You guys are missing the point...many people DON'T go to dinner and a movie cause they can't afford it. People can't just crap out money, jeez. So you can't judge one area on another area, the economy differs.

 

AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRHHHHHHHHH!

 

BUT PLACES WITH WORSE ECONOMIES HAVE BETTER ATTENDANCE! We understand perfectly man, according to your own study we're worse off than you guys are.

 

And secondly, THAT'S NOT THE POINT! It doesn't matter WHY they don't show up, it matters that they don't show up. You go and talk about people having to spend smartly because they have less income and then you criticize your ownership for the exact same thing? That's just stupid.

According to Forbes.com the Tampa metropolitan area is the 10th worst hit area in this recession so don't ever tell me it's hitting this hard everywhere else. That's not true, facts say otherwise.

 

 

Not that much has changed since then, but that article is 2 years old.

You guys are missing the point...many people DON'T go to dinner and a movie cause they can't afford it. People can't just crap out money, jeez. So you can't judge one area on another area, the economy differs.

 

AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRHHHHHHHHH!

 

BUT PLACES WITH WORSE ECONOMIES HAVE BETTER ATTENDANCE! We understand perfectly man, according to your own study we're worse off than you guys are.

 

And secondly, THAT'S NOT THE POINT! It doesn't matter WHY they don't show up, it matters that they don't show up. You go and talk about people having to spend smartly because they have less income and then you criticize your ownership for the exact same thing? That's just stupid.

 

And I get that, I'm just saying the economy really is factoring in to why people don't attend more games. Seriously, ask yourself, if you had to choose between attending a baseball game and having food on the table, which would you choose?

 

And as for the places with worst economies but have better attendance, the list I looked at shows cities that have a HELL of a lot more history than 12 years.

If owners were suffering because of the economy, beer wouldn't still be $ 8.00 a bottle and ticket prices would be slashed. Instead it would be buy one get one free or something like other business are doing. I call BS on any billionaire owner suffering because of the economy. Its partially their fault in the first place for hoarding the money instead of putting some of it back into the economy.

You guys are missing the point...many people DON'T go to dinner and a movie cause they can't afford it. People can't just crap out money, jeez. So you can't judge one area on another area, the economy differs.

 

 

Call your friends and ask them what they did this weekend. If they didn't do anything, ask them what they did last week or what they're going to do next week.

 

I get that people can't afford things now that the economy is bad, but you can't tell me that movie theatres are empty, restaurants are empty, bowling alleys are empty or those stupid clubs that you have to pay 20 bucks to get into are empty. People still find things to do over the weekend if they really want to do it.

 

Right now, Florida sucks as a baseball state. Hopefully it changes in the future, but right now you can't say it doesn't.

If owners were suffering because of the economy, beer wouldn't still be $ 8.00 a bottle and ticket prices would be slashed. Instead it would be buy one get one free or something like other business are doing. I call BS on any billionaire owner suffering because of the economy. Its partially their fault in the first place for hoarding the money instead of putting some of it back into the economy.

 

The financial numbers show that the Rays don't make much of a profit, so this is bunk. Those prices are everywhere and baseball attendance has only fallen .033% this year. The Tampa Bay area was rated in the top 50 in cities "bouncing back" in the economy

 

 

 

You guys are missing the point...many people DON'T go to dinner and a movie cause they can't afford it. People can't just crap out money, jeez. So you can't judge one area on another area, the economy differs.

 

AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRHHHHHHHHH!

 

BUT PLACES WITH WORSE ECONOMIES HAVE BETTER ATTENDANCE! We understand perfectly man, according to your own study we're worse off than you guys are.

 

And secondly, THAT'S NOT THE POINT! It doesn't matter WHY they don't show up, it matters that they don't show up. You go and talk about people having to spend smartly because they have less income and then you criticize your ownership for the exact same thing? That's just stupid.

 

And I get that, I'm just saying the economy really is factoring in to why people don't attend more games. Seriously, ask yourself, if you had to choose between attending a baseball game and having food on the table, which would you choose?

 

And as for the places with worst economies but have better attendance, the list I looked at shows cities that have a HELL of a lot more history than 12 years.

