NYCdog Posted January 24, 2007 Share Posted January 24, 2007 So does this have any coincidence with the rumors that the KC deal has hit a snag. Could the Houston move be used for leverage in a deal with KC? Or is this Houston move the real thing. Remember, the city is the largest market yet to be tapped by the NHL, and it is a very large market with corporate clout professional sports franchises seek to fill suites. And given what success the MLS Houston Dynamo had with there move from San Jose, not to mention a new arena already in place, Houston looks very attractive destination. One has to wonder....Gov. Rendell says Pens are visiting HoustonBy Andrew Conte and Rob RossiTRIBUNE-REVIEWTuesday, January 23, 2007 Gov. Ed Rendell today confirmed he has heard the Penguins are going to Houston to look at the Toyota Center as a possible new home. "They kept telling us the Kansas City deal was so great," Rendell said today during a visit to Pittsburgh. "If the Kansas City deal was so great, why are they going to Houston?" Team officials have not confirmed a visit to Houston, but a representative of the city's sports authority said officials were talking with team owners about a possible visit. The Penguins have contacted the office of Houston Mayor Bill White, said William ?Billy? Burge, chair of the Harris County-Houston Sports Authority. In an interview with Houston radio station KTRH-AM (740 & 790), Burge confirmed that the Penguins intend to visit Houston soon. ?It?s not a rumor. It?s truly a story,? Burge said. ?Right now, the contact has been through the mayor?s office and we?re letting that work itself through. It?s in the mayor?s corner. They have contacted him.? Calls to Houston Mayor White were not immediately returned. Rendell said he he didn't understand how Pens co-owner Mario Lemieux and Penguins officials could have been offended by last week's meeting with public officials in Pittsburgh, where new terms were laid out for an Uptown arena deal. "I don't know how he could be offended," Rendell said. "He wasn't even there." The meeting included local officials and Don Barden, whose Majestic Star Casino is planned for the North Shore. Barden's group has pledged money toward building an arena, but wants to share revenues from development of the Mellon Arena site and parking. Rendell also said if the Pens ultimately threaten to leave, he plans to approach the National Hockey League's Board of Governors to plead the city's case and prevent the team from leaving. "We do not want to have to go to the NHL Board of Governors, but we would have no alternative, given the deal, if they turned it down," Rendell said. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, speaking from Dallas, which will host the league?s All-Star Game on Wednesday, said the Board of Governors might not support a decision by Lemieux to relocate the Penguins. ?We love Mario, but we?re going to have to evaluate any potential transaction on its merit when it comes,? Bettman said. Bettman said the league would not by shy about involving itself in arena talks between the Penguins and local officials. ?At the right time, if we thought it made sense to get involved, we would,? Bettman said. ?Right now, I think it?s most important that this is being done by ownership of the club.? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leedsunited Posted January 24, 2007 Share Posted January 24, 2007 KC's being used. Rendell's an idiot, but he's right about this. I thought KC was ready, willing and putting up a great deal for Mario. Why even bother looking at Houston? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rams80 Posted January 24, 2007 Share Posted January 24, 2007 1st off...READ DUMMY!! http://boards.sportslogos.net/index.php?sh...4537&st=225Actual opinions.1) Mario is looking out for the best interests in his franchise. KC's deal is a real sweetheart, but what if Houston can trump that?2) Bettman told him if he's moving he better at least look at a top-ten tv market.3) Bettman told him specifically if he's moving he better at least look at Houston.4) Rendell's gone soft in the head if he thinks this improves his negotiating position AT ALL. On 8/1/2010 at 4:01 PM, winters in buffalo said: You manage to balance agitation with just enough salient points to keep things interesting. Kind of a low-rent DG_Now. On 1/2/2011 at 9:07 PM, Sodboy13 said: Today, we are all otaku. "The city of Peoria was once the site of the largest distillery in the world and later became the site for mass production of penicillin. So it is safe to assume that present-day Peorians are descended from syphilitic boozehounds."