Everyone for years so concerned about MLB that we all know isn't coming to this 2-bit town. So concerned that no one supports or give a dam about the Beavers. am I right or wrong?

i really don't see the beavers leaving the portland area--in fact i think they'll stay within the pdx city limits...maybe just maybe in hillsboro or vancouver wa--it's not in paulson's dna to leave pdx unless as truly a last resort--plus pdx is very important to the pcl...of greater concern is the fact that the cactus leaguer has become something of a soccer hooligan ...i've read your salty language on soccercityusa.com cactus leaguer! tsk tsk!

Sorry, Twin Bill, but I think it is a gross exaggeration to suggest that NO ONE cares if the Beavers go (which I doubt they are). I, for one, will be very disappointed if they leave - after all, I work about 60-65 of their games every season! And I think the 400,000 or so who show up each summer to watch them also care. True, I think most people in town, including those of us who frequent (well, maybe not recently) this web site, would prefer to concentrate on major league baseball, but many of us still have an appreciation for the lower rungs as well.

The problem is not that Portland is a "2-bit town", as you call it - it is a major league town with "2-bit" political leadership that lacks a vision for the future. That is why people like us are necessary to keep the hope and the dream alive. You may be convinced that MLB is never coming here, and you MAY be right - but then again, you MAY be wrong. Healthy sports grow and expand, and MLB is no exception, even if there seems to be nothing on the immediate horizon. Nevertheless, it behooves us to keep preparing for that day when if finally DOES happen, so don't give in to the apparent stagnation of the effort right now.

WE AIN'T DEAD YET!

OK guys, good. I read this morning O article with a somehwat positive spin on the future of baseball here.At the fanfest yesterdayI got cut off before getting any autographs after buying 2 made in China AAA all-star balls! Rich Burke carried on with these guys for an hour, giving us precious little time to wind thru the line for an autogrpah. Nice work Paulson. And yes I also read soccer city usa and see that Cactus Leauger seems to be a good Friend of those yoyos over there. LOL

Twin Bill, the round table discussion which Rick Burk MC'ed was designed to go an hour, from 1 to 2. There was supposed to be an hour after that for autographs. When I left at 2:30, the line for autographs was still a mile long. Did you get cut off at 3, which is when the signing session was scheduled to end? I don't think that's something you can blame Rich Burk for, and Merritt may have underestimated the amount of interest there was in the old-time players (another good sign of how much interest there is in major league ball around here).

quote:

Originally posted by Twin Bill:
And yes I also read soccer city usa and see that Cactus Leauger seems to be a good Friend of those yoyos over there. LOL

I'm LOL'ing right back at ya with the notion that I'm good buddies with them, considering that many of them wanted to lynch me for suggesting that Lents would never work for the Beavers.

I'd say the majority of them don't care one iota about baseball.

quote:

Originally posted by James Stock:
of greater concern is the fact that the cactus leaguer has become something of a soccer hooligan

? Ummm, OK. I want more sports in PDX. MLS is a perfect fit for this town. Does that make me a hooligan?

BTW, since you apparently lurk there (or maybe you post, although I don't recall anyone posting as "James Stock" over there), are you a closet soccer fan/hooligan as well?

quote:

...i've read your salty language on soccercityusa.com cactus leaguer! tsk tsk!

???

Yeah, you are not exactly everyones best friend on that sight. I too want MLS in a small way, but I rank it right there with USFL football, and just cuz things are going good at the moment doesn't mean the league will hold up in the long run. Sooner or later these b-league players will need to be paid more and that won't happen with crowds of 12000-1500 avg. They will need 40000 seat stadiums and a large TV contract. Will that happen here? We can barely help them enlarge OLD dinasour PGE park by 6000 seats. Some day they will need a new statium if the league were to survive. Who will it push off the TV map? Baseball? Very doubtful.

Twin, judging from OregonLive, you seem more intent on bringing up the soccer arc than, say, bringing more fans to Beaver games.

