12/21/24
February 16, 2002
The Marlins: won the World Series just 5 years ago, now there's a question of whether it should even exist. I lived in Florida when they got the team and won the series, and it's a downright shame what's happened since. For the new owners to ask for a new ballpark is completely laughable.
As you said, Miami does not have a lot of rainouts, Joe Robbie (never gonna say Pro Player) is a perfectly good Superbowl-worthy stadium. I'm really against the "stadium ransom" anyhow, so if they want one they could just build it themselves. And even if the city were to build it - why? Why build a stadium for an extremely bad team with no real hope of improvement? But you're right. If dumb-dumb Huizenga had kept them as a viable team for another year, he would have had a brand new stadium and made a significant profit on the sale. I just wonder when he's going to blow up the Dolphins (mistake #1 was keeping Marino around so long).
posted by owillis at 01:08 AM on February 17, 2002
Blasphemer! I'm firmly in the 'Dan Marino and Don Shula should have been allowed to play and coach until they were 95 if they wanted to' camp. As far as blowing them up now... there isn't enough talent there to blow up and usefully rebuild. Who are they going to trade away to get picks and cap space? Jason Taylor and Zach Thomas are about it; no one else would really get enough interest to make it worthwhile. And it isn't the D that needs revamping anyway; it's the offense. Whoever decided that Fiedler is worth 25 million dollars will be the first against the wall when the revolution comes. :)
Getting back to the stadium; I'm strongly against the stadium ransom. That both the Heat and Panthers have huge, new $200M+ arenas when the Miami Arena is 15 years old is pathetic. Doubly so when the last privately financed stadium in the country (Joe Robbie) is there as a shining example of how things can and should be done. And so having anyone pay for a new stadium rubs me the wrong way.
That said, for once, I can understand why they'd want one, and why they'd threaten to move. Joe Robbie is a Super Bowl worthy stadium. That's not really relevant to the Marlins- it is an absolutely horrid place for a baseball game. [And I thought that before I got an office two blocks from the holy shrine that is Fenway.] The waterfront location downtown that they've proposed for a retractable roof stadium would be a truly gorgeous place, that would increase attendance a lot and make the team competitive again (I believe.) So it isn't unreasonable for them to ask for it.
[Side note: I'm really excited that Luria is bringing the Expo's farm system and scouts with him; compared to the Expos the Marlins are a cash cow so they may be able to keep a bit more of the talent they had.]
posted by tieguy at 10:16 AM on February 17, 2002
I'm firmly in the 'Dan Marino and Don Shula should have been allowed to play and coach until they were 95 if they wanted to' camp It's guys like you who hamstrung poor Jimmy Johnson down there! :) I couldn't stand Danny-boy and he played about 4 years too long, and while Shula was close to the end - he could have had a better ending if he were allowed to remove Golden Boy. The Heat's sure stinking up that new stadium, and I can't stand the Panther's stadium (I went there for a concert) - it looks like a shopping mall. You really think JRS is that bad for baseball? I confess that it's the only place I've seen baseball, but it didn't seem that bad (other than those Office-depot pencil/foul markers).
posted by owillis at 04:21 PM on February 17, 2002
Hey, I love Jimmy... but Jimmy hamstrung himself by never getting a decent running back. If we'd ever had a decent running game, Marino wouldn't have been asked to bail us out as many times as he was, and would never have looked so bad towards the end. Looks like the current regime is working hard on doing the same. [The Dolphins have had, if I recall correctly, exactly one thousand yard rusher in my entire lifetime. We've also had exactly two losing seasons in that span, so I guess I shouldn't complain that much.]
And yeah, both the Heat and Panthers are stinking up their new digs. And the Marlins are stinking it up too. Such is life. It's karmic balance for the 'Canes. :)
As far as stadiums... honestly, I guess I'm just biased towards Old School stadiums. I think it's criminal that the Orange Bowl is not in the Orange Bowl. I think playing basketball in any arena that seats more than 9,314 is Just Wrong. And I think the people who want to replace Fenway were created by Satan just to make lawyers look good. So... I dunno. JRS isn't really that bad, I guess, but it just doesn't have the same feel as a classic, cozy ballpark. A smaller place closer to downtown would really help attendance, I think, and a place right on the water (like San Fran now has) would be great. Of course having a winning team would help a lot more, but I'm not holding my breath for that with Luria at the helm.
posted by tieguy at 05:32 PM on February 17, 2002
OK, so... I think we'll have to agree to disagree on this one :) I was born and raised in Miami. The request for a new stadium is not completely unreasonable- Miami has a substantially below average rainout rate, but the threat of rainouts is high, and does measurably decrease attendance. So, the request for a domed stadium isn't unreasonable; it would raise attendance in the long term much more than most new stadiums do. That said... it's also not unreasonable to turn it down. With 4 new stadiums in a ~30 mile radius in the past 15 years, the area really doesn't need to spend more money on a new stadium, especially with tourism down. Of course none of this would be relevant if Huizenga had had the balls to keep the team intact for even a year after the World Series win. That's the real shame of it all- even a one year investment there would have paid off a huge amount in terms of establishing the team and the franchise. Had they done that it could have been profitable (or at least close) without a new stadium. And of course no one would have said no if they'd asked.