-Stephen Colbert POTD: February 15, 2010, June 20, 2010 The Glorious Bloom State Penguins (NCFAF) 2014: 2-9, 2015: 7-5 (L Pineapple Bowl), 2016: 1-0 (NCFAB) 2014-15: 10-8, 2015-16: 14-5 (SMC Champs, L 1st Round February Frenzy) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred T. Jane Posted January 24, 2007 Share Posted January 24, 2007 Hmm... Crosby, Malkin, Stall, and co only ~100 miles from College Station?A&M's looking better and better as a choice for Grad School... [Croatia National Team Manager Slavan] Bilic then went on to explain how Croatia's success can partially be put down to his progressive man-management techniques. "Sometimes I lie in the bed with my players. I go to the room of Vedran Corluka and Luka Modric when I see they have a problem and I lie in bed with them and we talk for 10 minutes." Maybe Capello could try getting through to his players this way too? Although how far he'd get with Joe Cole jumping up and down on the mattress and Rooney demanding to be read his favourite page from The Very Hungry Caterpillar is open to question. --The Guardian's Fiver, 08 September 2008 Attention: In order to obtain maximum enjoyment from your stay at the CCSLC, the reader is advised that the above post may contain large amounts of sarcasm, dry humour, or statements which should not be taken in any true sort of seriousness. As a result, the above poster absolves himself of any and all blame in the event that a forum user responds to the aforementioned post without taking the previous notice into account. Thank you for your cooperation, and enjoy your stay at the CCSLC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NYCdog Posted January 24, 2007 Author Share Posted January 24, 2007 KC's being used. At first, when I saw this, I thought it was totally idiotic. KC's offering a sweetheart deal. But then I got to thinking....and it hit me like a "barrel of oil." One way Houston could lure the Pens is by cuttin them a fat check to guarantee profits. Just ask the Astros. Downtown Houston's corporate sector cut the Astros a fat check to buy all of the expensive parcels downtown that were needed to makeup the site for what eventually became Enron Field, thus saving the team from moving to DC and moving them downtown, instead of at the Astrodome complex. In fact, IIRC Enron CEO Ken Lay spearheaded this move. So, could the Crude Oil Capitol of the world pull a crude move and just buy the Pens away from KC and Pittsburgh? If this is the case, the Pens and the Oilers need to swap names. Houston Oilers and Edmonton Penguins... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyclopsis Joe Posted January 24, 2007 Share Posted January 24, 2007 I know that New York isn't known for it's intellectual prowess, but Penguins can't fly.Edit: On top of that, Penguins do not migrate. I don't speak for democrats, democrats don't speak for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 24, 2007 Share Posted January 24, 2007 Penguins can't fly.This flight is dreadfully bumpy. I'll go have a word with the captain. A PENGUIN?!? And he's been drinking! Wait a minute. Penguins can't fly. PENGUINS CAN'T FLY!!!I don't care how many stewardesses you've bagged, you're a lousy pilot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luigi74 Posted January 24, 2007 Share Posted January 24, 2007 The NHL will not approve a Pens move to KC it's to risky of a market in their mind, but to them Houston is ok since as a very large media market it off sets the lose of a strong mid-sized market. The sad thing in all of this is that had Rendell not used such a f'ed up backroom dealing way of giving out slot licenses the new Pittsburgh Arena would be having it's groundbreaking in a few weeks and that section of downtown(or "The Lower Hill") would be getting a $850 million makeover. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shmee Posted January 24, 2007 Share Posted January 24, 2007 I know that New York isn't known for it's intellectual prowess...[/slap] Â Â The world's foremost practitioners of professional tag-team wrestling. Â Â Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyclopsis Joe Posted January 24, 2007 Share Posted January 24, 2007 I know that New York isn't known for it's intellectual prowess...