DLD 060208: Lights on, no one’s home
by FreeSeatUpgrade on Jun 2, 2008 12:54 PM PDT
105 comments
I was going to add this as a simple link in someone else’s DLD. But it’s past noon and there ain’t no such beast, so here you go: Sunday’s Tribune followed up on an earlier "attendance sagging" article with a Carl Steward column which basically consisted of angry emails from fans who aren’t going to many/any games in Oakland this year.
"I was a partial season-ticket holder for the past four years, but I just gave up this year after the (Nick) Swisher trade," wrote Eyleen Nadolny of Kensington. "Ticket, food and parking prices are also a big part of the equation."
"I think that the A's are fan unfriendly," wrote Harry Craycroft of Concord. "I have tried to get tickets online and because I have a dialup (connection), I have had problems because of the time limit I am required to enter the information. Also, I have purchased tickets for some of the games that only have standing room. Why should I have to stand when the upper level has seating covered over?"
"Every year the A's see their favorites traded away, together with talk of moving out of Oakland," wrote Barbara Addicott of Berkeley. "How does one maintain fervor for the team when one's "baseball heart'' is continually being broken?"
For my part, I don’t much like C-Stew, nor am I a fan of angry rhetoric bereft of sound underpinning. Really. So while I can intellectually rebut or discount many contentions (Prices too high? Not compared to most of the rest of MLB. Lost fan faves Swisher, Haren and Scoot? Check out Smith Eveland and CarCo!) that’s largely beside the point, which is this:
Many Oakland fans—by which I mean in this case folks who go to multiple games each year—perceive that ownership has slapped them in the face in multiple ways. From the third deck closure to ticket price increases to roster rebuilding to Wolff’s repeated rejection of Oakland. The "Fremont or leave the state" rhetoric, the pining for a more moneyed fan base, and the baffling needless rejection of Oakland even if Fremont fails which he unloaded at the Commonwealth Club a few months back.
It doesn’t matter whether the fan perceptions of ownership's disdain are accurate… the perception exists, and it’s widespread enough to abet a pretty serious tank in the attendance figures.
Maybe that’s alright with Wolffish (cf monkeyball—raw attendance numbers do not equal raw revenue). Maybe all these lost fans will be replaced thrice over with wide-eyed open-walleted long-suffering South Bay’ers who appreciate the chance to see big league ball. But it all leaves a pretty sour taste in my mouth…and I’m still going to games! Those who’ve stopped must really be hurting.
Also: Bo Diddley is dead. Damn.
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Ziggy getting some love on mlb.com
Let's have our Piazza and eat the Cust too - SPWC
by closetasfan on Jun 2, 2008 1:08 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Manager Bob Geren said Jack Hannahan will likely get most of the playing time at first base against Detroit, which will throw three left-handers at the A’s.
Ok… if we’re just benching Barton, can we please send him back to the minor leagues rather than wasting his development time taking batting practice?
Your 2008 Athletics: It's Nothing Personal.
by PaulThomas on Jun 2, 2008 2:14 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Hannahan at 1B?
This sounds familiar, I don’t know where but I’ve heard this before?
by methodrampage on Jun 2, 2008 2:18 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Get. Over. Yourself.
Sheesh.
stat-addled alien overlord
by salb918 on Jun 2, 2008 2:36 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
You're right, consider it done.
I’m an attention whore, it’s sad but true. In order to fulfill my attention quota I either need to start a fight with Paul or bask in my own even-a-blind-squirrel-finds-a-nut self mediocrity.
by methodrampage on Jun 2, 2008 3:40 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Very cool for Brad...
Nice piece.
Bring back Hammer.
by OaktownPower on Jun 2, 2008 3:40 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
It's mostly a pricing issue in my case
Attending an MLB game used to be a great value. Now, for a couple to go, and sit in good seats, it’s really easy to run up $100 just for the tickets, gas, parking and one beer for each. That really can’t be more than a once-per-homestand event for most people.
I’m planning on going tonight at $13 for a crappy bleacher seat, $3.90 for a BART ticket and I’ll skip the beer.
