The San Jose situation has dragged on for a long time now. Why would it have taken so long for them to do that? Suspect San Jose's last hope may be a greatly improved stadium deal due to the imminent credible threat of the loss of the franchise.
I can live with the erzatz grass - well sort of. But I don't care if its for only one exhibition match. Soccer should never played in a dome.
I'll be severely disappointed if somebody didn't point out to you that that injury was suffered... ...on grass.
SSV has only been in existence for about a year. No real attempt was made by AEG to find local investors or stadium sites before or since SSV's inception. So the whole situation has only "dragged on" for a year now. -G
Won't they have to pay at least as much to buy the team and relocate it? The rumor was that DC United was being sold for $20 million.
Much as we've bum rushed the EJ comment 6 ways to Sunday, if they did move to the dome, I might look into the purchase of seed and turpentine.
Sure you could. The place currently seats 60,000. I have little doubt that you could fit a hotel and a 25-30,000 seat SSS in there. You could even bring back the old exploding scoreboard that they got rid of when they added more seats for the Oilers in 1987.
I think jeff is spot on. AEG knows exactly what's going to happen with the Quakes. Whatever it is--it's a done deal. And although I hate to be pessimistic for the San Jose fathful, my guess is that the nameless local investors balked at the difficulty of building a SSS. AEG looked at the situation and gave up and I would suppose Club America also checked it out and realized it was hopeless. The Quakes are going to Houston.
In a way, I think it would be kindof cool to play there. They could build bleachers closer to the field however- man, main stand far from field. As well, the dullest lighting imaginable....like a cloudy Boston winter day. Houston is a great soccer market. Just great. MLS needs to be there.
This argument is a red herring. First, one of the key advantages of playing in the Dome would be that America in MLS would control the scheduling. They wouldn't have to schedule around Disney on Ice or motocross, so they would have enjoy great flexibility to schedule to avoid any conflicts with America in the MFL. Additionally, America in the MFL often plays on Sunday, not Saturday. Check out some MFL schedules. In the just completed MFL season, after April (the start of the MLS season), America played on Saturday exactly once by my count. They played mid-week or on Sunday six times and all six of their playoff games were on either Thursday or Sunday. Finally, this argument isn't even remotely unique to America. EPL fans will also have to decide whether to go watch a live first division pro game or watch some tape-delay on FSC. There are always all sorts of potential conflicts. If people in this market want to watch live, first division pro soccer, then they'll know where and when to go.
The whole idea of an SSS doesn't work too well if you are having to pay anything close to market for the land. You need it as a giveaway. That's hard enough to pull off..but then looking at one of the most expensive areas in the US (land cost wise)...its just a hard, hard task to pull off. The numbers are extremely difficult/impossible to work out for any rational investor.
Turpentine to remove the paint from the translucent roof panels. Seed to grow grass inside the Astrodome, which is how it was in 1965, before it was discovered that the white light coming through those roof panels made fielding fly balls very difficult. A bunch of roof tiles were painted over, the grass died, and Astroturf was unleashed on the world.
It might be possible to build a SSS in the Bay area, but it would take many years of toil and be a Metro-esque effort with the local political entities. AEG never wanted the Quakes to begin with and my take is that they want to sell them now, not in 3 years.
Wednesday's Confederations Cup final in Frankfurt was also played under a roof ... and a leaky one at that.
I think this is the biggest negative working against SJ right now. I could never understand why they dont just tear down Spartan and make a sss there. I would think the university would basically give them the land and control of the venue if they were willing to build a new stadium. There must be a reason. Anyone know?
Every time I see a new thread with a "Quakes to Houston" article, I run to get popcorn. I love this stuff. It's the ultimate BS SoapOpera. I'm waiting for Noah Elliot to tell El Jefe that he's carrying his baby. I, for one, hope that the Quakes stay. You see, I love hate. And they had such a brilliant show of hatred last week that I think they deserve their team. But I gotta admit, following this stuff is really fun. I can't wait to see what happens.
IIRC, Spartan Shops more or less told AEG to piss off one time too many in negotiations over revenues, and AEG took their ball and went home. I'm sure it's more detailed and complex, but I asked that question about a year ago, and I though that was the answer I got.
Now, I know we've gone here b4, Sr. CT. But it's not the 1840s. Hell, it's not even 1985 in terms of the mass northern migration that radically alters the cultural landscape of the US Southwest. I'm confident that recent immigrants have indeed assimilated Texas culture to many degrees. But the nature of modern immigration in a globalized world makes me believe that new immigrants will be less hostile to The Big Bad Capitalenyos like their fellow Houstonians are. They have a sharply different concept of what Mexico City means to them. It no longer is the beaurocratic stranglehold on the modernization and cultural autonomy that it was back in the 19th century, not just Texas but Zacatecas, the Yucatan, California, etc. Mexico City now is one of the destinations, along w/ Guadalajara, Cancun, Tijuana, Los Angeles, Monterrey, Chicago, Houston, NYC, etc. as Mexico transitions from an agrarian society/economy. In short, don't count on the "anti-Capitalenho" rhetoric to fly w/ recent immigrants.
Because Spartan Shops, their current landlord, is a tightfisted skinflint group of SOBs that have had the Quakes by the short-n'-curlies since 1996. And AEG already rejected the thought of renovating Spartan Stadium. For an overview of possible stadium sites, look here. The text needs some updating, apart from the Milpitas location; at this point you may safely assume that AEG wants nothing more to wash their hands of the San Jose franchise. In addition, there are sites in Fremont and at Mission College in Santa Clara that have been under consideration.
Not necessarily a Metro-esque effort, given that this ain't Jersey politics. It'll be difficult, herculean, but not 60-90 Part Deux. Uh... Dallas? AEG doesn't plan on owning 5 teams forever, and as long as there is Single Entity, this new rivalry will/would eventually blossom to LA-SJ proportions. I think that the rivalry will definitely be a factor in the equation, however.