Not going to cast aspersions on anybody I don't know, or their motives. This part is relevant to me. I know FAU has expanded their seating for football at the Boca Campus. I think with the renovations size wise it would be a fit if they allowed it.....but that opinion would mask the greater point. The selling key to Lockhart lies in its convenience-not necessarily the ambience. Dade/Broward/Palm Beach can all participate without having to go too far out of their way. Any attempt to play at one end or the other ends the viability of the franchise. Won't talk out both sides of my mouth. For me, FAU is even BETTER-but it's not fair to the majority of the base any more than Metro Dade ever would give me and my brethren a realistic opportunity to attend many games. Distance is just too great. I told you all at the start of the rebrand that I'd been hearing a whole lot of neg. vibe about the future of the NASL from outside its walls......one of the reasons I buy seats game to game. Have enjoyed revisiting the memories...........but: All giddiness aside; looks like some dark clouds are picking up steam.........
the unfortunate truth is that this is not really a new story. The FAA is what prevented the Baltimore Orioles from signing a new spring training deal in Fort Lauderdale a few years back. They had an agreement with the city to re-build the baseball stadium and a training complex, but the FAA demanded $5 million or something like that. I'd say calling Congresspeople would be more effective...hell, Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz is pretty powerful and her district is mostly Broward County.
Congressmen Alcee Hastings, whose district includes the stadiums, has already written a letter to the FAA urging them to extend the lease: http://www.alceehastings.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=647 This is really a ridiculous situation. The FAA wants ALL the revenue generated by the BCAA and the Strikers. I do hope they realize that both make very little profits off events held there(in fact they probably lose money). Any sort of profits are essential to the operation and long-term viability of sports organizations who use the stadium(s), especially the Strikers.
Song for Saturday: You gave this land away (clap clap) Why can't you let us play? (clap clap) So now we'd like to say (clap clap) SCREW THE F-A-A! (clap clap) SCREW THE F-A-A! (clap clap)
For a situation such as this, I say forget using "Screw". I think the F-word is necessitated by this situation, and this is coming from somebody who is loathe to using the F-word in chanting. If the situation isn't positively resolved by then, I will come lend my voice for this at the June 25 match. (I just bought tickets for the Gold Cup in Tampa, can't make Saturday's match.) As for contingency plans... I see some nice open spaces around Central Broward Regional Park. And I'm not talking about its practice fields. In particular, there's a gigantic space across the first roundabout from the cricket field, and one just north as well. And there's also the giant open space on NW 31st Ave., one that looks big enough for a brand new SSS and parking. What are those used for? Perhaps someone could lobby President Obama to smack some sense in the FAA? You'd think he owes something to a county that gave him over 2/3rds of their voters in 2008... And look at a silver lining to this. If you guys do fail, at least Rowdies v. Strikers will be the last match ever there.
Ugh. What a kick to the liver after the joy of last week's result. Always one step forward and two steps back. I don't see the team moving permanently to FIU. They have to find another place in Broward to keep the Broward fans they've attracted, unless its a temporary solution until they figure out a Broward alternative. For instance, I could see them going to FIU to finish out this season. Of course, if they go to the Cricket Stadium, the stadium would be nearly full every game, and they would create a sense of scarcity for tickets, which may work in the teams favor. One way or the other, I'll be gutted if this team fails. . .
There IS no viable alternative in Broward for this year besides the cricket stadium. Which really isn't a terrible temporary situation, especially if you decide to build a pop-up stadium as at least a temp solution. You can have one of those built in 4 months, definitely ready for next year.
I think it makes sense for the team to keep this quiet until they know the results. I will say that I have thoroughly enjoyed watching the rebirth of the Strikers from afar. I really hope that they were caught off guard by this. They have spent a great deal of time & effort to make the gameday experience as fun for the fans as possible. It's a good sign that the local member of congress has already stepped up to argue the point publicly with the FAA. You wouldn't expect anything less from her. I don't know how much good it does to actually reverse any decisions. I hope this works out and that everyone in the area puts up a big fight over it. It does feel like big government being a bully because they can. As my mom used to say, just because you can do something doesn't mean you should! Maybe the FAA needs to talk to my mom and they'd learn to play nice in the sandbox with others!
Cricket Stadium has to be the Plan B. Aside from the obvious historical and sentimental reasons for the Strikers to remain at Lockhart, and of course the better set up for soccer, the cricket stadium is a better venue for a D2 side in my opinion. 5,000 covered seats, and they could add bleachers to increase capacity. See this mock-up I made awhile back:
Also this is/was the proposed Schlitterbahn project(dunno how much if any this has changed since last year): The baseball grandstand would be converted into part of the waterpark and some kind of lazy river would be going under the stands at Lockhart. Last I heard there would also be new practice/community fields built to the south of Lockhart(off the right of this pic, field by Commercial Blvd.).
