Marlins93

I never broke it down that way. I've said for a while I hoped the Marlins stayed in FL, but that doesn't mean I have to be happy that the s***ty city of Miami forcing Marlins's ownership to truly become a regional team at the possible expense of many fans above South Florida. The money I spend on merchandise is the same as S. FL. fans. Hell, even the team owner has no connection to freakin' Miami! Imagine how fans since day 1 of this franchise that didn't support the city of Miami feel!!! My God, Atlanta is closer to most north FL residents than Miami. So don't sit here and rip us for taking in a "new" franchise in the early 90s and feeling betrayed for them now becoming just South Florida's team. Tampa looks a lot better to many Central and North Florida fans that have been Marlins fans since day 1. Rip those Marlins fans in this situation all you want. I'll always be a Marlins fan wearing my inaugural shirt and my Beckett jersey, but Tampa will soon be on the same level as the Marlins to me. Most people in this country don't live in actual pro sports towns. I guess we should just not watch pro sports because we don't want to live in pro sports towns. :blink: You're being a little optimistic with the number of fans from outside of S FL. I know the Marlins have a good share of fans from upstate (many on this board), but based on my personal travels within the state, you are in the clear minority. Baseball fans from North Florida have generally always been Atlanta Braves fans, and always will be. If a fan totally or partially gives up allegiance to a team because of a name change, then you wonder how much of a "fan" they were from the start. I'm sorry the possible name change will alienate you, but you're calling Miami a sh***y city isn't going to win you any sympathy or class points.

I can't believe we are still discussing the name thing. 2 easy options here: 1) Miami Marlins 2) Portland/Vegas/DC ?????????? I take option number one, thank you I second that choice. Miami has invested money in this...they can call it whatever they want. NirvanaNole...give me a break. I can probably understand why you hate Miami so much, perhaps it has to do with a certain university in Tallahassee who can't kick a field goal when they play a certain university from Miami. Speaking as an FSU grad...get over it.

He also has one that says MARLIN COUNTRY. Most of his signs are corny, but at least they're not NY-style obnoxious and they show support for the team.

Anyone know Conine's intro song? Pretty cool with the fat (not phat) guitar riff, sounds ominous especially during a rally or big inning. I'm not exactly sure, because I haven't heard the long version in a while, but I've had a hunch for a while that it is "Sad but True" by Metallica. Could be mistaken however. Pretty sure it's not "Sad but True", but it does sound somewhat similar.

Anyone know Conine's intro song? Pretty cool with the fat (not phat) guitar riff, sounds ominous especially during a rally or big inning.

That's funny actually because today I was thinking about how we say Cubs fans are so obnoxious and all and I was like wow thank god we have no fans like that down here... :confused I think it's no different here than in the "cheap seats" in other stadiums. Sure, a few people can be quite obnoxious, but overall I think Marlins fans are quite well-behaved and knowledgeable. Last night's crowd was outstanding except for a handful of people, the type you'd find anywhere.

But for the fans they are targeting (ie mom, dad and the 2 kids in the minivan) they are not going to drive to a metrorail station, then get their whole family on a train. Thats funny, isn't that it used to work for the Heat and Panthers when they were both in the Miami Arena and its how alot of people still get to the AAA? :mischief2 Yes, I've seen plenty of families taking the 'Rail for games at Miami Arena and AAA. I'll be taking it tonight for the Heat game, although I'm going by myself.

15 minutes each way....HA. 30 minutes each way buddy and if we start drawing crowds then go ahead and tack on 45 Then STAY HOME you pathetic whiner! I live in Palm Beach County and would look forward to a stadium at the Orange Bowl site. First off, I would not drive there. I would merely park my car over at the Palmetto Metrorail station and take the train in (just like I used to do when I lived in Miami and took the Metrorail to Dolphins games before they moved). Most of you people are pathetic. If the stadium isn't built within 5 minutes of your house in Plantation, Tamarac, Hollywood, Coral Springs, Lauderhill, Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton, Deerfield Beach, Coconut Creek, Sunrise, Davie, Cooper City, Dania.... then you complain that you have to drive. Last time I checked, you've got to drive ANYWHERE in South Florida. And stemming from the first post in this thread, I know where a lot of you "Broward People" are coming from. If you don't see "white" people, or people who don't speak English, then you automatically assume that it is a bad neighborhood, that it is dangerous. I don't even have to say what that makes you! The OB site is not ideal, I know, but beggars can't be choosers. Not once did a single municipality in Broward come up with a financing plan or land to donate! And Commissioners Parrish and Lieberman of the Broward County Commission personally told the Plantation City Commission in a meeting I attended that the County has NO MONEY for a ballpark. They said that the Panthers and Huizenga burned them with the "Rent-a-Center" and that they just didn't have the wherewithall to do it again! So quit your whining about the location of the stadium. If it's the OB site, then be glad it is the OB. Most of you idiots who complain and say a move to Orlando would be better are just cutting of your noses to spite your face! If the new ballpark causes the creation of a ballpark village like in Denver, Cleveland, Boston, Chicago, and Seattle, all the better. Best post I've read since I joined the forum. If a stadium is eventually built at the OB, then we'll know how dedicated Broward and PB County fans really are. Up to now, most that I've talked to and heard are extremely provincial and won't support the team in Miami (at least not as much as before), much less if the team becomes the Miami Marlins. As far as the stadium bringing providing stimulus to the area, I don't think the stadium alone is going to do it. Camden Yards is more than the stadium, it was built as part of a larger plan to renovate Baltimore's Inner Harbor. The Miami Arena did nothing to bring life to Overtown because it was all by itself. One thing that is beginning to happen is the development of the riverfront which is just blocks from the OB. This could be used in conjunction with the stadium to revitalize the area if smart planning is done.