Timbers Army got good at recruiting, so to speak. It became a mission long before Merritt Paulson vaulted to the scene. That recruiting base led to the MLS mobilization.

Selling the Beavers should be front and center if you want them saved. Us "hooligans" might suggest a Japanese-style cheering section as seen at most Japanese baseball games, we're goofy like that. That's keeping Portland weird and augmenting it into baseball. However, consider the strong possibility that you'd have better ideas.

Also, note the difference between the common NIMBYs who eventually came out in Lents, the sports-hating liberals who chime in, the ever-present anti-debt folks... and in this special case, the people who wretch at the mere name Paulson. This has not been, and continues not to be, a black-and-white argument.

Has the idea of building a SSS where the MC sits ever been brought up? Wouldn't that be pretty cool? Wouldn't the cost only be about $100 million? Then, put up your Cordish development around it and the RQ with shops and lofts...

THen PGE Park could operate as is, and SOMEDAY.. be upgradeable to a quaint MLB park!

The proposals on the table have all been less expensive than that option, Oil Can.

Furthermore, if you look at the attendance numbers, even if relative to other teams, baseball has normally been slow death at PGE Park. Vaughn Street had to nearly burn down before being abandoned... but two Beavers AAA franchises have already abandoned Civic Stadium, and we already came close to losing it again at PGE Park before the PCL stepped in. Then, if you notice the Sunday article, the PCL was all too willing to award the all-star game to Portland as an inducement to Merritt Paulson during the purchase process with Abe Alizadeh.

Alizadeh went bankrupt last year. There were signs after 2006 that he was trying to get out, not long after he got in.

The point is- PGE Park, in that alignment, really doesn't work well for baseball. Certainly not the minors.

An ancilliary point- the Blazers would give the same cold reception to the MLS stadium idea that they gave to the ballpark. They want to charge rent at the MC site, so they'll try to submarine every effort the city presents to continue to make money there.

Although the Mayor does not believe the Memorial Colesium Site should be on the table regarding a new Beavers stadium. It ought to be considered as an alternative for redevelopment of the MC IMHO.

I have attached a link to the application for the MC redevelopment Task Force/Advisory Committee If anyone is interested and has the time, it would be good to have some Beavers fans' interest represented in this committee.

MC Task Force

cactus leaguer, i was just giving you a hard time--you had used some 'colorful' language on soccercityusa.com that i haven't seen you use [ever] on this here site, and i thought i would razz you about it a wee bit...i was just kidding about the hooligan bit--i too am off the charts-excited about mls coming to pdx [e.g. i was there at the timbers-flounders match which was amazing in terms of atmoshphere and fun]...and, yes i have posted on soccercityusa.com but have managed to somehow keep my posts expletive-free

Yeah, it is definitely more salty over there in general. I try not to cuss but it's kind of difficult not to in there (so kudos to you).

I'll never forget last summer when I was practically lynched in there by at least a half dozen people when I was trying to explain to them that Lents would be a disaster and that the city should focus on the Rose Quarter instead. I would have NEVER thought we'd be staring at the Round a year later for the site.

in too too much of a hurry to link to it this precise second, but david sarasohn has an intriguing piece about the beavers/land north of the rose qtr. in today's snoregonian...

quote:

Originally posted by James Stock:
in too too much of a hurry to link to it this precise second, but david sarasohn has an intriguing piece about the beavers/land north of the rose qtr. in today's snoregonian...

I'm not in toooo, too much of a hurry, but I wasn't intrigued enough to link to it --- somebody thinks the Water Bureau site would be good, but the city has no political will, blah blah blah. It's new, but it's the same 'ol, same 'ol. Mostly just depressing.

cactus leaguer--how dare you make sport of my stuttering problem!

So...the Memorial Coliseum is now on the National List of Historic Places according to OregonLive.com...the list of historic, defunct, famous former ballparks/arenas includes Old Yankee Stadium, Tiger Stadium...and Portland's Memorial Coliseum! ...so ridiculous. So PDX. Sigh....oh well, only 18 months before MLS in PDX begins!