Here are my thoughts about the Marlins.

 

The team's fun, there's nothing inherently wrong with the venue, and the stadium is accessible. The problem is in three areas, public apathy, ownership berating of the fanbase and venue and ownership "weasel-iness." One of those three areas needs to give. If the fans start caring, credibility comes, if the Marlins act big league, fans and credibility come, if the Marlins and Loria/Samson stop telling the fans all that they're doing wrong rather than actively trying to do right, credibility and the fans come.

 

I think the Marlins are at a crossroads for their future, and this is disregarding the stadium. The Marlins have a very talented young offense, they have two players in Hanley and especially Miggy that are franchise foundations, forget about just cornerstones. At some point, the Marlins need to stop being the Kansas City A's and just keep their guys. Miggy goes a long way towards that. I'm not going to go so far as to say Miggy's resigning is the cost of my fandom, but it's pretty darn close to that. I don't think the Marlins, in any stadium in South Florida, will ever appeal to the casual fan if it's just baseball they're trying to sell. Too many New Yorkers or "New Yorkers (you know who I'm talking about)" to turn the population into a Marlin nation. The Marlins need to take a page from the 2005 Mets and just make the hype around their players so ubiquitous that casual observers truly believe what they're peddling. Miggy, Hanley, Uggla, Willis. They need guaranteed multi-year contracts, jerseys sold in every South Florida sports store and a spot on TV every 4 hours. If the Marlins just saturate the markets with their newly minted "guys" it'll be hard to poke fun at them anymore.

 

And, yes, any team can do this. If a team cannot afford to make long-term commitments with any player and instead has to go year to year, the franchise should just be contracted.

I think the lack of a roof is a big problem when it comes to Dolphin Stadium.

 

EDIT: The stadium is not accessible to anyone south of MIA during the week. That's a lot of people......especially in the Cuban/Venezuelan demographic.

Exactly I just don't feel confident the stadium is going to solve the problems. Our owner is a cheap bastard. The fact troll boy Samson came out a week or so ago and claimed no player is worth 20 million a year is the clear writing on the wall. Hate to break to you douche but you have a 20 million a year player right in your backyard, possibly 2.

 

What I'm saying is if the fans had any hope, any sign or smidgen of willingness from the ownership to make an attempt to retain our stars, they would have done so already when they could have done it cheaper. Loria is riding out the train (no pun intended) as long as he can, getting as many asses in the seats while he can, maximizing profits while he can and milking the revenue sharing as much as possible.

 

THAT is why we are considered a joke.

 

:banghead I've been saying this for months on this board, yet I am called a conspiracy theorist. :banghead

:banghead I've been saying this for months on this board, yet I am called a conspiracy theorist. :banghead

No, you've been saying Jeff and Bud have been systematically raping and pillaging the south florida market so they can kill it and ruin baseball forever here.

 

I'm guessing Spring training is going to be banned in the state soon, huh?

:banghead I've been saying this for months on this board, yet I am called a conspiracy theorist. :banghead

No, you've been saying Jeff and Bud have been systematically raping and pillaging the south florida market so they can kill it and ruin baseball forever here.

 

I'm guessing Spring training is going to be banned in the state soon, huh?

 

How many teams have already left, and the Dodgers will be the next one after this next ST. That will leave us with the smallest number of teams in Florida for ST since before expansion in 1962.

 

And yes they have conspired to ruin it. If not why didn't Loria go to Washington with the Montreal franchise ???? Selig knew he would help ruin this market.

:banghead I've been saying this for months on this board, yet I am called a conspiracy theorist. :banghead

No, you've been saying Jeff and Bud have been systematically raping and pillaging the south florida market so they can kill it and ruin baseball forever here.

 

I'm guessing Spring training is going to be banned in the state soon, huh?

 

How many teams have already left, and the Dodgers will be the next one after this next ST. That will leave us with the smallest number of teams in Florida for ST since before expansion in 1962.

 

And yes they have conspired to ruin it. If not why didn't Loria go to Washington with the Montreal franchise ???? Selig knew he would help ruin this market.

 

He didn't go to Washington with the Montreal franchise because he wasn't the owner when they moved. They needed him to take over the Marlins so that John Henry could buy the Red Sox. Wouldn't it have been easier for Selig to ruin the market by leaving us without an owner like he did to Montreal?