Speaking of tonight, that reminds me:
Most games not scheduled to be available to a team’s local fans on television, June 2 to end of 2008:
1. Pittsburgh 27
2. Oakland 21
3. Kansas City 17
4. Tampa Bay 14
5. San Diego 9
6. (tie) Cincinnati and Minnesota 8
by Soaker on Jun 2, 2008 1:11 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Some of the seats are literally crappy
when the pigeons and gulls have been particularly well-fed. But that’s true anywhere in the park.
Don't blame me, I voted for Ice Cream
by Englishmajor on Jun 2, 2008 3:06 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
every seat I sit in is crappy
Who has Cust love, besides us? @('.')@
by monkeyball on Jun 2, 2008 4:34 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
the most interesting detail on that page is the header for the #1 most-read story at the bottom of the page
Who has Cust love, besides us? @('.')@
by monkeyball on Jun 2, 2008 4:36 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
I've only sat in the Mt. Davis bleachers a few times
but I really, really hate having huge chunks of the outfield obscured because you’re sitting 50 feet up, so close to the field. Unless you’re in the first row, you just can’t see what’s happening. The old bleachers had excellent sightlines.
And they cost $2 (then $3, then probably $4 or $5).
"And Julio Franco is batting right-handed!" -- Wayne Hagin, A's radio play-by-play, mid-80s
by Nick on Jun 2, 2008 5:57 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Yup, I have that same postcard on a bookshelf
in the very room I’m sitting in now. I can’t quite tell if it’s Carney or Jose at the plate—the 3B seems pretty close in for Jose but the LF is ridiculously deep, and no one ever played Lansford like that, AFAIK.
It’s kinda like the part of the Cal campus between the mining building and Moffett/Doe—I grew up a few block up from Northside and walked down Euclid and across campus I don’t know how many times. I spent a few years at Cal for grad school, too. All that was before they got rid of those old, green T-buildings and created that huge, open plaza north of Doe. In my mind, there’s still a huge, old eucalyptus just east of Moffett, and the T-buildings are still there. They’re all in the same place as the wooden Coliseum bleachers.
"And Julio Franco is batting right-handed!" -- Wayne Hagin, A's radio play-by-play, mid-80s
by Nick on Jun 2, 2008 6:52 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Coli the Beautiful
O beautiful for spacious skies,
For checkered fields of green,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the bleachers plain!
Coliseum! Coliseum!
[Baseball] gods shed grace on thee
And found just fine without the Mt.
From San Leandro street to 880!
"optimism 1 pessimism 0" ~Dirk
by 149 on Jun 2, 2008 6:54 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
I've always wondered where does the football field go?
Is Mt. Davis along one of the sidelines or an endzone?
by OldhamA on Jun 3, 2008 8:47 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Braves interested in Blanton
per MLB Traderumors
The Braves called the A’s about Joe Blanton but did not even come close to meeting Billy Beane’s price.
http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2008/06/rosenthals-late.html
Let's have our Piazza and eat the Cust too - SPWC
by closetasfan on Jun 2, 2008 1:12 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
"Uh Billy...your price for Blanton is absurd.
He’s a very mediocre pitcher. That’s why he’s still on your team, after all!”
"We've come a long way, and I'm not talking about Virginia Slims, either." - Art Howe
by EastCoastA on Jun 2, 2008 2:10 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
So the Braves are facing facts?
http://bocropleasestopswingingatbadpitches.blogspot.com/
by thejd44 on Jun 2, 2008 4:43 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
must've asked for Hudson back
I generally bemoan the profusion of Mr Sabermetric Sporks in the Scrabble ranks who don't know the meaning or usage of 50% of the words they use. -monkeyball
by JediLeroy on Jun 2, 2008 2:11 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Reenactment of that conversation
Beane: Hello?
Wren: Hello, Wren here. We’re looking at Blanton.
Beane: Can we have Lillibridge, Jordan Schafer and an arm?
Wren: [click]
Your 2008 Athletics: It's Nothing Personal.
by PaulThomas on Jun 2, 2008 2:11 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Why do you still like Schafer?
I can’t throw a bigger softball then that.
The monster at the end of this blog.
by grover on Jun 4, 2008 9:56 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
John Kruk strikes out on softballs
... in more ways than one.
