Atlanta Braves II

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#8,651
#8,651
slh1089 said:
Really have no idea why you are getting bent out of shape. All I originally said was that the stadium looked pretty empty last night. Not sure how that is arguable.
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You've got to understand how old it gets for ATL sports fans to get criticized. I think we get lectured more than any fan base on planet Earth.
 
#8,652
#8,652
You really need to start pulling your own weight as a fan and support the team, GA. Just saying. Unacceptable fanhood.
 
#8,653
#8,653
Last night:

San Francisco 41k
Yankees 40k
Boston 38k
Los Angeles (AL) 27k
Colorado 22k
Arizona 17k
Atlanta 16k
Washington 16k
Kansas City 14k
Chicago (AL) 13k

So, you've got good attendance at four of the top seven teams in payroll, and indifferent attendance everywhere else. As expected.
 
#8,654
#8,654
GAVol said:
You've got to understand how old it gets for ATL sports fans to get criticized. I think we get lectured more than any fan base on planet Earth.
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I wasn't criticizing anyone personally? I was honest to god just making an observation about how it looked on TV last night because I was just kind of taken aback. I apologize if you took it that way.
 
#8,656
#8,656
slh1089 said:
I wasn't criticizing anyone personally? I was honest to god just making an observation about how it looked on TV last night because I was just kind of taken aback. I apologize if you took it that way.
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Definitely not taking it personally. Just pointing out that it's not really any different anywhere else. You know before the season starts there will be 5-7 large market teams leading in attendance and ATL will be somewhere just above mid pack.
 
#8,657
#8,657
Houston and Cincinnati drew about 16k-17k per game during the week last week. San Diego drew about 18k. Oakland drew about 10k. Cleveland drew under that.

All the teams with the top payrolls drew well. Imagine that.
 
#8,658
#8,658
GAVol said:
Definitely not taking it personally. Just pointing out that it's not really any different anywhere else. You know before the season starts there will be 5-7 large market teams leading in attendance and ATL will be somewhere just above mid pack.
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True true. Can't wait until summer comes. I hope to make trip or two to fill those empty seats that native Atlantians can't fill :)
 
#8,665
#8,665
The chestiness of catchers about hitters looking back is one of the dumber things about baseball. Don't set up so damn early that you give the game away. It's like me getting pissed at my kid for peeking at a Christmas present if I left the bag out right there on the table. If your pitcher's so mentally weak that he can't throw strikes without a big juicy immobile target up there for three seconds, that's his own fault.
 
#8,666
#8,666
I've never lived in a bigger city, but I've seen enough lists to know that Atlanta also has a commute problem. A problem that really gets into the layout and low density housing in the city. That isn't changing any time soon.

Maybe it is sad. But it's a reality I don't see changing much. A location in North Atlanta would help, but still not put it in the top tier.
 
#8,667
#8,667
Atlanta traffic is bad . . . but when I lived there it was one of those things you factored in and figured out. It never really bothered me. I go through there all the time and if anything, it feels like the situation has improved.
 
#8,668
#8,668
Weezy said:
I've never lived in a bigger city, but I've seen enough lists to know that Atlanta also has a commute problem. A problem that really gets into the layout and low density housing in the city. That isn't changing any time soon.

Maybe it is sad. But it's a reality I don't see changing much. A location in North Atlanta would help, but still not put it in the top tier.
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A commitment to winning would help. The Braves were top 3 in the NL in attendance throughout the 90s. Ted Turner was kicked out of AOL and ownership went cheap in 2000; within a couple of years, attendance had fallen back to consistently 8th or 9th in the league. It's not a coincidence. The Braves spent 10 years as one of the top payroll teams in the league with an owner who was willing to spend money; now they've spent the last 10 years marketing their homegrown Georgia talent while their payroll has shrunk. Fans aren't stupid.
 
#8,669
#8,669
GAVol said:
Atlanta traffic is bad . . . but when I lived there it was one of those things you factored in and figured out. It never really bothered me. I go through there all the time and if anything, it feels like the situation has improved.
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I've lived in Atlanta for 17 years and traffic has never been a real problem. But that's probably because I've always lived reasonably intown. People who are unfortunate enough to live and work such that they have to drive with traffic on the highways at rush hour are screwed though.

The worst part about getting to the stadium from the north side (other than the train not going there, of course) isn't the traffic getting downtown; it's the horrible surface street situation once you get off the highway and are trying to get in a lot. You would think they could fix that somehow.
 
#8,670
#8,670
Chicken/egg situation though? If people went, they'd spend more..

Vercingetorix said:
A commitment to winning would help. The Braves were top 3 in the NL in attendance throughout the 90s. Ted Turner was kicked out of AOL and ownership went cheap in 2000; within a couple of years, attendance had fallen back to consistently 8th or 9th in the league. It's not a coincidence. The Braves spent 10 years as one of the top payroll teams in the league with an owner who was willing to spend money; now they've spent the last 10 years marketing their homegrown Georgia talent while their payroll has shrunk. Fans aren't stupid.
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#8,674
#8,674
TBrown said:
Chicken/egg situation though? If people went, they'd spend more..
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It can't be a chicken/egg situation when we know what happened first, can it? Once AOL took over and Ted Turner was out, the team quit going after significant free agents, instituted a payroll freeze (that's still in place a decade later under different ownership), and started letting themselves be completely hamstrung by bigger contracts. They started halfassing it, then attendance went down.

I do love how the Braves blame the fans, like they're trying to guilt people into going to the ballpark. This isn't rocket science. Ten years ago the Phillies were almost last in attendance with a crappy team and a small payroll. Now they've poured money into the team and they lead the league in attendance every year. But the important thing is that their payroll started going up before attendance did. Fans can tell when ownership is trying and when it's just BSing them. If owners won't spend any money on the team, why should the fans?
 
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