Cowley jousted verbally

[elrockinMT]

Toronto has drawn in the past. Will they ever again is a good question, but throw a team out there every year that you know cannot win, and they will not draw. If the White Sox had no chance to contend, how many people do you think would be at the game tonight? Should the NHL moved out of Chicago when the Hawks didn't draw and couldn't fill the place up halfway when they gave out free tickets?

 

 

We almost lost the Sox to Tampa Bay remember- whether or not it was a ploy to get a new stadium or not the possibility was out there

[caulfield12]

Would the Twins be a small or mid-market team, then?

 

Would there be 3 tiers..? Big market, small and middle?

 

Teams like SD and Arizona...are the Padres small and Arizona medium? Is Arizona small market because they almost went bankrupt and were driven into debt by overspending, or SD because Moores is having personal problems (see LA)? Having only both LA teams and SF on the West Coast, who else would comprise that division? Seattle would complain if you put them against the BIG 3. Then Oakland, Rockies, D-Backs and Padres would be together? Still, the numbers are challenging...one team gets screwed (like the Braves in NL West) and has to travel more than the others.

 

Should the McCourts' divorce make the Dodgers a middle market teams? How do we classify Seattle? Do we put them in the same category as the Rockies or "big market," even though Seattle is a secondary market compared to the top ones in baseball, it's just that they seemed to operate like a bit market team for half the decade with the new stadium and booming attendance.

 

Should Milwaukee (small market), Minnesota, Tigers, White Sox and the Rangers/Astros be lumped in together?

 

Then you have the Royals, Pirates, Reds, it becomes a huge mess because the Cubs would have to travel all over the US, along with the Cardinals (small market seeming like a bigger market in revenue production).

Edited April 20, 2010 by caulfield12

[southsider2k5]

If you really want to fix the problem, move two more teams to New York and another to Boston. Divide up the market.

[Dick Allen]

If you really want to fix the problem, move two more teams to New York and another to Boston. Divide up the market.

That makes way too much sense for it ever to happen.

[caulfield12]

And the Yankees/Mets/Sawx would invoke their "territoriality" priviledges and scream until they were blue in the face.

 

Look at how long and hard Angelos fought over Washington getting a team that close to BALT.

 

Just wait and see what happens if San Antonio ever tried, the Houston/Texas franchises would go absolutely nuts blocking it.

 

 

[southsider2k5]

Really if he wanted, Selig could just invoke the Commissioners powers... but we all know he is too big of a sissy to do something like that.

[balfanman]

It's going to be very tough for most teams without big budgets to compete with the Yankees and RedSox.

 

Have the economics of baseball created a chronic problem in the AL East?

 

I have a novel solution... move the Mets and Phillies into the AL East... and the Orioles and Blue Jays to the NL East.

 

Let the budget Titans duke it out in one division.

 

I'm half kidding... but something may eventually may have to be done in the AL East if the other teams have no chance of competing year after year.

 

I am an avid Sox fan and baseball is the only sport that I follow closely. Football, Basketball, and Hockey are sports that I will watch if I'm absolutely bored and there's nothing else to do, which is extremely rare.

That said, if I were a Blue Jay, Ray, or Oriole fan I would of given up hope a long time ago and found another team to root for. I believe that the Yankee / Red Sox affluence problem must be solved or eventually it will erode away the fan base of all teams, as it has already begun to in Toronto, Tampa, and Baltimore. I love to watch good baseball being played, particularly if the White Sox are the ones playing it. It would take away a good amount of fun if I knew going into it that the Sox had almost no chance to win anything, barring a miracle.

Edited April 21, 2010 by balfanman

[The Ginger Kid]

Cowley tweeted this link to the interview today...

 

Cowley is a puss

[nickofypres]

Cowley is the f***ing man.

 

EDIT: That Toronto Radio guy was a real asshole.

Edited April 21, 2010 by whitesox901

[claydude14]

The passport requirement to get into Canada this season will probably hurt the Jays attendance. I know I didn't go up like I usually do.

[shago]

It's going to be very tough for most teams without big budgets to compete with the Yankees and RedSox.

 

Have the economics of baseball created a chronic problem in the AL East?

 

I have a novel solution... move the Mets and Phillies into the AL East... and the Orioles and Blue Jays to the NL East.

 

Let the budget Titans duke it out in one division.

 

I'm half kidding... but something may eventually have to be done in the AL East if the other teams have no chance of competing year after year.

One simple solution ... go back to two divisions, two wild cards (regardless of division) and have teams play a more AL-wide schedule, like the old days, and bring back the Brewers. Oh wait, television controls sports and MLB cares a lot more about ratings than fan attendance, I forgot ...

[chetkincaid]

Contracting teams is stupid.

 

Input a hard salary cap, or make teams pay an extra 3 dollars for each dollar above the luxury line.

 

 

DING DING DING DING!!! And we have a winner! Input a hard salary cap so the yanks and the red cubs can't go out and spend $250 million and other teams get a shot of keeping their free agents. Then I bet the Blue Jays, Orioles, and Devil (that's right... DEVIL) Rays will compete. Then we'll see how dominant the yanks and red cubs are.

 

 

[WhiteSoxfan1986]

DING DING DING DING!!! And we have a winner! Input a hard salary cap so the yanks and the red cubs can't go out and spend $250 million and other teams get a shot of keeping their free agents. Then I bet the Blue Jays, Orioles, and Devil (that's right... DEVIL) Rays will compete. Then we'll see how dominant the yanks and red cubs are.