I dunno, I mean, what’s not to like about him? (Other than the suspension, that is.) He’s a well-rounded player who plays a premium defensive position. I’m basically an HGH non-believer as far as it actually assisting a player’s stats. I mean, maybe it had some kind of placebo effect on his confidence or something, but I’m inclined to see his 2007 as real until proven otherwise. The scouts liked him too, so unless they were all drinking statistical Kool-Aid, his stats are backed by ability.
And if Raul Padron is anything to go by, apparently drug suspensions do wonders for a guy’s hitting ability…
Your 2008 Athletics: It's Nothing Personal.
by PaulThomas on Jun 4, 2008 11:15 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
notes on pricing
I went to the Friday game in Texas and sat in an Upper level outfield seat for $6! Not only that, but a Rangers season ticket holder seated next to me noted that his seat on the season ticket plan is $3 per game. Now that’s a deal.
On the other side of the coin, I chatted with a Cowboys season ticket holder while in Dallas, and they were sent an invoice for the 10 year personal seat license for the new stadium—$100,000 per seat, and that does not include the cost of the tickets themselves.
"Don't be an ass!" --Bill King
by batgirl on Jun 2, 2008 1:20 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Thank god the NFL has a hard salary cap so the owners are forced to keep tickets affordable for ordinary fans
and they don’t have to go begging to taxpayers to build their stadiums for them!
"And Julio Franco is batting right-handed!" -- Wayne Hagin, A's radio play-by-play, mid-80s
by Nick on Jun 2, 2008 5:59 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Alex Trebek: a man after Nico’s hart
Who has Cust love, besides us? @('.')@
by monkeyball on Jun 2, 2008 1:24 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
I'm sorry, FSU
I started to do a DLD a few hours ago and then I had to look as if I were paying attention to the primary in State Senate District 37 for a while. Work.
But I hadn’t really found too much more than Steward’s “column” and:
The Supreme Court of the United States declined to get involved in fantasy baseball. Well, they may play it - Souter, in particular, seems like a rotisserie kind of guy to me - but they’re not going to get involved in MLB’s trying to claim rights to players’ names and stats. So the lower court ruling stands, which essentially instructs MLB to go to Helen Waite for their exclusive control of information.
And the designer of the Pringles can loved his work so much that he chose to have his ashes buried in one of his own cylinders, so he can stay crisp and fresh forever. Alas, there is no photo of the late Fredric J. Baur accompanying the article, so we don’t know if he had a handlebar mustache.
Don't blame me, I voted for Ice Cream
by Englishmajor on Jun 2, 2008 1:54 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Reminds me of Monkeyball's game thread way back
The Supreme Court Justice thread on an A’s off day.
That was good stuff.
by easyraider on Jun 2, 2008 2:11 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
courtesy of the kick-ass new search function: A’s vs. Supreme Court
Who has Cust love, besides us? @('.')@
by monkeyball on Jun 2, 2008 4:39 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Time flies
I knew it was a ways back but not that far back.
by easyraider on Jun 2, 2008 4:54 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Question:
I’m going to the game on Friday, and it’s my first bobblehead game, so from you experienced bobblers, how early should I go to make sure to get a mini-Suzuki? I don’t want to be fighting Fosse for the last one…
by whiteshoes40 on Jun 2, 2008 1:54 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Good question
I went to the first free jersey game earlier this year and discovered that two hours in advance was okay, but 1.5 was not.
Don't blame me, I voted for Ice Cream
by Englishmajor on Jun 2, 2008 1:56 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
don't let Fosse touch it
Once it’s been drooled on, it loses most of its resale value on eBay.
Who has Cust love, besides us? @('.')@
by monkeyball on Jun 2, 2008 2:18 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
I hope this start against the Tigers goes better than the ALCS start.
stat-addled alien overlord
by salb918 on Jun 2, 2008 2:21 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Oh! Did I say three?
It’s four. They always come in fours.
Jalapeño
by Ice Cream on Jun 2, 2008 5:15 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
I'm saying Utah Phillips
"Not in your wildest alcoholic nightmare would you ever imagines such events unfolding!" Bill King
by Buck Turgidson on Jun 2, 2008 11:15 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Starlight on the rails
Don't blame me, I voted for Ice Cream
by Englishmajor on Jun 3, 2008 10:40 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Utah Phillips died?