Why couldn't they do this at the NW 31st Ave. site near the cricket stadium? It looks big enough. Just add about $30m or so for a pop-up stadium with added permanent facilities. And do it regardless of what the FAA does. If they're going to be jackasses about things now, why bother playing with them in the future?
Well a big factor is the location of Lockhart itself. It's not the best area, it's in an industrial park and under the flight path of the least safe airport in the nation. But it's been the home of the best pro soccer in the history of South Florida for 4 decades now. Lockhart is one of the last soccer venues with any history in the US/Canada. RFK is the only other one that I can think of whose history stretches back as far, and it's not long for this world. If they can work out a way to stay at Lockhart and fix it up for the long term, they should. As for that 31st Ave. site, it was some kind of toxic waste dump I think, that's why nothing is there.
I wish you guys the best of luck maybe the supporters groups of Ft. Lauderdale can begin some kind of protest at the FAA, and maybe the Rowdies and Orlando City Supporters group can join in seeing how this could effect the a Florida team. The Strikers have made huge strides this year and i would hate to see it fall apart over the greed of the FAA.
Some supporters are getting together tonight to organize. We're gonna put together a petition at least. We have 3 home games left this month to gather support against the FAA. And we also need to reach out to the effected high schools. They really have more pull on this then the Strikers do.
Okay, then nevermind on NW 31st Ave. How about the SW space of CBRP just south of the cricket stadium? Its dimensions are good, but I don't know if they're actually using it right now (in case Google Maps/Earth is out of date).
Rumor has it Tim Robbie will be at the meeting tonight. Check out the facebook event for location, etc. http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=205746846136015 We are also working on getting Tim Robbie on Miami Ultras Alive this coming Monday at 10 pm. We will confirm once he gives the ok. http://www.blogtalkradio.com/miamiultras
What is the Fort Lauderdale Strikers/Traffic Sports stance, opinion, outlook on this predicament that has recently surfaced with the FAA?... Here is something to stir the rumor pot... Last night while watching the Atlanta Silverbacks v. Montreal Impact on Ustream, there was a watcher named MN_Supporter that stated that FTL and FAA has already worked out a deal/compromise that will allow the Strikers to stay until the end of the season. I asked for his source and there was no answer... so I totally don't believe him. hmmm.....
I am obvously hoping we can stay at Lockhart, but Im kinda falling in love with the Cricket Stadium. I've reffed in the fields next to it and its a great site. And you can add some bleachers if necessary. It is a modern stadium, it adds demand, and makes for a more compact atmosphere
I just read this on IMS: "Brian Quarstad PERMALINK* June 9, 2011 Just talked to Tim Robbie, pres of the Ft. Lauderdale Strikers. He’s very positive about the situation. Hopefully will have story up tonight/AM" http://www.insidemnsoccer.com/2011/...orced-out-of-lockhart-stadium-by-end-of-june/
Heard similar story from one of our guys tonight that got in touch with Tim. Hopefully they work it out. We are still going to get a petition going and make noise about this. We want them to stay at Lockhart long term, not just this year. We'll have a sign or two at Saturday's game and start getting signatures and trying to gather support, not only from Strikers/soccer fans but also from the effected schools.
BQ at IMS has the updated article up now that longballerr was referring to. In it Tim Robbie was very optimistic in his comments to BQ about the situation. It almost seemed as if he was against the fans doing any kind of protesting about the situation at this point. The interesting thing about the article in my mind was notion that the FAA is now discussing the actual sale of the land to Schlitterbahn rather than just leasing it to them. Time will tell us what that really means, but possibly it could mean the end of the FAA holding sway over what goes on there. That's the real key, because at this point, I still can't see any logical reason whatsoever for what they were demanding. They would not be making any kind of significant revenue gains from the high schools or Strikers, and it would never have been able to continue as neither operation would be able to continue functioning without keeping those revenues. It just makes zero sense and I go back to my original thought that it was simply to force them out. But again, why is a real mystery. I know some of you Ultras were really against the waterpark idea, but I've never thought it would be a bad thing at all for the Strikers. I think the city is squarely in the corner of the Strikers and obviously the schools, so I think a deal that benefits everyone can be worked out amongst all parties once the damn FAA is removed from the equation. A renovated Lockhart is the only choice for the Strikers long term. That cricket stadium might be shinier and newer, but it isn't the place where Ray, Nene, Gerd, and the rest laid the foundation of this club. And even from a practical standpoint, the Cricket Stadium is in Lauderhill and isn't nearly as convenient from a driving standpoint to get to. Bring on Schlitterbahn, bring on the waterpark, bring on the Lockhart renovations and practice fields. If the team needs to play in an alternate venue for next season because of the renovations, I would hope that we've built this fanbase to the point that the cricket stadium wouldn't due anyway. FAU will have a brand spanking new stadium that could accomodate the team for a season, it's only a little further up 95 or the Turnpike to Glades, and will hold more than 5,000 fans. I want to see our attendance start building now from that exciting Islanders match. I want that to be the lowpoint of the year attendance wise. Long live the Strikers and Lockhart!!!!!