Kind of makes you wonder if they should have gone with the Orange Bowl proposal, the only one on the table up to now. Let's just hope they have some other deals working in the background. Big mistake by Samson/Loria for not bringing in lobbyists to help get the tax rebate. Sure, King and now Byrd let us down, but the Marlins did not help their cause by staying away until the last second.

Seems to me that Samson is beginning to realize that time is running short and the proposals presented to them may be the best ones he's going to get. I hope they do get offered something better than the OB, but if that's all they got, then beggars can't be choosers. The Marlins have been standing tough in negotiations, maybe it's time for all sides, including the Marlins, to give in a little and do something right so we can "get this damn thing done" already.

the palmetto is a NIGHTMARE already, at nearly any time of the day. any stadium that needs the Palmetto for access is insane! you can pretty much count on there being a metrorail stop wherever the stadium is. not gonna happen gang. Yes the Palmetto is terrible, didn't say it was the best option, but it IS there and not far from the park. Metrorail is the best way to get there, whether enough people would be willing to give up their cars to hop on it is another story.

You guys obviously dont know that much about the Hialeah area. Crime isnt that big of a problem as it is in Downtown Miami or Little Havana. Now traffic... is a different story. Lots of misperceptions about Hialeah. Yes, it is ugly (no offense to Hialeah residents who might read this), but it is safe, actually quite a bit safer than city of Miami if I recall some crime statistics from a couple of years ago. The mayor can be a real jerk, but he produces results for the city and the residents love him. Traffic and highway access is the biggest problem. From the west it isn't too bad (Turnpike, Palmetto, Okeechobee Road and west 21st street aren't bad options). From the east it is awful (far from I-95 and a drive through a bad neighborhood outside of Hialeah to get there). Metrorail is by far the best bet with a station nearby. Hialeah Park is just as close to Southwest Broward as it is to Kendall. That's a good thing IMO. I vote yes for Hialeah, but I would feel better if highway access was to be improved.

Broward, Palm Beach, Orange, Duval, and Osceola Counties have the money and can build this ballpark. Whoa Nellie! If Broward/PB have so much money, then why have their county officials been so quiet up to now? When the "Friends of the Marlins" organized in Broward last year, not a SINGLE Broward politico stood up to support the plan in ANY way. Don't think the Office Depot Center deal still has them scratching their heads! All Palm Beach has had to offer up to now in Don King's land way up in Northern PB, and of course no politico there has said anything on the record either. Miami-Dade, like it or not people, is our best shot right now unless someone speaks up. i was ranting. :anon sorry No problem! I picked your quote because it was the last one that showed any ranting against the local politicians. The next 45 days should be interesting, if not just as frustrating as the past few months have been with this stadium issue. I'll take Hialeah Park as a stadium site. Highway access isn't the best as has already been stated, but Metrorail access makes up for a lot of that.

Broward, Palm Beach, Orange, Duval, and Osceola Counties have the money and can build this ballpark. Whoa Nellie! If Broward/PB have so much money, then why have their county officials been so quiet up to now? When the "Friends of the Marlins" organized in Broward last year, not a SINGLE Broward politico stood up to support the plan in ANY way. Don't think the Office Depot Center deal still has them scratching their heads! All Palm Beach has had to offer up to now in Don King's land way up in Northern PB, and of course no politico there has said anything on the record either. Miami-Dade, like it or not people, is our best shot right now unless someone speaks up.