 

You keep moving the chains. First your attendance isn't that bad. Then your attendance is bad because of the Trop. Then your attendance is bad because of the economy. Then your attendance is bad because your team hasn't been around for very long and therefor doesn't have a strong enough fanbase (which goes completely against what you said before).

 

Do you think the Comerica Park is full of homeless people or something? Is Petco Park full of starving families? People who really love baseball, like myself, learn to prioritize it. I can't tell you the last time I bought myself something. I understand that that's not possible for everyone but it doesn't need to be possible for everyone! It doesn't even need to be half of everyone. You blame the economy but when the playoffs roll around, suddenly when ticket prices go up the economy will get better, right? The Trop will suddenly not be so far away. Suddenly the franchise won't seem as young.

 

But the biggest point you are missing, or ignoring, is that NONE OF THIS MATTERS. It doesn't matter. It's ridiculously irrelevant.

Random points from reading the thread:

 

- Longoria isn't getting traded to ANYONE. Please don't get your hopes up, he'll be a Ray for quite some time.

 

- Nooone in baseball will pay Crawford 20 million dollars. He's a great player, one of the most unheralded stars in baseball, and to be honest I'd just as soon have him with his skills as I would a hit or miss, one dimensional hack like Ryan Howard. Yet, Crawford won't get $20 million. At this point, I wonder if he'll get $15 million per season. I'm thinking someone will give him around $13-$14 mill per.

 

- The whole "owner vs. fans" debate is a double edged sword.

 

On one hand, you have the owner, notoriously frugal in the past, openly stating that he's going to shed payroll from a team that has had a high level of success the last three seasons. This does nothing to build goodwill and prove committment to the long term. While Pena is a replacable commodity, and either Shields or Garza has to be moved to make room for Hellickson, and Crawford may be out of their financial grasp, those who don't necessarily look outside the box only see it as players they like are being ushered out of town as a cost cutting measure.

 

In the case of BOTH the Marlins and Rays, they're playing in stadiums not suited for baseball, or not suited for the times and in a less than ideal location (in Tampa's case). As much as this irks me, now a days the stadium experience has become as much a part of game day as the team on the field itself. Me personally, I don't care if it's in a corn field, I just want to watch. Not everyone shares my enthusiasm for the game however. New stadiums are in order for the both teams, and thus far the Marlins have theirs set in stone. The Rays do not, and the daily grumblings of the team being jerked out from under them and moved loom large. Noone wants to pay to see a lame duck team.

 

That said, I can see ownership perspective. The attendance has been less than what you want. To build a stadium and fund a roster, you're going to need to make money (unless your the Yankees and Red Sox) in order not to hemmorage it. To fall in to the red, it literally does become a no win situation.

You guys are missing the point...many people DON'T go to dinner and a movie cause they can't afford it. People can't just crap out money, jeez. So you can't judge one area on another area, the economy differs.

 

AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRHHHHHHHHH!

 

BUT PLACES WITH WORSE ECONOMIES HAVE BETTER ATTENDANCE! We understand perfectly man, according to your own study we're worse off than you guys are.

 

And secondly, THAT'S NOT THE POINT! It doesn't matter WHY they don't show up, it matters that they don't show up. You go and talk about people having to spend smartly because they have less income and then you criticize your ownership for the exact same thing? That's just stupid.

 

And I get that, I'm just saying the economy really is factoring in to why people don't attend more games. Seriously, ask yourself, if you had to choose between attending a baseball game and having food on the table, which would you choose?

 

And as for the places with worst economies but have better attendance, the list I looked at shows cities that have a HELL of a lot more history than 12 years.

 

This argument has me reflecting on at least one fond memory.

 

The firesale of 1997-1998 was not a surprise; I specially recall Huzienga issuing a similar proclamation regarding the need to reduce payroll the next year BEFORE the Marlins reached the 1997 playoffs. So now TB will have its own firesale because of lack of attendance. Only difference is, the Marlins sealed the deal and won a WS ring first. TB's window of opportunity will close without a championship to show for it.

Let the firesale BEGIN!