Decision on Expos move delayed again

[Bored 0]

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2004/base...n.exposmove.ap/

PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Major league baseball is pushing back its decision on where to relocate the Montreal Expos until after the All-Star break.

 

Baseball officials, who postponed deciding the team's future home in both 2002 and 2003, had targeted the July 13 game in Houston as their goal.

 

"I'm confident a decision will not be made before or at the All-Star game," Bob DuPuy, baseball's chief operating officer, said Friday after speaking on a panel at the annual convention of the Associated Press Sports Editors. "It's our goal to have narrowed down our decision by the All-Star game and be focused in."

 

Washington, D.C., and northern Virginia appear to be the leading contenders to land the Expos, bought by the other 29 teams before the 2002 season. Other areas trying to land the team include Las Vegas; Monterrey, Mexico; Norfolk, Va.; Portland, Ore.; and San Juan, Puerto Rico.

 

The next step in the process will take place when DuPuy meets Wednesday with commissioner Bud Selig in Milwaukee and briefs him on the findings of the sport's relocation committee, a baseball official said on the condition of anonymity. Selig will then decide how the decision to select a location will unfold.

 

After baseball decides on what area it wants to move the team to, it will attempt to negotiate a letter of intent with that community, the official said.

 

To be postponed in 2005, 2006, 2006, 2008, and well you get the point.

 

Not looking forward to the "Bud Selig decides to not quit as commissioner" announcement a year and a half from now.

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

Northern Virgina has the best stadium package on the table as they have a 42,500 seat stadium proposed to be built close to Dulles Airport that will be built fully without any increased taxes.

 

The catch, and theres always a catch, is that it wont be ready until 2008 and the team would have to play at RFK for 3 years, which would surely not please Peter Angelos. I have a hard time believing the Northern VA people saying that they wont target the baltimore area when they will have the team playing at RFK for 3 years.

[CanadianChris 0]

There is no team in Montreal right now. I don't understand what all the fuss is about.

[KanadianKrusty 0]

AGAIN?, man are they ever going to make up their fucking minds? people here have been talking about the Expos going away since the fire sale NINE YEARS AGO.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

I still maintain that if they got owners who cared about the team, and got the team a decent television deal, the team could draw in Montreal.

[Guest Anglesault]

Is Selig actually good at anything?

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

An article printing tomorrow on page one of the Washington Post.....

 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/artic...-2004Jun26.html

 

The article chronicles the new ballpark in Milwaukee, and the troubles it has caused.

[Guest Anglesault]

An article printing tomorrow on page one of the Washington Post.....

 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/artic...-2004Jun26.html

 

The article chronicles the new ballpark in Milwaukee, and the troubles it has caused.

Is that a "no"?

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Yes, ubless you count fraud, lying, and deception.

[Guest Anglesault]

Yes, ubless you count fraud, lying, and deception.

All underrated qualities.

[The Czech Republic 0]

Does Selig secretly want the Expos to stay in Montreal or what? If he wanted this team out, they'd be out by now. Just give up on Vegas because of the gambling. Give up on Washington because of the Orioles. Stick the damn team in Norfolk where they want any major-league sports team they can get and it won't threaten any existing team's territory or the makeup of the NL East.

 

David Stern is the only commissioner that isn't an idiot.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Essentially, he's waiting for the best stadium deal to come forward.

[Dogbert 0]

Essentially, he's waiting for the best stadium deal to come forward.

Either that, or the first one that consents to naming the stadium "Bud Selig Park".

[nogoodnick 0]

I know Portland probably isn't gonna get the Expos, but heres their site: Oregon Stadium Campaign I'm not sure what the funding package is but last year a local indian tribe offered to pay for the ENTIRE 350 mil $ stadium if they could build a casino in the Portland city limits. But our new fuckass governer said no.

[Dobbs 3K 0]

Yeah, it was a hassle to get Miller Park (in Milwaukee) built, and yes there was a tragic accident that never should have happened. And yes, it raised area taxes a little bit.

 

But, you know what? It needed to get built, and it's a fabulous ball park. Keep in mind that County Stadium had been around since the early 1950s.

 

Miller Park secured the Brewers in Milwaukee, and that's all I really care about.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

You're buying into the lies here. "Build my stadium or we'll move the team." Its borderline extortion.

 

The Brewers, or nearly any other team, did not need a new stadium. New stadiums do not keep teams in cities, or make them competitive. They provide extra cash for owners.

[Guest MikeSC]

Yeah, it was a hassle to get Miller Park (in Milwaukee) built, and yes there was a tragic accident that never should have happened. And yes, it raised area taxes a little bit.

 

But, you know what? It needed to get built, and it's a fabulous ball park. Keep in mind that County Stadium had been around since the early 1950s.

 

Miller Park secured the Brewers in Milwaukee, and that's all I really care about.

Why is the Brewers staying in Milwaukee so important? Why should YOU be forced to spend more money so the owners can make OBSCENE amounts of money?

 

Do YOU get any of the money from the stadium that YOU paid for? Absolutely not.

 

Hell, cities need to have the balls to tell pro sports franchises to fuck off when they demand new stadiums get built.

 

"If you have the money to buy a team, you have the money to finance a stadium to get built. Go do so."

-=Mike

...Who still wonders why no taxpayer has taken the gov't to court over this...

