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Joe Cowley, Chicago Sun-Times: Move the Toronto Blue Jays to Venezuela

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by Double J, Apr 17, 2010.

Page 4 of 14
  1. Van Lingle Mungo

    Van Lingle Mungo Member

    He also says Tinley Park is "Rural Illinois."

    But yeah, Cowley's got a grudge. And he loves talking about it.
     
    Van Lingle Mungo, Apr 17, 2010
    #37
  2. Van Lingle Mungo

    Van Lingle Mungo Member

    And he relishes the attention:

     
    Van Lingle Mungo, Apr 18, 2010
    #38
  3. Double J

    Double J Active Member

    That's a good response. Griffin has seen a fuck of a lot more major league baseball from a professional standpoint than Cowley will ever watch, even on television.
     
    Double J, Apr 18, 2010
    #39
  4. Elliotte Friedman

    Elliotte Friedman Moderator Staff Member

    Did an interview years ago with Bob Nicholson, who used to be president of the Blue Jays. He told me that in 1993, the Blue Jays market research told them they could fill an 80,000 seat stadium every night. (SkyDome seated slightly more than 50,000 and was a consistent sellout.)
    By the turn of the century, they went down to less than 30,000.

    As someone mentioned earlier, the Red Sox and Yankees presence really hurts the team. It's wrong to call the Blue Jays a small-market team (and I hate it when the organization itself claims that), but they cannot spend to the levels of Boston and New York. Right now, there is no hope of consistent, long-term contention -- like there was from 1984-93. Toronto, Baltimore and Tampa are why MLB is considering a playoff realignment. It knows these three teams need relief.

    What Cowley ignores is that the Blue Jays' television numbers have generally been very good. They are a solid television property, especially when the team shows any kind of life. The entire sport has a problem with game length affecting stadium attendance. It doesn't help that they play in a charmless stadium, either.

    The most interesting theory I've heard comes from a friend who's a huge Jays fan. He says when the team won in 92/93, then got hit by the strike -- fans stopped caring. They'd seen everything. What was there to come back to?
     
    Elliotte Friedman, Apr 18, 2010
    #40
  5. Double J

    Double J Active Member

    That's a great question.

    It's strange to realize the Jays have gone longer without a championship than it took them to win their first championship from scratch. They won their first World Series in their 16th season, and this is the 17th season since the 1993 Series.

    The big difference, of course, is they contended for more than half of those first 16 seasons.
     
    Double J, Apr 18, 2010
    #41
  6. Smasher_Sloan

    Smasher_Sloan Active Member

    Nobody is moving, nobody is being contracted.

    Go back to your dinners.
     
    Smasher_Sloan, Apr 18, 2010
    #42
  7. fishhack2009

    fishhack2009 Active Member

    Somebody really should tell Cowley that between Loopy and Albom, there are enough arrogant jerks in the business. He's not doing our battered profession any favors with douchebaggery like this.
     
    fishhack2009, Apr 18, 2010
    #43
  8. JR

    JR Well-Known Member

    This was the first Jays home opener I've missed in maybe twenty years, mostly for the reasons Elliotte cited.

    And let's keep this in some sort of historical perspective. Except for the years 1968-76 there's been professional baseball in Toronto since 1896 including the hugely successful Toronto Maple Leafs of the AAA International League. During Jack Kent Cooke's ownership int the 50's and 60's the Maple Leafs routinely led the league in attendance

    [​IMG]

    That's Cooke in the middle with Toronto mayor Nathan Phillips (left) & "Big Daddy" Fred Gardiner, Metro Toronto Chairman
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Dec 15, 2014
    JR, Apr 18, 2010
    #44
  9. Sam Mills 51

    Sam Mills 51 Well-Known Member

    EF,

    I get your point on the outro, but I'll answer your question with a question.

    If the Leafs won a couple of Cups, do you think those fans would stop showing up for home games in subsequent years?

    From what little I've read and the two trips I've been fortunate enough to take to Ontario (including the SportsJournalists.com outing in '06), it's pretty clear that the region cares about the Jays (the other trip I took was in the early '90s, when SkyDome was a fascinating tour for a teenager who was clearly into sports, facilities and such and photos of George Bell and Iorg were prevalent throughout SkyDome ... and the host family with whom I stayed and others certainly had Jays fever).

    Just have a hard time believing that the '94 strike is primarily responsible for the attendance issues in Toronto.
     
    Sam Mills 51, Apr 18, 2010
    #45
  10. Joe Williams

    Joe Williams Well-Known Member

    This is what happens when you let an ex-jock cover a team for which he used to play. ;D

    http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/cowlejo01.shtml

    [​IMG]
     
    Joe Williams, Apr 18, 2010
    #46
  11. Herbert Anchovy

    Herbert Anchovy Active Member

    Rich Griffin, who knows a thing about dying franchises, tried something new and broke out some reason and rationale. Maybe not good enough for the guy who no doubt just enjoyed a fun weekend in Cleveland, that shining jewel among American cities.

    http://www.thestar.com/sports/baseball/mlb/bluejays/article/797061--griffin-reports-of-baseball-s-death-in-toronto-greatly-exaggerated
     
    Herbert Anchovy, Apr 18, 2010
    #47
  12. Sic semper tyrannis

    Sic semper tyrannis Member

    well done
     
    Sic semper tyrannis, Apr 18, 2010
    #48
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