Comments on: Liveblog from Fremont Study Session 1/12 http://newballpark.org/2010/01/12/liveblog-from-fremont-study-session-112/ Thu, 24 May 2012 10:51:55 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: LoneStranger http://newballpark.org/2010/01/12/liveblog-from-fremont-study-session-112/comment-page-1/#comment-2506 LoneStranger Sat, 16 Jan 2010 18:24:47 +0000 http://newballpark.org/?p=1314#comment-2506 "Freemont" Great, I love it. “Freemont”

Great, I love it.

]]> By: Bay Area Tax Payers Fighting Two Stadiums at Once | Sports Fans Coalition, Inc. http://newballpark.org/2010/01/12/liveblog-from-fremont-study-session-112/comment-page-1/#comment-2505 Bay Area Tax Payers Fighting Two Stadiums at Once | Sports Fans Coalition, Inc. Sat, 16 Jan 2010 17:42:33 +0000 http://newballpark.org/?p=1314#comment-2505 [...] Bud Selig and Major League Baseball made the business move of soliciting Freemont to throw their hat in the ring to get an even better deal out of the host city, and in turn, more [...] [...] Bud Selig and Major League Baseball made the business move of soliciting Freemont to throw their hat in the ring to get an even better deal out of the host city, and in turn, more [...]

]]> By: OAKLANDathletics http://newballpark.org/2010/01/12/liveblog-from-fremont-study-session-112/comment-page-1/#comment-2502 OAKLANDathletics Sat, 16 Jan 2010 03:33:23 +0000 http://newballpark.org/?p=1314#comment-2502 "Andy Dolich left the 49ers this week and that's too bad -- for the 49ers. Dolich is a Bay Area sports legend. He was a huge, underrated part of the A's glory days of the '80s and early '90s, when the marketing guru turned the Oakland Coliseum into a fan-friendly, fun place to watch A's baseball. Backed by his excellent bosses -- Walter Haas Sr. and son Wally Haas -- Dolich was an innovator. For instance, he quickly used Tribune sportswriter Ralph Wiley’s term, "BillyBall," as a marketing tool to sell Billy Martin's swashbuckling image and daring style of play to the East Bay ticket buyer. And it worked. Dolich also had innovations at the ballpark, allowing fans to sit in a booth at the Coliseum to "broadcast" a single inning of play. The "broadcast" wasn’t actually heard by anyone, but the fans could tape their inning at the microphone so that they could replay the inning whenever they wanted. Dolich and the A’s also started a Kids’ Zone, a county fair kind of area where fans could test their arm speed at the Coliseum during the game. This was before nearly any other stadium offered these kinds of attractions. Any parent with an antsy child knows how important these kinds of features can be – and they made the A’s game experience for kids and parents during the Haas era that much more enjoyable. Dolich also was a master at getting the local media to do stories on A’s players that focused on their off-field interests, allowing readers (and future A’s fans) to get to know and like A’s players. Along with the winning A’s teams, these kinds of innovations increased A’s attendance in Oakland, peaking with 2.9 million in 1990 – then a Bay Area baseball attendance record. " http://baseballoakland.blogspot.com/2010/01/andy-dolich-let-go-by-49ers.html “Andy Dolich left the 49ers this week and that’s too bad — for the 49ers. Dolich is a Bay Area sports legend. He was a huge, underrated part of the A’s glory days of the ’80s and early ’90s, when the marketing guru turned the Oakland Coliseum into a fan-friendly, fun place to watch A’s baseball. Backed by his excellent bosses — Walter Haas Sr. and son Wally Haas — Dolich was an innovator. For instance, he quickly used Tribune sportswriter Ralph Wiley’s term, “BillyBall,” as a marketing tool to sell Billy Martin’s swashbuckling image and daring style of play to the East Bay ticket buyer. And it worked. Dolich also had innovations at the ballpark, allowing fans to sit in a booth at the Coliseum to “broadcast” a single inning of play. The “broadcast” wasn’t actually heard by anyone, but the fans could tape their inning at the microphone so that they could replay the inning whenever they wanted. Dolich and the A’s also started a Kids’ Zone, a county fair kind of area where fans could test their arm speed at the Coliseum during the game. This was before nearly any other stadium offered these kinds of attractions. Any parent with an antsy child knows how important these kinds of features can be – and they made the A’s game experience for kids and parents during the Haas era that much more enjoyable. Dolich also was a master at getting the local media to do stories on A’s players that focused on their off-field interests, allowing readers (and future A’s fans) to get to know and like A’s players. Along with the winning A’s teams, these kinds of innovations increased A’s attendance in Oakland, peaking with 2.9 million in 1990 – then a Bay Area baseball attendance record. ” http://baseballoakland.blogspot.com/2010/01/andy-dolich-let-go-by-49ers.html