[/slap] I knew that was coming. I don't speak for democrats, democrats don't speak for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jkrdevil Posted January 24, 2007 Share Posted January 24, 2007 It's called leverage. By going to multiple cities you create sort of a bidding war between the different cities and try to get the best offer possible. The more cities involved the better deal the Penguins should get. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian in Boston Posted January 24, 2007 Share Posted January 24, 2007 There are a number of reasons that the Pittsburgh Penguins ownership group would be legitimately interested in Houston, TX as a possible relocation market:* Houston ranks fourth in population amongst the cities of the United States (2,009,834), and is growing faster than any of the three cities ranked ahead of it (New York, Los Angeles, Chicago).* Houston ranks eleventh in population amongst the metropolitan areas of the United States 95,380,661), and is growing faster than all but one metro area ranked ahead of it (Dallas-Fort Worth).* Houston is the tenth-largest Nielsen U.S. media market.* Houston is home to three state-of-the-art sports and entertainment facilities (Minute Maid Park, Reliant Stadium, Toyota Center), the oldest of which is less than seven years old. The Toyota Center, which is the facility suitable for playing host to a National Hockey League franchise, is the newest of these at less than three-and-a-half years old.* Houston serves as the headquarters for twenty-four of the corporations listed on the 2006 Fortune 500 list of companies. This ranks third out of all U.S. cities, trailing only New York and Chicago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moser316 Posted January 24, 2007 Share Posted January 24, 2007 Penguins can't fly.This flight is dreadfully bumpy. I'll go have a word with the captain. A PENGUIN?!? And he's been drinking! Wait a minute. Penguins can't fly. PENGUINS CAN'T FLY!!!I don't care how many stewardesses you've bagged, you're a lousy pilot.Best reference to "The Critic" ever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ez Street Posted January 24, 2007 Share Posted January 24, 2007 The Penguins had contacted Houston city officials "a few days ago" about possibly looking at moving into that city's Toyota Center, said Frank Michel, a spokesman for the Texas city. He said he does not expect Lemieux and team officials to inspect the arena this week. "We've had very brief conversations with the Penguins," Michel said. "Not what I would call anything significant. They asked along the lines if Houston was on a short list of cities interested in landing an NHL team? We simply said, 'Yes.'" Team officials said no trip to Houston is planned. However, a representative of that city's sports authority said local officials there were talking with team owners about a possible visit. @DavidStreeter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shumway Posted January 24, 2007 Share Posted January 24, 2007 I read somewhere that Ed Rendell might try to get the NHL involed to essentially just not allow the Pens to move, which to me, doesn't make sense. If the Pens don't have an agreement with the Mellon Arena, where are they going to play? On a side note, I'll be attendance for the regular season finale at the Mellon Arena. As much as I don't want them to move, it would be really cool to be at the last game at the igloo(well, last regular season game). I'm driving 5-6 hours to see a hockey game, but it'll be worth it. Jagr in Pittsburgh, potentially the last game at the 'gloo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IceCap Posted January 24, 2007 Share Posted January 24, 2007 I read somewhere that Ed Rendell might try to get the NHL involed to essentially just not allow the Pens to move, which to me, doesn't make sense. If the Pens don't have an agreement with the Mellon Arena, where are they going to play? IIRC the NHL can only force a team to stay in a market if they don't have a realistic arena deal. If there's no deal with Mellon Arena, and the city/state can't come to an arena agreement with the team, there's little the NHL can do. PotD 26/2/12 1/7/15 2020 BASS Spin the Wheel, Make the Deal Regular Season Champion 2021 BASS NFL Pick'em Regular Season Champion Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NJTank Posted January 25, 2007 Share Posted January 25, 2007 "As God Is My Witness, I Thought Penguins Could Fly" www.sportsecyclopedia.com For the best in sports history go to the Sports E-Cyclopedia at http://www.sportsecyclopedia.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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