That's interesting, because reports are that he already sold his shares of the team to the other owners. He probably sticks around for some glad-handing and what have you, but he's not a serious owner/operator and he never was. This was obvious from the moment the league bent over backwards to try to get him to invest. Fisher is a flawed owner, but he consolidated ownership even more than it was when Wolff divested. He's about as committed as an owner can get. He just doesn't operate the team you way you want him to. Totally different things.
But Dan, we got the Quakes back, courtesy of the same owners trying to move the A's to SJ. In the perfect world, why not have both? (Of course...the world isn't perfect)
Respectfully disagree that a move to SJ wasn't possible. Yes, of course it didn't happen, but it had more to do with the shortcomings of SJ officials than anything else (not acquiring ALL the land at Diridon south, not offering any public financing for infrastructure). Expecting Fisher/Wolff to front ALL costs (land, stadium, infrastructure) was a complete showstopper with MLB, which loves them some public financing for stadiums!
Correction to your comment: He doesn't operate the team the way WE want him to (I'm not the only one who feels that way). And what does consolidating ownership have to do with spending on the cheap, not signing quality players? Like I said, maybe I'll change my tone after tomorrow..
Not sure I really follow you here. Public officials in San Jose never had a say in whether or not the A's would be able to move. It was always going to be up to MLB and how it ruled on its territorial rights. MLB was going to do what was best for its business, and what was best was keeping the two Bay Area teams where they are. I'm also not sure I understand what you mean by disastrous results. The Quakes now exist in their own stadium in San Jose proper. The A's will hopefully build a new stadium on their current site once all the nonsense about waterfront parks is finally given up on.
You claimed Beckham was committed to Miami, yet he sold his shares. Fisher invested more of his money in the ownership fo the team, which is literally the opposite of what Beckham did. You don't see that as commitment to owning the team? What do you think commitment means? I don't say "we" because my opinion is my own and I don't speak for any other fans. I also don't speak for you. You have an idea of what you want Fisher to do, but I don't know how much of that reflects what other people want, nor do I really care. So I'd recommend you don't use "we" to try to give your comments more weight than they actually have.
We lost two years and two stars on the kit. And I've got a lot more gray hair now than I might have otherwise. Circa April 2006.
I was responding to your assertion that anyone who realistically believed the A's were coming to San Jose was fooling themselves. San Jose public officials went so far as to file a lawsuit against MLB. That's how realistically they believed the A's could be had. In hindsight, they were certainly fooling themselves, but lots of ostensibly intelligent people believed it at the time.
Not sure what to tell you, I stand by what I said. It wasn't intended as a critique of anyone's intelligence. Human beings are expert at convincing themselves of things, seemingly totally independent of intelligence.
Yes, and in doing so, they create havoc. If you weren't on this board back in the day, as it appears you were not, you likely have no idea how infuriating it was to have the San Jose Mercury News ignore the plight of the Quakes while trumpeting the effort to lure the A's to San Jose. In 2004, there were two summer rallies in Plaza de Cesar Chavez, both on a weekday at noon. The baseball rally was attended by fewer than 150 persons, most organizers, city officials and the media themselves. The soccer rally garnered over 1500 people, ten times as many, and was mostly comprised of actual Quakes fans. The Mercury News, however, gave lavish coverage to the poorly-attended baseball rally (the bird in the bush, which you say no one could realistically covet without fooling themselves) and buried the massively-attended soccer rally (to save the bird in hand).
Ok, I see now hc: you're equating commitment as an owner to owning shares of said team. I (as well as others) equate commitment to spending on players, not being cheap and being aggressive seeking sponsorships, revenue. Just a difference of opinion, definition I suppose. That is all..
Yes, we did get a new stadium, even if its fast becoming obsolete by today's SSS standards of MLS 2.0, but I digress. If MLB really wanted to do what was best for its business, it would've had two of its Bay Area franchises playing in the two largest, wealthiest cities, separated by 50 miles. Anyhow, the move never happened so to keep my blood pressure in check I'll cease discussing A's to SJ. You're right, I'm wrong hc; better? Back to discussing soccer and the current Fisher regime..
Fisher sucks!! Yeah, he and Wolff spend enough on our stadium, and sure it could be better, but there's a lot to like about it. (I've only been there four times? Maybe five?) And they can add to the stadium too. They could: put an exterior on it, enclose the open end (even if just adding an upper deck), create a dedicated aways fans section (section 666), add a roof (with grow lights for the grass), and I'm sure there are other things they could add to it. But Fisher doesn't spend enough money on players. He's finally paid for a good coach, but he's going cheap on the players. Whatever he's doing to advertise, isn't enough. Soccer is really growing in our country, but you can't tell from looking at our team. Fisher sucks!! Go Quakes!! Fisher OUT!! - Mark
Fair enough. Considering both the Phillies and Royals have won titles more recently than the A's have, I'm not sure there are too many people still upset about those moves, but you never know. Of course, Phillies fans are subjected to National League ball, which really is worse than not having a team .
I feel like I'm missing something. Is Brown a financier of MLS in some way? Article didn't mention it and I didn't see any results from a quick search.
Oops. I must have linked the wrong article. Goofy website, so probably rotated articles while I was clicking copy onto the hyperlink. The one I was intending was in the MLS N&A daily news compilation and reported dissension among Inter Miami fans with the Qatar sponsorship.
If you would like to hear John Fisher speak, see this video: https://www.sjearthquakes.com/post/...s-announce-intermedia-official-jersey-partner
Heard the scoop on Fisher and why he is a silent type. Contrary to what I thought , he really cares about the team but doesn’t like to use a public forum to talk. He did speak about it being Wondo’s last year which is kind of sad. Anyway, I got more of an insiders view on why he doesn’t speak. Not sure if I agree with the philosophy or not but at least now I understand his perspective.