Fuck. I knew he wasn’t doing well, but… fuck.
What a wonderful old man. The guy had more courage in his finger and thumb than the average person (myself included) could ever hope for. Showed you can be a pacifist and still fight for what you think is right.
The wind blows cold in Wyoming
The stars shine clear and bright
If you don’t wake up tomorrow at all
I guess it’s old buddy, goodnight
Your 2008 Athletics: It's Nothing Personal.
by PaulThomas on Jun 3, 2008 11:29 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Reluctant as I am to pimp my own work
On my second week back at the electron reprocessing factory, I got the job of producing Utah’s obit and mixed in some of my favorite of his songs.
Don't blame me, I voted for Ice Cream
by Englishmajor on Jun 3, 2008 3:29 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Anyone with appreciation for Utah should check out this interview
Amy Goodman replayed this wonderful piece that she did with him last year in his honor last week.
http://www.democracynow.org/2008/5/27/utah_phillips_1935_2008_legendary_folk
Eternal optimist. He says “they have money to spend but we have time. They will run out of money before we run out of time.”
"Not in your wildest alcoholic nightmare would you ever imagines such events unfolding!" Bill King
by Buck Turgidson on Jun 3, 2008 6:10 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Yes I agree with Barbara
My fan heart is broken because we did not lock up Barry Zito and Mark Mulder to long term contracts. All this winning is so heartbreaking. Why cant we be more like the Giants where you know the names of your players as predictably as your station in last place?
by mikedaviswhereareyou on Jun 2, 2008 3:20 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Just like how I agree with Harry
How dare the A’s put time limits on how long they will hold your tickets They make it seem like it’s a generic ticket site, and not something they built in house that they can just change around for every single person who has decided that they will not buy into this whole “high speed internet” conspiracy.
My dad is 67, and just started using a computer last year. It seems that the only thing he uses it for is to open up emails from names he doesn’t recognize and then call me to clean up the latest virus that he doesn’t know how he got-and even he has better than dial-up access.
"Camelot sure fell apart, didn't it?"-Steve McCatty
by 5Aces on Jun 2, 2008 3:27 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Dial-up?
People still have land lines for their phones?
by methodrampage on Jun 2, 2008 3:41 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Some of us old fogeys
believe you shouldn’t have to pay more than $30/month for phone service.
formerly known as mdl
by iglew on Jun 2, 2008 7:13 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Some of us youngens
Don’t pay anything for phone service.
by methodrampage on Jun 2, 2008 8:05 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
OK, I'll bite
How is that?
mooching off parents / roommate / girlfriend?
combined in some other bill like Internet or cable so you think it therefore costs zero?
illegally pirating service somehow?
just don’t have a phone?
or some other innovation I’m not aware of?
formerly known as mdl
by iglew on Jun 3, 2008 2:55 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Company comp'd cell phone
But VOIP still dominates land lines for about the same price ($30?).
by methodrampage on Jun 3, 2008 2:59 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Who has Cust love, besides us? @('.')@
by monkeyball on Jun 3, 2008 3:01 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Just you wait until after the Big One
when the cell phones and the digital voice and the Skype don’t work any more. Of course, those of us who survive probably won’t be able to get at our old-school land lines under all the rubble, but at least we’ll get to hear them ringing!
Don't blame me, I voted for Ice Cream
by Englishmajor on Jun 2, 2008 7:34 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
{sends in check to renew membership in Bay Area Semaphore Society}
Who has Cust love, besides us? @('.')@
by monkeyball on Jun 2, 2008 10:28 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Most boring senior prank ever
I stole this link and description from Romenesko’s Obscure Store
Don't blame me, I voted for Ice Cream
by Englishmajor on Jun 2, 2008 3:34 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
They should have at least covered the books in foil or something.
stat-addled alien overlord
by salb918 on Jun 2, 2008 3:46 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
the most interesting detail on that page is the header for the #1 most-read story at the bottom of the page
Who has Cust love, besides us? @('.')@
by monkeyball on Jun 2, 2008 4:36 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
That was the most disappointing story I've ever clicked on
The A's colors are green and gold.
by mikeA on Jun 2, 2008 4:47 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
I thought someone would notice that
Didn’t you play in that band in high school?