I think that it's increasingly likely that the Marlins leave Miami and look to Palm Beach County and Broward... If that's the case, then they have A LOT of catching up to do. By now it's pretty obvious that neither county (i.e. county officials) is terribly interested in building a stadium. I agree with Marlins 2003 that Miami-Dade County would take over if any talks with the city fall through. I get the feeling that they've been "waiting in the wings" all this time.

We would have to average around 23,000 per game for that range. This would mean around 30K on the weekend. I don't see that happening throughout the year. We only reached that kind of attendance last year during the playoff run. or when Dontrelle pitched. I agree with all your reasons for why attendance will increase this year, but believe you are being a bit optimistic. I think 30,000 for weekend games is well within reach, especially if the team remains competitive late in the season. Last season we averaged 16K with only 5,000 season tickets. Increase season tickets to 8-9K, combined with walk-up sales and 23,000 average sounds reasonable to me.

Great article from LeBatard for a change. Looks like Danny boy is getting a bit schizophrenic with the Marlins and their fans. A month ago we were bush league fans who didn't deserve the Marlins, now we lead the league in offseason love. That's what I get for reading the paper!

City of Miami doesnt deserve even a minor league team , the fans there are fair weather and god forbid they would have to drive 20 minutes if that to see a game and support our marlins . I live in Port St. Lucie and went to 26 games last season not including the playoffs . i have sat in most every section in that park last year and have yet to meet more than 5 people from Miami , So dont sit here and tell me or anyone from palm beach that there is no fan support up here , Miami fans make me sick . I guess you never sat in my section. Funny you distinguish Miami fans as being fair-weather when PPS is in a location that is easily accessible to all of South Florida, yet attendance has been low the past several years. If you're going to accuse fans of being fair-weathered, then blame all of South Florida, not just one city or county. Prime non-Marlins example - Florida Panthers. Their move to Sunrise was primarily to be close to their "fan base" (Broward and Palm Beach). You go to games this season and you pretty much have your choice of seats because there are so few fans.

I'm just glad some other options are on the table to put pressure on Miami to get things done by March 15th. I don't trust the City of Miami. They screwed Henry. They screwed the Fusion. Nothing we say about the convenience or inconvenience of the site matters. The City of Miami is not a reliable partner. They only way they can prove they've changed their ways is to make a solid commitment in the next 2 months. If they can't get this deal solidified by March, the Marlins have no choice but to look elsewhere. How did the city of Miami screw Henry? Henry screwed the fans when he fumbled the opportunity to get state support for a stadium when he went to Tallahassee and ran out of time when the legislative session ended. Of course, this was all after he said he would build a stadium with his money if it came to that.

Isn't it better to get on the Turnpike from Cutler Ridge all the way to PPS? It's better than taking the Palmetto expressway, but it's still 35 miles to PPS via the Turnpike, which translates to a 45-60 minute drive under light-moderate traffic. Unfortunately traffic gets backed up near the toll booth and near the I-75 exit during rush hour, which is right before 7 PM games.

Even from the boondocks of the Homestead Miami Speedway it's still 15 miles shorter to the stadium than it is from West Palm Beach. That's fine and well, but you are ignoring the traffic factor. Those 15 extra miles to WPB probably take about 20 minutes to drive, which more than makes up for the drive north. Trust me, I used to drive to PPS from Cutler Ridge.

If the traffic is that bad in Miami, then nobody would be able to get to the games in a downtown stadium. You've just made the arguement for keeping it near PPS. One word: METRORAIL

Not saying that I would like the stadium to be in PBC, but I think people might be more willing to accept this particular proposal if it was in Boca and not Mangonia Park in northern PBC. Mangonia Park is 30 miles north of Boca, even, which makes it more central to Martin and St. Lucie counties than Dade and Broward, which is ridiculous. Exactly. A stadium in NORTHERN PB County is an awful idea.

I may be the only one who thinks this way here, but I LIKE the idea of a museum park at Bicentennial. The Art and Science Museums are in either outdated or small buildings and need to relocate. This along with the Performing Arts Center going up further north on Biscayne Blvd would make downtown Miami a true cultural center. What's wrong with a little culture? That's what we need downtown. Frankly, we need that more than a monolithic baseball stadium which would likely devour whatever little bayfront land we have left (see American Airlines Arena). Yes, I've dreamed of balls landing in Biscayne Bay a la Pac Bell, but the developers have eaten up all the other available bayfront land years ago. Too late for a baseball park, but not too late to make downtown a destination once again.

I doubt these El Nuevo writers know what they are talking about. I'd be VERY surprised if we landed Mondesi. I also wondered how El Nuevo got this story when no one else is reporting it. They are always a few days late with stories and hardly ever report anything earth-shattering. I guess we'll see.