Does San Jose now have another priority in professional sports other than the Quakes?

Discussion in 'San Jose Earthquakes' started by US Sasquatch, Sep 29, 2004.

  1. US Sasquatch

    US Sasquatch New Member

    Nov 12, 2003
  2. Hawkeye17

    Hawkeye17 DynaChick v QuakeBabe v WildKate v Chewie23

    Aug 25, 1999
    Miami Vice 82
    Club:
    San Jose Earthquakes
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Right now, No.

    If the Athletics want to move into the South Bay, they would have to finance their stadium through private monies and financing. History in regards to a baseball stadium and the Giants has shown that the locals will not have their public funds used to construct such a venue. Obviously it's going to cost much more for them than what the Earthquakes are trying to build in regards to a stadium.

    What should be watched is if San Jose (or Santa Clara) is going to flinch and allow the Athletics to move to their city, while not giving a damn about the Earthquakes. Another factor would be allowing public money to be allocated for the Athletics, but leaving the Quakes on the outside looking in, where right now they are trying to create the best and sensible deal with Santa Clara.

    Also, the Giants might be forced to budge to allow such a move, much in the same way that Angelos and Baltimore is doing to allow the Expos to relocate to DC. It will involve a lot more money to compensate Magowan's group.

    To opine, if the council members were smart and wise, they should consider the benefits of retaining the Quakes especially if a stadium is built fully with private funds. The luring of the Athletics is certainly going to meet a LOT of resistance with the taxpayers.
     
  3. Spartacus

    Spartacus Member

    May 20, 2001
    The NO SOCCER Zone
    Apples and oranges.

    First, all apparent evidence shows that the City of San Jose is not now and never has been interested in supporting the construction of an SSS in the city of San Jose. So your first question is moot because the City of San Jose has always had "another priority" other than the Earthquakes. Oh, sure, the Quakes are nice to have around, but we'd rather put our community $500 million into debt for a Major League Baseball team that's a long fight away from being gotten.

    And the effort to bring Major League Baseball to San Jose has never really been an "either/or" question. The San Jose Sports Authority has openly courted both...though they're not willing to spend a dime on the Earthquakes.
     
  4. tonyh01

    tonyh01 Member

    Nov 9, 2003
    San Jose
    Club:
    San Jose Earthquakes
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    NO! Any questions?
     
  5. pwave

    pwave Member

    Jul 28, 2004
    ValleyOfHeartsDelite
    Yeah, they have courted the MLS like sorority girls at a frat party---after midnight. The cities of San Jose and Santa Clara have both recently and over the last twenty (or is it thirty now?) years demonstrated their "smitten-ness" (extending the metaphor) with major league baseball. They have been willing to play the fool to San Francisco several times and are now playing the fool to the Oakland.

    They (the city governments and their sanctioned and tax-payer funded lobbying groups - San Jose Sports Authority and Larry Stone, et. al.) don't realize that the most important thing with any sports team is to have a strong, committed and most important, smart ownership group willing to fight for their team. They think that just having a baseball team in the area brings luster to the area. The Expos are a great example of what disgrace a team can bring to a region if the ownership isn't astute. I have a feeling within a couple of years, if not sooner, the 49ers will be in the same position. The Warriors are on verge of dropping to this lowly position.

    The one thing MLS and the Quakes have going for them is that a SSS won't require the multi-hundred millions of dollars for a venue like baseball. If a SSS is built within a area where redevelopment funds are available, the cities will be able to invest without voter approval. A baseball facility will, barring some creative accounting, require voter approval for stadium construction. The lower cost of a SSS also makes it easier to privately finance.

    This also brings us back to the fairgrounds property. If I'm not mistaken, the County isn't nearly as encumbered with voter approval for allocation of money as the cities; probably because the County hasn't shown a pre-occupation (thats tending to stalking) of baseball that the cities have.
     
  6. markmcf8

    markmcf8 Member+

    Oct 18, 1999
    Vancouver, WA, USA
    Club:
    San Jose Earthquakes
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    This is absurd!

    The South Bay is NOT going to get the A's or any other baseball team. Here's more stupidity!

    So a baseball stadium is going to run something like $300 million, plus another $30 to $40 million to esentially bribe the Giants to allow it, and where is this money going to come from?!

    Versus a Soccer Specific Stadium for less than $100 million?! A Championship Team that is ALREADY resident in San Jose?! That wants to stay here?! With local South Bay Ownership in the wings?!

    Do we really need to think about this?!

    LONG LIVE THE QUAKES!!

    - Mark
     
  7. sj_quakes_fan

    sj_quakes_fan Member

    May 18, 2001
    San Jose
    Club:
    San Jose Earthquakes
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    The A's have threatened (that's all it is) to move every year for years. It's a bargaining tool. A call to action if you will. Sound familiar?
     
  8. Spartacus

    Spartacus Member

    May 20, 2001
    The NO SOCCER Zone
    1) The A's have pretty much gone on record that they prefer to build a new baseball-only facility on the Coliseum grounds.
    2) This goes with the typical South Bay mentality...we want that big shiny toy that the other city has before we've taken care of what we already have.
     
  9. QuakerHead

    QuakerHead New Member

    Oct 22, 2001
    San Jose
    Look, I'm on your side here, I want a SSS and could care less about B-ball but it is possible that the A's could move to the South Bay. Steve Schott is a South Bay guy. He lives here, went to school here, and is active in charities here (in particular those associated with the Diocese of San Jose). He is building a baseball stadium for Santa Clara University. He hired a local real estate developer named Lou Wolff to scout a stadium deal.

    He would like to move to SJ but the territory rights that were negotiated with the Giants when they were trying to move to SJ have so far been insurmountable. Also, there seems to be little taste for the amount of public funds required and Schott has said that he couldn't do it privately like SBC because the SF tourist potential that made SBC possible just doesn't exist in SJ. The Giants did want to move to either SJ or SC and lost two separate ballot initiatives that would have raised taxes to build a stadium.

    Does this effect efforts to get a stadium built. Only so far as SJ neglects the Quakes and ignores possibilities for a SSS by keeping properties they have available for the A's. For example, the whole block where the SJ Giants play (a block away from spartan) is owned by the city and is one of the proposed sites for the A's. It has never been mentioned regarding a SSS and I would guess that is because the city is keeping it for a potential A's stadium.
     
  10. Spartacus

    Spartacus Member

    May 20, 2001
    The NO SOCCER Zone
    That's the whole rub in a nutshell. They're not caring for what they already have while courting something they cannot have.
    Don't bet on baseball there either. The Sharks keep eating into that property for more ice space at Logitech Ice (a third rink is now under construction). Soon there won't even be room for the SJ Giants on that property (there isn't enough parking space for Muni Stadium's capacity of 4800). My gut feeling is that the city wants to squeeze Muni Stadium out and cede that corner to the Sharks eventually.
     
  11. Dark Cloud

    Dark Cloud New Member

    Apr 5, 2003
    Mountain View
    NHL = No Hockey League

    so why do they need to practice?
     
  12. JMichaels

    JMichaels New Member

    Feb 17, 2003
    To get to Carnegie Hall. What else?
     
  13. BlueMeanie

    BlueMeanie New Member

    Apr 1, 2002
    EastSIIIIDE
    Yeah. Those hockey players should do nothing except sit around and drink beer and eat fried food. Then they'll be in GREAT shape if the lockout ends.
     

Share This Page