Don't blame me, I voted for Ice Cream
by Englishmajor on Jun 2, 2008 6:58 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Hope one of the books was a dictionary.
High School Principal Sheldon Rosenkrance said their wasn’t any damage to the school or the materials.
pam5981: Patience is a virtue that I do not possess.
ohtobe21likehuston: But you're good at drinking and cussing. Two out of three ain't bad.
by pam5981 on Jun 2, 2008 6:53 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
And I thought our school's senior prank was boring
They campaigned a guy named “Deon” for school president. Only problem was, Deon didn’t exist. Sad part was, principal found out after some idiot wrote “Deon” in practically every square inch of the school in chalk.
by muffinpryde on Jun 2, 2008 7:27 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
The meaning of life is not so much 'found,' as it is 'made.' --Opus
by The Dogfather on Jun 2, 2008 3:47 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
But enough of your brutal self-assessments
Don't blame me, I voted for oaktoon.
by FreeSeatUpgrade on Jun 2, 2008 4:22 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Actually, that was for Bo.
-but suit yourself. ;-)
...Come on take a little ride with me Free, and tell me who do you love?
Who do you love?
Who do you love?
The meaning of life is not so much 'found,' as it is 'made.' --Opus
by The Dogfather on Jun 2, 2008 4:34 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
And wrong besides
I don’t think there’s been a discussion of the 2008 atttendance woes vis a vis the franchise’s perceived attitude towards Oakland by anyone, and certainly not by me. It’s timely and relevant.
Is there some joy you get from being a picture linking Swift Boater w/r/t my posts? Because I’m getting really tired of it. From broken records to cooked crows and crawfish, I find these posts to be personally insulting, and you just go on and on and on, and add nothing of value here that I can discern. When blowhard self-appointed truth squadders pop up on TV I turn the channel, but this is a venue I participate in because it brings me pleasure. I neither deserve nor appreciate this jihad you’ve set yourself to.
Broken record indeed. I’ve said that I don’t generally report CGVs; I’m withdrawing that amnesty in your case. Knock it off.
Don't blame me, I voted for oaktoon.
by FreeSeatUpgrade on Jun 2, 2008 4:32 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
i think....
you give him exactly what he’s looking for.
"The two of them deserve each other. One's a born liar, the other's convicted."
by SwampyD on Jun 2, 2008 4:54 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Yikes. Try the decaf?
I enjoy a lot of what you write, Free, and often write very well, methinks. And further, I think I’ve said so on multiple occasions.
Now, I’m not sure to which CG you’ re referring, but there doesn’t seem to be one against posting graphics. I would note that there is one against personal attacks, and that I’ve never called anyone a "blowhard self-appointed truth squadder," or, far worse, a "swift boater." You and I do have a continuing disagreement about the motives of Management, but as far as I can tell, that’s okay under the CGs. It certainly concerns only a small percentage of what either you (5155 comments) or I (2809) have had to say on the site.
As to the above and my original comment, I guess you can take it your way, but if you go apoplectic over every such perceived annoyance, you’re gonna to pop a blood vessel way before your time. I’m sorry you have decided to become that pissed-off, especially since it didn’t concern my original intent. That said, I can’t guarantee that it’ll never happen again. Nobody died though, and I don’t think anyone of us is required to tiptoe around anyone else’s unusually tender sensibilities. But go ahead and file if you wish, and if the star chamber convicts I will repent of my sins and hew to a narrower course.
I’m guessing this may be the wrong time to indicate that the later, great Albert Collins, rather than Bo Diddley, wrote “Lights on, Nobody Home,” but I will claim credit for not working that title into the earlier part of this comment.
The meaning of life is not so much 'found,' as it is 'made.' --Opus
by The Dogfather on Jun 2, 2008 5:29 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
This could be the last time
(also not a Bo Diddley title)
I didn’t call you a blowhard self-appointed truth squadder; I referenced the ones on TV. As for swift boater, your Rovian tactic of taking a mote of verbiage out of context and using it to smear a person’s larger world view fits the designation spot-on. Don’t like it? Stop deliberately misrepresenting people to score imaginary rhetorical points.
