Its obvious you have no social life...other than playing around on the computer Correct that, I made some mistakes I can see that you have NO SOCIAL life, your just another loser over the computer and its funny
1. You used no ending punctuation. 2. You used "its" instead of "it's" twice. 3. You again used "your" incorrectly.
you're posting just as much as anyone here is, you brag about having 4000 some odd posts on the TB board.. but you're saying people have no lives
The REAL question is: Where will he be when the Tampa Bay baseball returns to its proper place. Players and talent notwithstanding, we all know that the Rays will be comfortably seated in third place September. But where will our new baseball poster be?
You don't get your own thread in the baseball forum. You already have one open, so I'm merging this one.
I doubt it, all you have to look at is the damn Marlins to see that they may not fade away, that and they have more pitching than the Yanks.
Ummmm...dude....DOTTHR torched you with extreme prejudice on this subject...you have no leg to stand on. You sir, got:
I won't dispute that the Rays aren't drawing well by league standards, but for the area they are in, they are about par. But you're talking 2.8 million in the extended Tampa metro vs. 18.8 million in the New York metro. AND we have virtually no Public Transportation to speak of. Not to mention that more than half of our population are transplants and have baseball loyalties elsewhere, and 20,000 IS, if not impressive, then definitely not 'pretty bad' when all factors are considered. I am truly amazed that the number is that high. I think there are a lot of people like me, people who have been jaded by Nimoli's douchebaggery. Sternberg is at least giving the impression that he wants to win. But just like you guys are saying, 'wait till september' in regards to the team, so are the rest of potential fans taking a wait-and-see approach. The Padres, Indians, Twins, Reds, and Rays...hmm...the difference is that the first four have had collective centuries to build a fan base, not to mention a lack of transplants. And you're right about CO and Milwaukee, but give the team Colorado's ring or Milwaukee's 40 years of existence, and I think the attendance will be comparable.
This is a much more sensible characterization of the situation, but doesn't dispute my point - rather, it makes it. Florida has always had lots of transplants, which is certainly a big part of why most of the sports teams draw poorly unless they're winning (and often even if they are). The fact that there is an explanation for lack of support doesn't change the fact that it exists. Almost all expansion teams (in any sport) have a honeymoon period where they draw reasonably well even if they're playing poorly, but the (Devil) Rays and Marlins are conspicuous exceptions, as both lost almost half of their attendance within two years. That's not a coincidence, and is exactly the point I've been making all along - there is little evidence right now that Florida can support major league baseball, and the combination of a successful team, poor attendance, and the sinking of the plan for the new ballpark has to be of great concern to them. I will be seeing the Rays' Senior Vice President of Development and Business Affairs at a conference about the economics of baseball in less than two weeks, and I am interested to hear what he has to say about this.
Cool...I really was looking for a discussion more than a dispute anyway. I apologize if my methods didn't reflect that. I also believe that given a few seasons with management that cares and a regularly competitive product on the field, the fan base will grow. I also failed to mention the local economy as a reason why their immediate success hasn't translated into an immediate attendance increase. I know it's bad everywhere right now, but it is especially bad in FL being that a good chunk of our wealth is based on residential housing growth. That is one of the industries hit hardest by the country's economic downturn, or a major cause of it. Tourism is the other major source of FL's wealth. Those two factors are really bad right now, and times are especially tough. It is no wonder that there is no money to go see a team that up till now, no one really cared about. Give it a few winning seasons and a better economy and I think there is definitely potential. It wouldn't hurt to have a few trains either. --- On another note...it seems the team would do lot better if they were more centrally located, say, at the west end of the Howard Frankland bridge (the interstate that connects Tampa to St. Pete). The idea of having the stadium in downtown has its merits to be sure. Where the stadium is right now is a joke though. There is one sports bar within walking distance...and that's it. The rest of the restaurant/bar part of the city is 15 blocks east of the stadium. Nobody...and I mean nobody wants to make that walk after a game. Or before it for that matter. In other words, you really can't make a night of it. I think the team has two choices in order to be viable. They either need the draw of associated entertainment within walking distance (5 blocks tops)...or they need to relocate if not across the bay, then at least closer to Tampa, or dare I say, the Orlando market. The area of the Hard Rock Casino, Ford Amphitheater, and County Fairgrounds is right at the confluence of I-4 and I-75. While lacking in restaurants/bars, and probably alienating a lot of St. Petians, the area is better accessible to a much larger portion of the state's population. With the lack of PT, which even if a light rail were to be started now wouldn't be done anytime soon, this seems the ideal site. Of course, I wouldn't want to drive through Tampa at 5 o'clock to get to the other side. I guess that's why Raymond James is where it is. Do you make the stadium central to the Bay area like RJ, or do you make central to all of central Florida?
10-11 years later and it's the same story, just a different set of players. My TB Rays have low fan attendance and the lowest payroll within all of baseball, but yet are able to compete against gigantic payrolls such as the Yankees and Red Sox and currently in 1st place of the A.L East. 2008-2009 was awesome because we went from worst to first and no one gave us a chance. We made the World Series. This 2019-2020 TB Rays team is going to compete until the very end. There have been so many trades over the past two-three offseasons to the point of being an underdog team with unfamiliar faces (unless you follow them closely). I myself am trying to get accumulated with lots of these players but so far it's been fun these kids play hard, play fearless and play to compete.
Back to back HR's now 2-1 Rays! Not even 2.0 innings in, and we're already into the Yankees bullpen. Nice. Man. RF in Yankees stadium is nuts. Crazy. Simple pop outs turn into HR's it's like Right Field is on steroids lol
