Prince of Saxe-Meiningen

Dolphins playoff games get blacked out, its not even a great football town, just mostly football town. Just a bad sports town in general. Could change once the younger generation gets older, considering they grew up with the teams as apposed to moving from somewhere up north. What ? One game was blacked out since 1993, and that was 2000 playoff game against Indianapolis, which the Dolphins had a disadvantage of two less days than normal to sell tickets. They had only secured their playoff spot on Monday night, and the playoff game was on Saturday. And it was only 1,000 tickets left to sell, and they were sold within 1 hour of the announcement of the blackout. The Dolphins have had a tradition of one of the strongest season-ticket bases in the NFL, and have had no regular season blackouts since 1993. Many other NFL cities have had at least one a year, and because of the economy will have more than one on average this season (per and article on MSNBC the other day - talking about how many teams are suffering from 10-20% drops in season ticket renewals this year). I actually can't understand the Dolphin hate on this board. They are what the Marlins should aspire to be, a franchise with a solid loyal ticket base, loyal fans worldwide, good public image in South Fla, and most of all South Fla media darlings. All 4 that the Marlins lack. When I see and read anti-Dolphins posts on this board, it just reminds me of jealousy that high school kids have at the popular/jock guys in school.

Miami is the worst sports city in America. The fact that Dolphins training camp gets more media coverage than a Marlins' sweep of the Phillies is all you need to know. That is perhaps stemming from the fact that the Dolphins have a great tradition, have been around 27 years longer, and also have had a winning tradition - from 1970 to 2004 the Dolphins had 4 losing seasons - and have the highest winning % at .583 (380-272-4) in the NFL, the next closest being the Dallas Cowboys at .578 (423-309-6). The Dolphins have an extremely loyal following, and it is not just a local following, but are also the most popular team in other countries (its not coincidence the Dolphins were tapped to play not only the 1st exhibition game played in England in 1986, but also the 1st regular season game in London in 2007 - they are far and away the most popular team in the British Isles). The Marlins, barring 2 Championship seasons, during their 1st 13 seasons had just those 2 WS winning seasons. The team has had more ownerships in 16 seasons than some teams that are 70 or 80 or more years old. They have had 3 firesales of players. They have threatened to leave and the owner has even gone public with his flirtation with other communities (Las Vegas and then San Antonio). They also have an owner that lives in France most of the year, have a FO executive that is a walking stereotype for all Anti-Semites to hate on, and have the lowest payroll in baseball, which means they have less "stars" than most teams. Just this morning, while watching Sportscenter from 5am to 6am, they talked about the Nationals vs Reds game, and showed highlights, yet didn't even mention the Marlins vs Astros game, much less show any highlights. Why is it the Marlins have had a winning season for most of the year, yet are the only team in the pennant race that STILL haven't been on Sunday night baseball or on ESPN at all ? Another pet-peeve of mine, the Marlins, for the most part, while trying, don't do enough community outreach for the South Fla community. Virtually none of the Marlins players live in South Fla full time. Most of the Dolphins players live here year round, and involve themselves in the community during their off-season. Almost everyday, there is some kind of event that the Dolphins hold or sponser, that gets media attention for the community. I rarely hear of the Marlins doing anything. Maybe they are doing things, but if you don't do a good job in getting that message out with the media, then it goes unnoticed. Don't kid yourself, most if not all community service done by sports teams, is not to do "good deeds" but to gain public goodwill. The Marlins have done a woeful job of this in the past, and its one reason that it was so hard to get the stadium deal done, there was virtually zero public goodwill and sentiment to help the Marlins, because they don't seem to really actually care about the South Fla community in which they play (just look - the owner lives in France, their manager lives in Atlanta, and almost none of the players make South Fla their off-season home). They come off as standoffish and not like they really are part of the South Fla community. Sending players to Elementary schools (almost always in Broward County, virtually ignoring the county in which they play, and when the new stadium opens in 3 years, the county in which they will play in the middle of) a few times a year, and holding an auction during one game every year, does not translate into showing your local fans that you are part of the South Fla family. You can argue all you want that more people should go out to see the Marlins, but they also need to take a great deal of the blame that South Fla just doesn't care enough, because the Marlins themselves have not showed the South Fla community they care about South Fla.

btw I didnt mean this post to be in a negative way , I was just wondering what you guys thought. I dont think it has to do with the nite life I think it has to do with the tradition , those cities have the tradition of selling out games and thats very appealing to a fan considering to go to the game , and the marlins have a reputation of 50k empty orange seats which in turn is not appealing to the fan thinking about going to a game . basically we have to build a tradition of selling out games Actually if you look at the stats, this is a very recent phenomenon. The Cubs averaged less than 15,000 per game until well into the 1990's, and Boston didn't sell out regularly until their recent success in the 2000's. Check out Baseball-reference.com for the stats, they may well surprise you.