 

I think everyone can agree that there needs to be a salary cap. God knows Selig would love to have one. The only problem is the players association will never, ever, ever allow it.

[Harry Chappas]

I posted this elsewhere but I will do it again. The ratings suck for any WS that does not include major "nation" teams thus the MLB does not want the mid major type to win thus you will not see a salary cap.

 

The MLB wants the yanks, Red Sox, Mets, cubs, Dodgers etc. in the playoffs and could give a s*** about he rest of the teams.

[chw42]

After listening to that radio segment, I actually think Cowley had a decent argument.

 

 

[The Ginger Kid]

After listening to that radio segment, I actually think Cowley had a decent argument.

but he also didn't back up the smack he's been writing, calling Toronto a city in a third world country. Look, i think it's funny, but in the interview he backed off that stance, which is not surprising because he's a p****.

[soxfan3530]

Joe Cowley is a jerk. Having met him professionally in several instances, he is a giant douche.

[BaseballNick]

but he also didn't back up the smack he's been writing, calling Toronto a city in a third world country. Look, i think it's funny, but in the interview he backed off that stance, which is not surprising because he's a p****.

 

He addressed that in the first two minutes of the interview. It was due to them pretty much being on lockdown because of the SARS outbreak.

[Sox72]

I don't know. I don't think he came off defending himself that well. His main argument seemed to be that Toronto doesn't deserve a baseball team because baseball isn't the first priority in the town and no one goes. People went when they were winning. The host had a pretty good counter when he brought up the Blackhawks. People only go when they're winning and they are definitely not the top sports priority in town.

[chw42]

I don't know. I don't think he came off defending himself that well. His main argument seemed to be that Toronto doesn't deserve a baseball team because baseball isn't the first priority in the town and no one goes. People went when they were winning. The host had a pretty good counter when he brought up the Blackhawks. People only go when they're winning and they are definitely not the top sports priority in town.

 

The Blue Jays have had 86 and 87 win seasons since 2003 and have gone around .500 numerous times. Yet, in 2003, when they won 86 games and led the AL East for a good amount of time, they failed to draw over 2 million fans. In fact, from 2000 to 2005, they failed to draw over 2 million fans. They had a good period from 06 to 08 where they drew close to league average, but last year, it dipped down below 2 million yet again.

 

For such a large city, they should be able to continuously draw around the league average if they're just mediocre. That hasn't happened though.

 

Edited April 21, 2010 by chw42

[Sox72]

The Blue Jays have had 86 and 87 win seasons since 2003 and have gone around .500 numerous times. Yet, in 2003, when they won 86 games and led the AL East for a good amount of time, they failed to draw over 2 million fans. In fact, from 2000 to 2005, they failed to draw over 2 million fans. They had a good period from 06 to 08 where they drew close to league average, but last year, it dipped down below 2 million yet again.

 

For such a large city, they should be able to continuously draw around the league average if they're just mediocre. That hasn't happened though.

 

But maybe it's not about being mediocre, but rather feeling that you have no shot at winning anything. If you look at it that way, there is a parallel between the Blackhawks situation before this recent success and the Blue Jays current situation.

 

 

[chw42]

But maybe it's not about being mediocre, but rather feeling that you have no shot at winning anything. If you look at it that way, there is a parallel between the Blackhawks situation before this recent success and the Blue Jays current situation.

 

Somewhat. Weren't the Blackhawks absolutely atrocious for a while? Like post-2001 to pre-strike?

 

The Blue Jays have held their ground all right.

Edited April 21, 2010 by chw42

[Sox72]

Somewhat. Weren't the Blackhawks absolutely atrocious for a while? Like post-2001 to pre-strike?

 

The Blue Jays have held their ground all right.

 

Right, I see your point on them at least winning games. I was just thinking if you look at it from the point of view of not how many games you win but rather the chances you actually have of winning it all. Then it seems the same to me because those wins don't really mean much. You probably have to look at it that way for my point to make sense.

 

I guess I just wasn't all that convinced by his argument and found it to be kind of a stretch. Before I listened, I assumed he had a strong argument before making such a bold statement. To me, it does seem like he may have somewhat of an agenda against either Toronto or the Jays (that assumption, however, may be a stretch as well).

[chw42]

Right, I see your point on them at least winning games. I was just thinking if you look at it from the point of view of not how many games you win but rather the chances you actually have of winning it all. Then it seems the same to me because those wins don't really mean much. You probably have to look at it that way for my point to make sense.

 

I guess I just wasn't all that convinced by his argument and found it to be kind of a stretch. Before I listened, I assumed he had a strong argument before making such a bold statement. To me, it does seem like he may have somewhat of an agenda against either Toronto or the Jays (that assumption, however, may be a stretch as well).

 

Toronto had its attractions. Roy Halladay, Carlos Delgado, Vernon Wells. It's not like that team didn't succeed at all or give the fans at least a glimmer of hope. Playing in the AL East sucks, but it didn't prevent Baltimore from drawing 2-3 million fans annually since the opening of Camden Yards.

Edited April 21, 2010 by chw42

[Sox72]

Toronto had its attractions. Roy Halladay, Carlos Delgado, Vernon Wells. It's not like that team didn't succeed at all or give the fans at least a glimmer of hope. Playing in the AL East sucks, but it didn't prevent Baltimore from drawing 2-3 million fans annually since the opening of Camden Yards.

 

Emphasis on the bold.