Candlestick for the Quakes? 10/24

Gavin is a comedian, too?

 

Then again its nice to know at least one Mayor in the Bay Area recognizes the Quakes as a soccer team.

 

Not going to happen. San Francisco is obligated to build a stadium for the 49ers since the deal to construct a mall/stadium complex was approved in 1997. The Earthquakes are second fiddle in this issue, and they would be placed near SBC (or Santa Clara) before they play their league games in the outbacks of Candlestick...

A large venue near downtown is out of the question for the NFL club so if they remain they'll be either at Candlestick or Hunter's Point...

Oh Beerking, you get major cred for this classic...would only make Hamatachi and the Monk proud...

We missed ya out here today!

 

I think today on ESPN2 they said they're looking at some games at SBC Park in SF next year.

If Newsome wants to use the Quakes as a bargaining tool, the Quakes should use SF.

 

Sorry to disagree. SF is not obligated to build a stadium. The voters only approved a specific amount ($100 or $150 million, I forget which one) to be contributed by the City if the Niners come up with the rest. There is some pipe dream of an outlet mall as part of the complex, as well. But if the Niners don't come up with the package, the City is not obligated to do anything.

On this I totally agree!

 

I suspect the Quakes would only play at Candlestick IF...SF promised to build a stadium for them and ground was actually broken on it. Playing at Candlestick (without a SSS in the offing) flies directly in the face of all that the league wants for its franchises. They are trying to get away from teams that draw 10-12K playing in stadiums that hold 65K. Doesn't look good for the TV cameras. Then, there is always the issue of concessions and who keeps them?

I agree...it is nice to see that we are still on Newsom's radar but I would suspect, for now, we are just a bargaining chip.

However, we did get to chat with Tony Amanpour today at the pre-game tailgate. Since he told a group of us "nobodys," I doubt I'd be revealing any major secrets if I said that he mentioned unveiling "new stadium plans for SF and SJ/Santa Clara in 3 weeks." The SF plans are said to include an attached hotel/offices while the SC plan is all SSS. He also said the Santa Clara venture was cooperative with San Jose--not sure how but he said it was a very amicable joint effort between the 2 cities.

 

Hey Beerking,

Is it true what they say about what comes from Humboldt County?

Thanks,
Marchetti

 

And appears eager to have them.
Did you hear that, Ron?

 

Ah, OK then... given that York has cut costs in regards to his team, it would be difficult for him to come up with the majority of money to bankroll the stadium... he is very lucky that the City of San Francisco is providing a smidgen bit of money to finance such a project if it takes forth...

Of course, we all know that San Francisco politics and financing such items go against the grain on what goes on elsewhere so getting the money would have to be acquired in a creative fashion...

Still, I just can't picture the Quakes being the next tenant of the Stick since it runs counter to Garber and AEG's plan of 20,000-30,000 SSS.

Would have been nice riding shotgun behind Los Beerking and you, but alas... too advoidant at the stage... Kind of been shifting towards quiet mode, but that topic is for offline...

Los Beerking, we have to make some arrangement so you can crash around here next time... don't worry it won't be in San Fran... Cheers!

 

One part that jumped out at me was the part about the City and the Niners wanting to build a new practice facility in SF to replace the current facility in Santa Clara, which just happens to be across the street from the proposed Quakes stadium site. If the Quakes do indeed build a stadium there, and the Niners do move to a new facility in SF, it would be ideal if the Quakes could take over the 49ers facility. It might not be state of the art for the NFL, but it might immediately be the best in MLS.

 

So those of us who were youth soccer involved yesterday want to know, did Amanpour say he's sent the deposit and letter of intent to AEG? Sounds pretty cool of him to stop by the tailgate.

Tony

 

Recall that all the vague statements about the 2005 season have used the reference to the Earthquakes playing "in the Bay Area"...not necessarily in San Jose...and nowhere has Spartan Stadium been referenced at all. My gut feeling is that next year is a split schedule, with a plurality of games at Spartan Stadium, but some marquee matchups (including a Derby match) at SBC as well. I think the July match between Club America and Boca Juniors was an audition for the folks from Giants Entertainment (the same folks who stole the XFL from San Jose...thieves!) to see how fast they could potentially convert the baseball grounds into an acceptible soccer pitch.

 

I'll second that. If they split the schedule next year I won't be buying the full season package.

 

Be heading to both, but Candles**t is a cold, drab pit... wind everywhere, people in jackets dressed for Green Bay weather, I could go on...

Place them at SBC, might be a better sell...

 

Hmm, we always hear about a stadium's being expandable, but I wonder if it's possible to make an existing stadium smaller, because that would be a decent idea.

 

Except if the matches started at 1:00 PM. The weather at the Stick, or the Monster, is pretty good until around 4:00.

 

Yeah, if they're going to use it, use it for day games, which are generally too hot at Spartan during the summer. And they could combine that with some promotions in the upper peninsula / north bay. For evening games, the weather is usually great at Spartan, and it would almost certainly be cold and windy in the evening at the 'Stick.

 

Any renovation plans for Candlestick that do not include substaintal explosives would be a waste of time. But to your point, yes, explosives would make the stadium smaller.