HBO Inside Sports last night......... (1 Viewer)

[Louis Badolato]

Moving the Rams out of LA is without a doubt the most painful thing in the history of pro sports. I know the fans in St. Louis have supported the team, but get one from somewhere else. LA should have a pro football team. The NFL is a market savy business in every instance but this one. It borders on the incredible. I hope to live long enough to see the old Rams back in LA.

Its just one more in a long string of greedy owners screwing loyal fans . . . the Brooklyn Dodgers (Los Angeles) started the trend, followed immediately by the New York Giants (San Fransisco), the Philadelphia Athletics (Oakland), the Baltimore Colts (Indianapolis), Oakland Raiders (Los Angeles - at least they eventually returned to their original home). Frankly since L.A. stole the Dodgers and the Raiders, they kind of had it coming with the Rams.

 

[marco55]

Hey guys before you think I'm down on everything I wanted to tell you about our new motorsports complex (www.njmotorsportspark.com ).Now I'll tell you I wasn't crazy over this being built as it's tearing down a large part of forest which I love and increasing the traffic but it is pretty nice and they have a lot of stuff anybody can participate in,for example people can bring their cars and run them,they have go carts which you can run for 15 laps for $35.they have carts that go over 100mph which costs more.they are going to have leagues for kids etc.etc..You can get a season pass for around $200 On Sept. 20/21 there will be our annual Air and Auto show which is very reasonable at $20 for Saturday $15 for Sunday or $25 for both days and cheaper for kids under 16.They are having vintage planes this year.P-47 Thunderbolts,Avengers,a corsair,a spitfire,B-25's,P-51 Mustangs plus many more.They also have Grand -Am and Arca races lined up.They are still building this and will be the next 3 years,plus hotels,many stores and many eateries like Texas Roadhouse,Longhorne Sonic,Chilis,Olive Garden is suppose to be coming.The main thing is it looks like it is affordable to the regular guy.
Mark

 

[jazzeum]

It's easy to villify O'Malley for what he did to Brooklyn but he wanted to make a deal to stay but NY just took their sweet time, thinking he'd never leave. In all likelihood he wanted to leave but NY is also to blame. Notwithstanding all that, if you read any accounts, the demographics of that area was starting to change and people were not going to Ebbets Field like they used to. It wasn't much better for the Giants. It was only a matter of time before teams would have moved out west. The Boston Braves had already moved to Milwaukee. So, when O'Malley accepted the LA deal, his request to Horace Stoneham, the owner of the Giants, found a ready ear.

 

[Louis Badolato]

It's easy to villify O'Malley for what he did to Brooklyn but he wanted to make a deal to stay but NY just took their sweet time, thinking he'd never leave. In all likelihood he wanted to leave but NY is also to blame. Notwithstanding all that, if you read any accounts, the demographics of that area was starting to change and people were not going to Ebbets Field like they used to. It wasn't much better for the Giants. It was only a matter of time before teams would have moved out west. The Boston Braves had already moved to Milwaukee. So, when O'Malley accepted the LA deal, his request to Horace Stoneham, the owner of the Giants, found a ready ear.

Come off it Brad . . . you're a Mets fan . . . the franchise that replaced them . . . I don't hear the Mets are going bankrupt anytime soon. I'm a lifelong Yankee fan and don't really care abou the National league at all, but I still know O'Malley was a greedy piece of garbage.

 

[jazzeum]

No one said he wasn't greedy but if you do some reading on the subject, and not just listen to the die hard Brooklyn adherents, you find out that Ebbets Field was falling apart and that the demographics of Flatbush, of Brooklyn, was changing. After the war, people wanted to get homes, to move to Levittown and other towns. That's when Long Island started to grow. People started to leave Brooklyn or they just weren't dedicated to the old neighboorhood anymore like they had been. Also people started to move west. The Braves were the first to recognize this westward movement. The country was changing and O'Malley recognized it. It's open for debate as to whether he wanted to stay in Brooklyn but some people believe that he did but the City dithered while LA acted fast.

Like I said, he's painted the villain but it's not all his fault.

Also, the Mets replaced both the Dodgers and Giants. If you look at the Mets cap: it's blue for the Dodgers but the interlocking NY is from the Giants. I never liked the Dodgers but always liked the Giants and one of the greatest players who every played: Willie Mays.

 

[gk5717]

Wasn,t there a documentory on HBO recently about the Dodgers. And as Brad stated, O,Malley was willing to stay in New York but the city sorta played him cheap and messed around with him in regards to a new ball park.
Something about where it was to be built, forgot all the particulars, but it wasn,t just moving for a better deal.
You NY guys don,t feel so bad, we lost the Browns!!!
Gary

 

[theBaron]

Also, the Mets replaced both the Dodgers and Giants. If you look at the Mets cap: it's blue for the Dodgers but the interlocking NY is from the Giants...

Good baseball heraldry point. I thought that the Mets' orange (which is really named "old gold", isn't it?) is from the Giants as well?

Prost!
Brad

 

[jazzeum]

Brad,

Yes, that's correct. The blue and orange represent their heritage to the Dodgers and the Giants. In baseball lore, as you probably know, everyone loves the old Dodgers but hardly any attention gets paid to the Giants. However, they had some great players: Christy Mathewson, Bill Terry, Mel Ott, just to name a few. I always identified more with the Giants than the Dodgers. If all the people who claimed they love the Dodgers had turned out to support their team when O'Malley was thinking of moving, the Dodgers would probably still be in NY.

 

[Warrior]

Brad,
You are dead on about the Dodgers.

The fan base left the city for the burbs, mainly Long Island and at the time, there was virtually no way to get to the ballpark via any sort of public transportation; forget about driving, there were minimal parking spots AT BEST around the staduim, what was the guy to do, lose money every year but stay to be a nice guy?

Comparing him to Mara is like apples to hand grenades.