If you think about it, there is way more fun things to do in South Florida then going to Marlins games, Clubs, Beach, with the Sunny Weather you can play sports and work out and so much more. There isn't really much to do it cities like Chicago and Boston which is why people love going out to the ballpark. You are joking.....really you believe this ? Have you been to Chicagoor Boston ? Both of which make South Fla look like Yahooville when itcomes to culture and community activities. This has to have been a joke post. If not I am flabbergasted, and feelsad for you MrMarlinPride. You really should get out more and visitplaces. Especially REAL cities like Chicago and Boston

If you think about it, there is way more fun things to do in South Florida then going to Marlins games, Clubs, Beach, with the Sunny Weather you can play sports and work out and so much more. There isn't really much to do it cities like Chicago and Boston which is why people love going out to the ballpark. You are joking.....really you believe this ? Have you been to Chicago or Boston ? Both of which make South Fla look like Yahooville when it comes to culture and community activities. This has to have been a joke post. If not I am flabbergasted, and feel sad for you MrMarlinPride. You really should get out more and visit places. Especially REAL cities like Chicago and Boston

awesome win. biggest series of the year this weekend. could make us or reak us. we need volstad or vandenhurk to eat up some innings so we arent behind rom the get go. good matchup for us tomorrow, im expecting big things and a big crowd. That might happen on Saturday night, because of Steven Curtis Chapman in concert following the game (he does have a strong Christian fanbase) but on Friday and Sunday I don't think we will break 10,000 - just because the Rockies don't have much of a following outside of Colorado, so no fans like Mets or Phillies who live here and root against the home team (I will never get that as long as I live).

Now supposing we win 2 of 3 or sweep the Rockies, who should we be rooting for, Atlanta or Philly in their series this weekend ?

i dont hate leo i dont hate matt but i dont really trust either of them. they go in, i bite my nails a bit. but its all we got, so we got to deal with it...hey better than Marmol or Gregg. Thank you for understanding the meaning of my thread. It seems each time he is in the game, he gives up runs. His ERA has to be over 4.00

Can someone save us from him ? Because he certainly can't save us games

Good sh!t, Lou. I don't see them keeping Uggla, to much money for someone who can be replaced at a much cheaper price. Also, We need to lock JJ down, ASAP. I think its a forgone conlusion, that a countdown on Uggla's at bats in a Marlins uniform could be done. There is no way the team pays him $ 8 million, coming off a year of down production.

I know we aren't supposed to hate any of the players, but I swear just watching the Marlins Live ! show on FSN, The Hammer still comes off as the truly nice Southern gentleman he seemed like he was when he was with the Marlins. I miss ya Hammer, and I wish you the best of luck in the rest of your career.

Thats what I always find so funny is when people hate on our announcers for being homers. Yes, they are huge homers. But they are doing the broadcast for MARLINS fans, not fans of other teams. As if the Cubs announcers don't openly root for the Cubs ? Have you ever heard the White Sox announcers ? Biggest homers in baseball. Yet they pick on Waltz and Hutton ? Ridiculous :banghead

Will he be a winter meetings trade guy ? Also another question, will Uggla's compensation go down next year in arbitration because he had a bad year ?

not to mention we would be gaining power if you think about it with boni being benched Some how I think they would find a spot for Boni. Even then, who'd be replaced? Hermida? No power loss there. No brain power loss either (especially after Tuesdays boneheadedness)

West + Miller + Hermida for AGon + Bell? Too much or too little? New poster here..... In response to: West + Miller + Hermida for AGon + Bell? Too much or too little? WAY too little. We have to remember a few things when going after the best players on other teams, and I think that we can use ourselves in previous years as a compare. Upside and potential is all well and good, but proven commodities are also significantly more valuable to team that is trying to win now. Take our Willis/Cabrera for Maybin/Miller/etc deal a few years back. At the time, the upside potential was far greater on our side with Maybin and Miller, but Detriot got the proven commodity in Cabrera. Looking back, who would you rather have, Cabrera or Miller and Maybin? Miller has been far from the player we thought he could be, and although Maybin tears it up the minors, he is very inconsistent in the big leagues. What's my point? Adrian is a top 5 or 6 1b in baseball, playing is a bad hitter's park, who is making a fraction of what player's with similar production are making. Sure, West has been pretty good, and Miller may have a little bit of upside (which I doubt at this point), but Hermida is almost nothing. To ask for a team's best two players in return for three players who may never contribute, is asking too much. Trust me, being a die-hard Fish fan, I'd love to see this happen, but it just won't. The Padres would want something like (assuming we keep Stanton untouchable) Morrison/Dominguez, West, Miller, and Maybin for Gonzalez, not even Bell. Bell is going to cost us Miller and a mid-level prospect, and I think it's worth it. Thoughts? I say do it in a heartbeat. In my opinion, Miller is done in this organization.

A more fair trade is Andrew Miller + Jeremy Hermida + low level prospect for Adrian Gonzalez. My Lord Magnus, I read your post and just drooled over that prospect. Get that done, but alas we know its but a dream.

Because Freddi is determined to torture us ?

We're number 18, but the guy sees the obvious about us, why can't Fredi see it?? http://www.cbssports...b/powerrankings Behind Houston, Atlanta and Chicago ? That is a load of horse manure :thumbdown

Things just keep getting worse for us. Maybe if our team gets hot together we can improve big time; I don't like just sitting back and watch everyone around us improve especially because that Wild Card is ours for the taking. I agree, its there but the Marlins management is just sitting on its hands. Very frustrating. :banghead

If we were sellers, then I could see this happening, but we're not. Not yet, but by Thursday night we might be. Thing is that hurts, is the Braves already upgraded and we haven't so the playing field is not level for us, and to have to play this series not making any moves, may bite us in the behind.

It does defy logic that they call him up and then just forget about him. But that's Freddi for you.

If they made the seats teal oh my, that would be dirty There is a reason I think the seats are that blue color. Expect to be buying new hats, jerseys and other team stuff, because that blue could very well be part of a new color scheme for the team.

To be honest, if I'm Admin Beinfest, I'm not a buyer at the trade deadline. I know this sounds silly being 3.5 out of the wildcard, but I have my reasons. I kinda feel that way too. This team is flawed in many ways so I'm very pensive about making a big investment that hurts our future. I quite agree. No reason to mess with our system before 2011-2012 for new stadium opening