[DangerousDamon 0]

some teams do need new stadiums. Or should I say some cities. Detroit did the right thing by building two beautiful new stadiums right in the heart of downtown. What they need to do I think is stop building all of these carbon-copy stadiums that try to all be like Jacobs Field or Camden Yards. I would have gone for an updated version of the park that sits at the corner of Michigan and Trumbull myself

[Guest BobbyWhioux]

Mike's on the ball here.

 

This is why they always have more team-suitable markets than available teams. So they can use the vacant city as leverage in extorting a new stadium tax from the local peasants.

 

[[Vincent K. McTagliabue: "Fork over the dough to build a new monument of a stadium for your team's owner...or I'll let him move the team... to LOS ANGELES!!!!!"]]

 

And as long as you keep another city starved enough of sports action (or the sense of "we're really a big city now cuz we have a pro sports team!"), they'll be desperate to take on any team whose peasant fans dare rebel against the New Stadium shakedown. And people in other cities will learn the intended lesson: if you try and show some spine, we'll give your team to a town that's willing to "play ball"/be our tax bitch.

[Guest Anglesault]

But, you know what? It needed to get built, and it's a fabulous ball park. Keep in mind that County Stadium had been around since the early 1950s.

The early 50s?

 

I'm shocked and APPALLED!

 

AND APPALLED!

[teke184 0]

But, you know what? It needed to get built, and it's a fabulous ball park. Keep in mind that County Stadium had been around since the early 1950s.

The early 50s?

 

I'm shocked and APPALLED!

 

AND APPALLED!

What Anglesault isn't saying is that Fenway and Yankee Stadium have both been around since the 20s or so.

 

 

In some cases, a new stadium has helped teams out, especially in Cleveland considering that no one wanted to go to games at The Mistake On The Lake (Municipal Stadium). Cleveland turned around their history of shitty teams, though, by bringing in a nucleus of young talent over the course of 5 years then starting to sign some good free agents once they turned things around. (Ex- Trading for Sandy Alomar Jr. and other young talents throughout the early 90s, developing Belle, Thome, etc., then signing guys like Roberto Alomar once they started taking off)

 

 

In a lot of other situations, the stadium hasn't made a difference. Milwaukee and Detroit are BIG examples of this, as neither team has broken .500 in about 10 years and both have played in some of the shittiest divisions in Baseball (the AL Central and NL Central are nothing compared to the AL East, AL West of recent years, etc.).

[Guest Anglesault]

But, you know what? It needed to get built, and it's a fabulous ball park. Keep in mind that County Stadium had been around since the early 1950s.

The early 50s?

 

I'm shocked and APPALLED!

 

AND APPALLED!

What Anglesault isn't saying is that Fenway and Yankee Stadium have both been around since the 20s or so.

 

Moreso Fenway and Wrigley, as Yankee Stadium underwent renovation in the 70s, but the point of all three stadiums being around forever is there.

[The Czech Republic 0]

I support the Norfolk location unless they actually model the park after a battleship. The hell? The rationale is that navy personnel there will appreciate a ballpark that looks like a battleship. Yeah and if I worked in an office I'd want to go to Cubicle Park.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

New stadiums, even taxpayer funded, can do cities some good. Cleveland is a good example. However, far too many are built for excess, such as in St. Louis. Seriously, why the fuck does Busch Stadium need to be replaced?

[Rob E Dangerously 0]

Busch Stadium sucks.

 

 

and the new stadium seems much better than a doughnut stadium

[Guest Anglesault]

I support the Norfolk location unless they actually model the park after a battleship. The hell? The rationale is that navy personnel there will appreciate a ballpark that looks like a battleship. Yeah and if I worked in an office I'd want to go to Cubicle Park.

They want it to look like a WHAT?

[The Czech Republic 0]

I support the Norfolk location unless they actually model the park after a battleship. The hell? The rationale is that navy personnel there will appreciate a ballpark that looks like a battleship. Yeah and if I worked in an office I'd want to go to Cubicle Park.

They want it to look like a WHAT?

You heard me. A battleship. The outfield walls would be gun-metal grey, the backstop would have portholes, and a cannon would shoot behind right-center field when the home team knocks one overboard.

 

As a fellow my-team's-stadium-is-baseball-tradition guy, I too am aghast.

 

Right now, Norfolk has Harbor Park, which is where the Mets' AAA team plays...I guess it's sort of a cross between Camden Yards and Pacific Bell.

[Guest Anglesault]

I support the Norfolk location unless they actually model the park after a battleship. The hell? The rationale is that navy personnel there will appreciate a ballpark that looks like a battleship. Yeah and if I worked in an office I'd want to go to Cubicle Park.

They want it to look like a WHAT?

You heard me. A battleship. The outfield walls would be gun-metal grey, the backstop would have portholes,

Oh...dear...God.

 

and a cannon would shoot behind right-center field when the home team knocks one overboard.

 

Considering some of the shit that goes on after home runs these days, that's kind of tame. It's certainly no worse that starting up a fucking train. Not that I'm pointing the finger at anyone.

 

Right now, Norfolk has Harbor Park, which is where the Mets' AAA team plays...I guess it's sort of a cross between Camden Yards and Pacific Bell.

 

I was there two or three years ago.

[The Czech Republic 0]

But imagine the home field advantage if they engineer a system that causes the field to gently sway to simulate being on a boat! World Series in the bank!

 

If anyone remembers the commercial from last October, I'd like to see the warning track replaced with a warning moat. He's going back, back, and ooh, into the moat! Whoops, the gator got him!