Fantom05

Stag5, it's about time someone said it. From my perspective, as an ex-Floridian living in NY who attends as many Mets/Marlins games as I can, I know how demoralizing it can be for the fans of this team; little national coverage, little fan support. Hell, there are usually more Marlins fans at games at Shea then there are in Dolphins Stadium. But the fact is, the players should be playing there hearts out whether they're playing in front of sixty thousand fans or six fans. Why a player would be focusing on fan attendance more than trying to stay in playoff contention is beyond me. For a multi-millionaire to be lecturing people on why they should be spending money regardless if they are comfortable or not is audacious. AJ seems like the kind of guy who would be sitting in an air-conditioned house telling people with no AC that a heat wave is no big deal. You want more people at the games? Stop going to the press and bad-mouthing the people you're trying to get to come to the games. Maybe it's comments like these that turn fans off to the team.

True, but the fact that we going to offer him less money per year then he had been making, regardless of a long term contract, was ridiculous. Anyway, attendance. Does anyone know how the FO is trying to boost attendance, other then winning more games? I don't think the answer is a new stadium. It's seems like a Catch-22 to me: no fans are showing up because of the stadium, but a new stadium won't be built without more fan support. Besides, Dolphins Stadium isn't too beat up, and shouldn't be the reason we had the third lowest attendance in the NL. --------------------------------------------------------------- On a semi-related note, if you live in South Florida, how many games do you attend a year? I try to catch as many games at Shea as possible when we're playing the Mets, but if I lived in FL, forget it, I'd be there all the time.

I have been a Marlins fan since day one, and have seen the team through its many trials and tribulations. However, one major problem I have had lo these past twelve years is that no one truly takes the Marlins seriously. Even when I lived in Florida, support for the fish has always been lukewarm at best, despite two great years which need not be named. I now live in New York, so I get bombarded with Yankees and Mets propaganda on a regular basis. Now I am not sure if it is just my experiences, but whenever I tell someone I am a Marlins fan, I usually get a snicker or two while the person rolls their eyes. This always has frustrated me, but has been bothering me more and more recently. Not only were we champs two years ago, but also have been playoff contenders for a few years now. Yet despite all the superstar talent that has come out of the organization, and despite our growth and success, we are still regarded in most people's minds as a throwaway team. If you don't believe me, take a look at some MLB columnists articles, or tune into ESPN; no matter how we perform, the most we usually recieve is a quick box score a VERY brief game synopsis. No highlights, no interviews, nothing. My question to everyone is this: what else do we need to do to be respected as a legitimate organization? My belief for a while has been that the team hasn't had someone who could be "The Face of the Marlins"; I thought Pudge would be perfect, but he was traded. I think Dontrelle has the potential, but it is still too early to tell (and that's if our Front Office doesn't try to cash in on his success). Twelve years, two championships; one with an incredibly suspenseful Game 7, another with our lowly bunch of misfits defeating the Evil Empire. But STILL not taken seriously in the baseball community. What more do we have to do?