b" for Baseball.

ding

[Cujo]

What is the Expos logo anyway? Just a wierd looking M?

Correct me if I'm wrong, anyone...

The Expos logo isn't just a "weird M" it's actually a stylized "M" for Montreal, also including the letters "e" for Expos) and 'b" for Baseball.

ding

So what's the "l" stand for then??

elb = M

My guess would be it's "L" for losers.

[CC97]

What is the Expos logo anyway? Just a wierd looking M?

Correct me if I'm wrong, anyone...

The Expos logo isn't just a "weird M" it's actually a stylized "M" for Montreal, also including the letters "e" for Expos) and 'b" for Baseball.

ding

So what's the "l" stand for then??

elb = M

My guess would be it's "L" for losers.

it's not an l, it's a capital I... it describes you, can you figure it out?

[Ron Mexico]

What the Expos did for Maurice Richard's legacy, the Habs returned the favour.

This just goes to show Montreal is the best sports city in the world! 'Nuff said. The teams back each other all the way, through thick and thin.

Doesn't Montreal need some sports before it's the best sports city?

[NoHoJoe]

The next time MLB does expansion, it will be around 2007 or 2008, after the sale of the GNATS is completed and a new commisssioner takes Bud Selig's place. Montreal will be one of the cities- just remember that Cleveland got the Browns in 1999 after Modell moved the team to Baltimore in 1996. Then, The Brewers will return to the AL Central (where they belong!) beforee the AL gets its 16th team- most likely either New Orleans or Nashville.

[HedleyLamarr]

I've said before and I'll say it again Montreal didn't lose baseball....baseball lost Montreal!

What was the Nationals' average attendance this season, compared to the Expos the previous 5-6 seasons?

[CC97]

I've said before and I'll say it again Montreal didn't lose baseball....baseball lost Montreal!

What was the Nationals' average attendance this season, compared to the Expos the previous 5-6 seasons?

see the past 4 years of conversations, re-asess, get back to us

[Jigga]

Two things:

Baseball WILL NOT expand. Wasn't this the same league that wanted to contract two teams a few years back? I can see relocation, for sure, I could even see contracting two teams, but not expanision. Expansion has completely watered down the game. Too many games, too many teams, too many steroids...lol.

Baseball did lose Montreal. The Expos were the most dominant team in baseball in 1994, before the strike ended the season. Per usual, the team chose not to re-sign key free agents and traded away some of their best players, thereby making sure the team would never compete for another title in their franchise history, pissing off fans that already were slow to come back in the first place. From 1994-2003, they made NO effort to field a competitive team, and when the team was sold to MLB, the mismanagement of a once proud franchise killed it.

I live right outside of DC, people love the Nats, but just not enough to go to the games...lol. I think it will be better next year, provided they get a "real" owner and spend some friggin' money on talent. The division is ripe for the picking.

[HedleyLamarr]

I've said before and I'll say it again Montreal didn't lose baseball....baseball lost Montreal!

What was the Nationals' average attendance this season, compared to the Expos the previous 5-6 seasons?

see the past 4 years of conversations, re-asess, get back to us

I was hoping to by-pass all that research crap...

[VitaminD]

What was the Nationals' average attendance this season, compared to the Expos the previous 5-6 seasons?

Specious reasoning at best. The Nats had the benefit of the "novelty factor". When they get their new park down by the river in a couple years, they'll get another bump.

The Phillies and their fans have gone through a similar, but less drastic turn-off here. The Phillies were among the elite at the same time as the Expos (late '70s, early '80s) and Philadelphia was a great baseball town. Ownership changed, and a faceless conglomerate of jackasses preferred the bottom line to winning titles. One playoff appearance since 1983, a crumbling relic of a stadium in a charmless section of town and generally shabby treatment of a loyal and passionate fan base conspired to drive fans away by the thousands. But the team built a glistening new stadium, and the team spent money (albeit foolishly, but still...). Attendance soared, thanks largely to the novelty of a new building. In 2005, attendance fell by 600,000 people. The novelty had worn off.

Want proof?

2002: 1.618 mil fans (#24 in MLB), 20,500 per game

2003: 2.259 mil (#14), 29,000 per game (last season @ Vet, giveaways, nostalgia, last chance to see the park, etc.)

2004: 3.206 mil (#4), 40,600 per game (1st season in Citizens Bank Park)

2005: 2.665 mil (#13), 33,300 per game

Let it happen in Washington. Better yet, let MLB step in, cancel the season when they're the best team in the game, never make amends for it, allow the team to be strip-mined for its best young talent, take away 1/4 of it shome games so it can play in Puerto Rico, deny it the environment where free agents would even want to play, leave it to fester in an outmoded stadium. THEN compare attendance.

[CC97]

What was the Nationals' average attendance this season, compared to the Expos the previous 5-6 seasons?

Specious reasoning at best. The Nats had the benefit of the "novelty factor". When they get their new park down by the river in a couple years, they'll get another bump.

The Phillies and their fans have gone through a similar, but less drastic turn-off here. The Phillies were among the elite at the same time as the Expos (late '70s, early '80s) and Philadelphia was a great baseball town. Ownership changed, and a faceless conglomerate of jackasses preferred the bottom line to winning titles. One playoff appearance since 1983, a crumbling relic of a stadium in a charmless section of town and generally shabby treatment of a loyal and passionate fan base conspired to drive fans away by the thousands. But the team built a glistening new stadium, and the team spent money (albeit foolishly, but still...). Attendance soared, thanks largely to the novelty of a new building. In 2005, attendance fell by 600,000 people. The novelty had worn off.

Want proof?

2002: 1.618 mil fans (#24 in MLB), 20,500 per game

2003: 2.259 mil (#14), 29,000 per game (last season @ Vet, giveaways, nostalgia, last chance to see the park, etc.)

2004: 3.206 mil (#4), 40,600 per game (1st season in Citizens Bank Park)

2005: 2.665 mil (#13), 33,300 per game

Let it happen in Washington. Better yet, let MLB step in, cancel the season when they're the best team in the game, never make amends for it, allow the team to be strip-mined for its best young talent, take away 1/4 of it shome games so it can play in Puerto Rico, deny it the environment where free agents would even want to play, leave it to fester in an outmoded stadium. THEN compare attendance.

[friarcanuck]

Baseball did lose Montreal.  The Expos were the most dominant team in baseball in 1994, before the strike ended the season.  Per usual, the team chose not to re-sign key free agents and traded away some of their best players, thereby making sure the team would never compete for another title in their franchise history, pissing off fans that already were slow to come back in the first place.

Chose not to resign? CHOSE NOT TO RESIGN? More like couldn't resign because they didn't have the money to resign.

Montreal at that time was a major league farm team. Not because of their skill, but because they would develop the players sooooo good that they couldn't efford to pay them. So what happens when a team can't efford to resign a player? Trade them for a youngerst and start the process allll over again.

In 1994, the Expos woulda/shoulda/coulda won the World Series. Post Season money goes right back into resigning your free agents so you can do it again next season. Why did you think so many Expos fans/players left Montreal after the strike? Apathy? Cause that's what it sounds like you're preaching.

There's many factors of why Montreal lost the Expos: fickle Montreal fans? stupid Montreal city hall for not getting a new stadium? greedy MLB owners like Bug Selig, John Henry and Jeffrey Loria?

Was the loss of the Montreal Expos beacuase of?

#1 1 000 000+ people not giving a damn, or

#2 a 29 man gang bang rape

I'm gonna circle #2 on this one.