Your broken record image, like the dinner crow and crawfish images before it, are personally insulting. Mine’s not an apoplectic reaction to an annoyance…it’s finally getting fed up over your MO of drive-by pic link insults to my posts, a tactic you appear to reserve for me and me alone. Hence the personal attack part. It’s not “unusually tender sensibilities.” I have no problem with people disagreeing with me…I have a big problem with one individual pursuing an insulting vendetta.
As to this post’s title: I tried refusing to respond to any of your posts before. I failed. I’ll now try much harder.
Don't blame me, I voted for oaktoon.
by FreeSeatUpgrade on Jun 2, 2008 5:50 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
None of the offending images was personal.
I post lots of graphics—amazing what’s available on the ‘tubes. I reduce their size so they don’t take too much room, but I’m sure there are some readers who believe I do it too much. Oh, well. The one above was reduced to the point where the artist was illegible, at least on my monitor, since “The Oft-Debunked Boys” didn’t serve my purpose, as I’ve stated.
The dead crow, iirc, was part of a written offer that I would agree to eat one on the mound at the Coli if the A’s move away from the Bay Area, if you’d commit to eating one on the mound at Cisco if they don’t. I think you turned me down, but that’s neither a hit-n-run, a personal attack nor devoid of content.
The crawfish was in response to what I perceived as your backpedaling - in a long and content-laden set of gives and takes on some ownership issue - perhaps it was about your repeated use of a meaningless pre-tax earnings number to advance a nuanced rape-n-pillage claim. That’s how they move—they go backwards.
Anyway, the A’s won, the sun’s coming up and maybe it looks different this morning. But if you ever do get to write on the front page, how are you going to stand the heat of those disagreements, in that kitchen?
BTW, Unca Lew called - he’s personally offended by your “Wolffish” nickname for him - he wants you to cut it out.
The meaning of life is not so much 'found,' as it is 'made.' --Opus
by The Dogfather on Jun 3, 2008 6:50 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
To quote the infinitely wise salb918
Get. Over. Yourself.
Sheesh.
by methodrampage on Jun 2, 2008 6:28 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
I've tailgated with salb918: I know salb918; salb918 is a friend of mine. methodrampage, you're no salb918.
Don't blame me, I voted for oaktoon.
by FreeSeatUpgrade on Jun 2, 2008 7:44 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
We didn't tailgate so much as you offered me a cold beverage, and I accepted.
That was a good time, by the way.
stat-addled alien overlord
by salb918 on Jun 2, 2008 8:24 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
"Who am I? Why am I here?"
You prefer Admiral Stockdale?
I’d forgotten that was a BBQ-free event. You’ll be on the top of the invite list for the next flesh-charring episode.
Don't blame me, I voted for oaktoon.
by FreeSeatUpgrade on Jun 2, 2008 9:24 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Probably no more games at the Coli
for me this year, unless the A’s should make the WS – in which case, come hell or high water (or bankruptcy and divorce!) – I’ll find my way back home.
stat-addled alien overlord
by salb918 on Jun 2, 2008 10:21 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
{makes youtube trailer of Sal wending westward set to "Solsbury Hill"}
Who has Cust love, besides us? @('.')@
by monkeyball on Jun 2, 2008 10:30 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Don't you ever misuse my infinite wisdom again.
stat-addled alien overlord
by salb918 on Jun 2, 2008 10:22 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
F*** off, Eyleen!
More seats for me.
Honestly, I really really really don’t care about the following things:
1. Things written in the Chronicle regarding Oakland’s front office.
2. Attendance at the Coliseum.
3. MLB’s TV ratings (both regular season and playoffs.)
"Looks like you brought two too many."
by BWH on Jun 2, 2008 5:48 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
yes, except small changes
1. Things written in the Chronicle regarding Oakland’s front office.
2. Attendance at the Coliseum, unless I’m there too.
3. MLB’s TV ratings (both regular season and playoffs.)
"optimism 1 pessimism 0" ~Dirk
by 149 on Jun 2, 2008 6:57 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
HMM... I WONDER...