]]> By: navigator http://newballpark.org/2010/01/12/liveblog-from-fremont-study-session-112/comment-page-1/#comment-2501 navigator Sat, 16 Jan 2010 03:19:11 +0000 http://newballpark.org/?p=1314#comment-2501 The truth is that this franchise has been carrying on with a one-foot-out-the-door mentality since Steve Schott bought the team at a discount from Walter Haas. There are still plenty of Oakland Athletic fans in the Bay Area and Northern California.. Those 2.9 million fans who showed up for Walter Haas didn't just disappear from the face of the Earth. And the East Bay has gained 700,000 residents since Walter Haas owned the team. Some of the fans have had it with the negative vibe consistently emanating from the carpetbagger ownerships. You have 31,000 people on face book who value the Oakland Athletics. Many of these people have lost touch with the franchise because of the policies of this ownership. I strongly believe that the idea was to decimate the franchise to the point where no one showed up and no one cared in order to facilitate relocating out of Oakland. As an example of how and why attendance was purposely lowered, Wolff decided to close off the third deck because he had to pay the City of Oakland a surcharge for higher percentage of ticket prices for any revenue for attendance over two million fans. That was the real reason why he closed off the third deck. Wolff wanted to show lower attendance, while charging more per fan for the under two million attendance threshold. Wolff's policies of tarping the third deck, openly talking of relocating out of Oakland, denigrating the Coliseum, and trading away fan favorites, resulted in many long-time fans losing interest in the team. Those fans are still there waiting for a reason to once again fall in love with their Oakland Athletics. The recipe to rekindle that love affair is a committed ownership who values its community and listens to its customers, a new landmark waterfront ballpark near Jack London Square close to restaurants, theaters, pubs and public transportation, and a front office committed to putting a consistent and entertaining product on the field. With a committed ownership, this can all come to fruition on Victory Court near Jack London Square. Let's Go Oakland! The truth is that this franchise has been carrying on with a one-foot-out-the-door mentality since Steve Schott bought the team at a discount from Walter Haas. There are still plenty of Oakland Athletic fans in the Bay Area and Northern California.. Those 2.9 million fans who showed up for Walter Haas didn’t just disappear from the face of the Earth. And the East Bay has gained 700,000 residents since Walter Haas owned the team. Some of the fans have had it with the negative vibe consistently emanating from the carpetbagger ownerships. You have 31,000 people on face book who value the Oakland Athletics. Many of these people have lost touch with the franchise because of the policies of this ownership. I strongly believe that the idea was to decimate the franchise to the point where no one showed up and no one cared in order to facilitate relocating out of Oakland. As an example of how and why attendance was purposely lowered, Wolff decided to close off the third deck because he had to pay the City of Oakland a surcharge for higher percentage of ticket prices for any revenue for attendance over two million fans. That was the real reason why he closed off the third deck. Wolff wanted to show lower attendance, while charging more per fan for the under two million attendance threshold. Wolff’s policies of tarping the third deck, openly talking of relocating out of Oakland, denigrating the Coliseum, and trading away fan favorites, resulted in many long-time fans losing interest in the team. Those fans are still there waiting for a reason to once again fall in love with their Oakland Athletics. The recipe to rekindle that love affair is a committed ownership who values its community and listens to its customers, a new landmark waterfront ballpark near Jack London Square close to restaurants, theaters, pubs and public transportation, and a front office committed to putting a consistent and entertaining product on the field. With a committed ownership, this can all come to fruition on Victory Court near Jack London Square. Let’s Go Oakland!

]]> By: FC http://newballpark.org/2010/01/12/liveblog-from-fremont-study-session-112/comment-page-1/#comment-2494 FC Fri, 15 Jan 2010 17:12:21 +0000 http://newballpark.org/?p=1314#comment-2494 The truth is, while playing in Oakland, the A's have failed to receive the support they deserve, whether it be from their fans or the City of Oakland. That is why we're having this discussion. The truth is, while playing in Oakland, the A’s have failed to receive the support they deserve, whether it be from their fans or the City of Oakland. That is why we’re having this discussion.

]]> By: jk-usa http://newballpark.org/2010/01/12/liveblog-from-fremont-study-session-112/comment-page-1/#comment-2493 jk-usa Fri, 15 Jan 2010 14:33:29 +0000 http://newballpark.org/?p=1314#comment-2493 The truth hurts I guess. Nav nailed it again as usual. The truth hurts I guess. Nav nailed it again as usual.

]]> By: Berkeley A's Fan http://newballpark.org/2010/01/12/liveblog-from-fremont-study-session-112/comment-page-1/#comment-2485 Berkeley A's Fan Thu, 14 Jan 2010 22:45:22 +0000 http://newballpark.org/?p=1314#comment-2485 Maybe if Wally Haas wasn't a quitter I guess. Maybe if Wally Haas wasn’t a quitter I guess.

]]> By: LoneStranger http://newballpark.org/2010/01/12/liveblog-from-fremont-study-session-112/comment-page-1/#comment-2484 LoneStranger Thu, 14 Jan 2010 16:16:39 +0000 http://newballpark.org/?p=1314#comment-2484 Yawn. Yawn.

]]> By: navigator http://newballpark.org/2010/01/12/liveblog-from-fremont-study-session-112/comment-page-1/#comment-2474 navigator Thu, 14 Jan 2010 01:26:36 +0000 http://newballpark.org/?p=1314#comment-2474 Again with the baseless "15 year" claim. Again Oakland has bee dealing with two carpetbagger ownerships with South Bay interest who did NOTHING to make a ballpark in Oakland happen. They showed absolutely no interest in ANY site in Oakland including the much talked about uptown location. The City of Oakland spent 250,000 dollars for the HOK study. Lew Wolff spent 250.00 on Cartoon drawings for his proposed 66th Ave to High Street farce. Lew even wanted a new BART station to make the project would never come to fruition. Also, Lew failed to follow up on the plan by talking to business owners in the area. Lew actually bought land in Fremont, went to city council meetings, talked to opposition groups, etc. In Oakland, Lew set a deadline, and then proceeded to stall while dismissing a group of Oakland civic and business leaders headed by former City Councilman Dick Spees, which he had originally asked for. So, there goes your "15 years." It's impossible to negotiate with someone who isn't interested. Unfortunately Oakland has been plagued by South Bay business interests who wanted to relocate the franchise to the South Bay from the very beginning. Oakland's team has been hijacked by South Bay business interests for their personal gain at the expense of Oakland Athletic fans. Sure Wolff will get a higher occupancy rate at his Fairmont Hotel in downtown San Jose with a ballpark at Diridon. Wolff gets to enrich himself at the expense of a storied ML franchise. The Oakland Athletics will cease to exist. They will relocate away from their fanbase in the very center of the Bay Area. Gone will be the history and the legacy of the Oakland Athletics. No, the blame goes squarely on the shoulders of the carpetbaggers. Again with the baseless “15 year” claim. Again Oakland has bee dealing with two carpetbagger ownerships with South Bay interest who did NOTHING to make a ballpark in Oakland happen. They showed absolutely no interest in ANY site in Oakland including the much talked about uptown location. The City of Oakland spent 250,000 dollars for the HOK study. Lew Wolff spent 250.00 on Cartoon drawings for his proposed 66th Ave to High Street farce. Lew even wanted a new BART station to make the project would never come to fruition. Also, Lew failed to follow up on the plan by talking to business owners in the area. Lew actually bought land in Fremont, went to city council meetings, talked to opposition groups, etc. In Oakland, Lew set a deadline, and then proceeded to stall while dismissing a group of Oakland civic and business leaders headed by former City Councilman Dick Spees, which he had originally asked for. So, there goes your “15 years.” It’s impossible to negotiate with someone who isn’t interested. Unfortunately Oakland has been plagued by South Bay business interests who wanted to relocate the franchise to the South Bay from the very beginning. Oakland’s team has been hijacked by South Bay business interests for their personal gain at the expense of Oakland Athletic fans. Sure Wolff will get a higher occupancy rate at his Fairmont Hotel in downtown San Jose with a ballpark at Diridon. Wolff gets to enrich himself at the expense of a storied ML franchise. The Oakland Athletics will cease to exist. They will relocate away from their fanbase in the very center of the Bay Area. Gone will be the history and the legacy of the Oakland Athletics. No, the blame goes squarely on the shoulders of the carpetbaggers.

]]> By: Al http://newballpark.org/2010/01/12/liveblog-from-fremont-study-session-112/comment-page-1/#comment-2469 Al Wed, 13 Jan 2010 20:08:06 +0000 http://newballpark.org/?p=1314#comment-2469 What if this whole country had been run by nimbies from the beginning? You would see just one giant ugly suburb. These Fremonters go to SF and Oakland to wine and dine, yet did they ever ask the city folks who have been displaced by gentrification how they feel about Fremont tourists? Now the nimbies cry and moan when what they believe to be their own personal gated community shows any hint of an effort at civic pride. I hope as the inner cities continue to gentrify all those displaced end up in Fremont and ruin all the nimbies' precious property value. What if this whole country had been run by nimbies from the beginning? You would see just one giant ugly suburb. These Fremonters go to SF and Oakland to wine and dine, yet did they ever ask the city folks who have been displaced by gentrification how they feel about Fremont tourists? Now the nimbies cry and moan when what they believe to be their own personal gated community shows any hint of an effort at civic pride. I hope as the inner cities continue to gentrify all those displaced end up in Fremont and ruin all the nimbies’ precious property value.

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