I wonder if attendance would be greater if the A’s were a perennial choker/cellar dweller that paid for past performance and held onto Tejada and Giambi and Hudson and everybody else and glorified their images…
OAKLAND ATHLETICS… TRADITION… GLORY… HONOR…
Something like that…
I wonder if Mrs. Irma Smedley of Albany would have been filling a seat all these years, crocheting little bat cozies for “her boys in green” while knocking back $7 light beers…
fukifiknow…
"You have to have a catcher or you'll have all passed balls."- Casey Stengel
by Gaijin_Suketto on Jun 3, 2008 1:54 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
attendance
I’ve going to A’s games since l971. In the early 70’s, the A’s had a great team (at times) but the coliseum wasn’t a good place to take a family. The crowd could be unruly.
When the Haas family took over, things changed. The A’s wanted to be family entertainment, and they accomplished their goal. The coliseum became a good place to take a family. The management hired by Haas’s did a good job.
In the last several years, things have changed. The fans perception is that the A’s really don’t care whether we come to the games or not, and many aren’t. What I notice when I go to games (20+ times a year) are some big things (the tarps send a loud message that says—yeah, we have seats! But you can’t have them!), the emphasis on Fremont, and a lot of little things. The little things are (1) not opening the doors, (2) closing parts of the parking lot, (3) being nasty to fans trying to relocate when there are plenty of seats available, (4) an increase in the number of fans who are abusive because of alcohol or something else, etc. Fans who receive an insult of any kind, perceived or otherwise, are not likely to come back. Over the last few years, the A’s have managed to alienate a lot of fans. Start with the 1,500 or so who used to sit in the third deck behind home plate, and go from there.
The A’s need to take a look, top down, on what their attitude towards fans is. And, like the model of the Haas family, make the changes necessary to make the ball park a fun place to watch a baseball game. Don’t let the bean counters keep shaving a few expenses that come at the comfort or perception of comfort of fans. The attendance figures should be telling you this is bleeding the A’s, maybe slowly, but noticeably.
Saying you’re fan friendly doesn’t cut it. The proof is in the numbers. The A’s have an exciting young team, and a rapidly diminishing fan base.
Richard Coddington
by rcodd on Jun 3, 2008 6:37 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
They may be bean counters,
but are they bureaucrats?
[wonders if anyone gets the joke]
Your 2008 Athletics: It's Nothing Personal.
by PaulThomas on Jun 3, 2008 9:01 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
+1
And the food is crap. Disgusting. I don’t know if it’s Aramark or what but it has really declined. Have a look at the cheese vats next time you are in line at the nachos. I mean I know that stuff is usually bad but this is just terrible. Wolff should be ashamed.
"Not in your wildest alcoholic nightmare would you ever imagines such events unfolding!" Bill King
by Buck Turgidson on Jun 3, 2008 6:16 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
I haven't gone to an A's game this season
after going to like 5 opening days in a row. but it’s not because of being insulted by the A’s. I moved from El Sobrante (near Richmond) to Novato (up past San Rafael, I’m surprised how many people don’t know where it is) and started working 40 hrs a week instead of 32 hrs a week. no more thursday day games for me : -( I hate showing up late and it would be hard to make a 7:05 start time. Plus it would cost like $30 in gas to get there not to mention paying $15 for parking (that is the one thing that pissed me off about the stadium, parking prices go up $1 every year) If there was a bart train from Marin County to Oakland I would take it.
You have to include smiley faces - Poppy
;- ) :- ) :-O : -> : -] : -}
by micdog2001 on Jun 3, 2008 11:36 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
I have a similar confession
I’ve been to a lot of A’s games within the past 7-8 years, increasingly so, season by season. Prices continue to rise, and while the product on the field is always exciting and competitive, I just have too much going on in my life to go as often as I would like. You know the bumper sticker “Real Musicians Have Day Jobs”? Well, I’m a real musician (goddammit). I work 40 hours/week and rehearse 2-3x per week, and if I’m lucky I get a few gigs every month to put gas money in my pocket.
After the Swisher trade, I did say to myself, “You know, this would be a good year to upgrade my gear, clear out the crap, take care of my prized instruments.” I haven’t been to a game yet this year, and it’s killing me- I follow every game on radio (when I’m not at rehearsal) and have a few games I am definitely attending coming up this month, thank BB.
But I suspect I’m not the only creative person in the Bay Area, and that lots of us are living month-to-month at jobs that pay our bills, while moonlighting living as our passions dictate. It’s too bad I can’t afford to go to more games – but sometimes there are only so many hours in the day.
I can do the laundry or the dishes while listening to the radio at home.
Once, I told my bandleader that I was “wearing earplugs” when I was really listening to the game.
Bob Geren, on 8/2/07, on the success of Alan Embree as new interim closer: "What can I say,... he's been our Steady Tremendous Bullpen Man"
by popcornjames on Jun 3, 2008 1:08 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
I really hope that you're either a drummer or organist
Who has Cust love, besides us? @('.')@
by monkeyball on Jun 3, 2008 3:03 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
I didn't get it, but
yes, I’m a drummer.
Bob Geren, on 8/2/07, on the success of Alan Embree as new interim closer: "What can I say,... he's been our Steady Tremendous Bullpen Man"
by popcornjames on Jun 3, 2008 3:57 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
I'm imagining the two instruments that most readily lend themselves to ballpark songs/beats
I’m also imagining you drumming along to the left field crew in the middle of, say, “The Girl From Ipanema.”
Who has Cust love, besides us? @('.')@
by monkeyball on Jun 3, 2008 4:44 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Novato to Coliseum
is about 38 miles. Even at $4 a gallon, $30 still gets you 7.5 gallons. If it really costs you $30 in gas to get to the Coliseum, your car gets really shitty gas mileage.
formerly known as mdl
by iglew on Jun 3, 2008 3:07 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
round trip from my Apt to Coliseum is 78.37 miles
my car gets aprox. 28.7 mpg so it would cost $11.52 in gas ($4.22 per gallon in my area of Novato) + $4 toll. It might be a little more if traffic was bad and if I got stuck idling in the parking lot waiting to get out (doubtful, due to low attendance). But yeah, I exaggerated. My cousin was saying it cost him $35 in gas to my place from El Sobrante but he drives a truck with bad gas mileage. I guess that made me think it would cost more. But combined with parking it’s like $30 without even getting in the stadium.
It also is a long drive time wise. 1 1/2 hours according to yahoo, but traffic is bad at the time I would have to leave so add at least a 1/2 hour.
I really want to go but I’m lazy and it’s hard to convinve my wife. Maybe I’ll go to saturday game and make a day of it.
You have to include smiley faces - Poppy
;- ) :- ) :-O : -> : -] : -}
by micdog2001 on Jun 4, 2008 1:44 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Giveaway
Anyone going to the game on the early side tomorrow who would be willing to part with their Trumpet Puppet? I’m ashamed to say I really want one and I didn’t realize until yesterday that they’re giving away 10000 tomorrow. I have a couple things to trade—poker set, Frank Thomas bobblehead, etc. Or I could buy it at a reduced price from the gift shop $20, perhaps?
"Don't be an ass!" --Bill King
by batgirl on Jun 3, 2008 12:28 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
I don't think PC America is ready for that yet.
"Looks like you brought two too many."
by BWH on Jun 3, 2008 2:22 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Why do there have to be dolls like Frank?
It's Rhodes Scholar Night at the Coliseum tonight.
by Scottbass on Jun 3, 2008 8:47 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
THROW IT BACK! THROW IT BACK!
Twins fan suffers bleacher remorse
He did the right thing, in my opinion, and I’m glad the Metrodome security guards are not as uptight as ours.
Don't blame me, I voted for Ice Cream
by Englishmajor on Jun 3, 2008 3:32 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Sunset on Mars
Don't blame me, I voted for oaktoon.
by FreeSeatUpgrade on Jun 3, 2008 3:52 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
How long a walk is that from a BART station?
Who has Cust love, besides us? @('.')@
by monkeyball on Jun 3, 2008 4:45 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Cust belt
Who has Cust love, besides us? @('.')@
by monkeyball on Jun 3, 2008 6:03 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
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