Richmond Sports

[burt]

Sports and entertainment events boost the Richmond economy.

From today's RTD:

http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/business/local/article/B-ECON09_20100308-221405/329155/

My observations:

There is a local gentleman named Lugbill who contributes guidance, expertise and strong support for Richmond sporting events, thereby enriching the city's coffers.

And Bill Reid who reopened the National Theatre three years ago is also to be commended. The attractions booked into the Nat bring visitors by the dozens to Richmond and account for many restaurant meals and room nights at downtown hotels.

[burt]

Officials gather for groundbreaking of Steve Burton's SportsQuest near Brandermill at the junction of Rt. 288 and The Powhite Pkway in western Chesterfield.

From yesterday's RTD:

http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/local/article/QUES11_20100310-212803/329621/

[burt]

The recent CAA Tournament has gotten all the attention on this thread, but The University of Richmond's Spiders seem to be doing quite well in another Tournament.

They defeated Xavier in Atlantic City yesterday and go up against Temple today. The news story doesn't reveal which, if any, TV chanel will carry the game.

From today's RTD:

http://www2.timesdis...-212605/330264/

Edited March 14, 2010 by burt

[burt]

Richmond's a weird minor-league sports town. What other mid-sized city has two arena football teams that play games on the same day?

Last night, one team called The Raiders lost to Reading (Pa.) by a score of 56 to 42 at The Richmond Coliseum before 3,200 fans while another team called Revolution won over Chicago before an unannounced capacity crowd at Arthur Ashe Center.

From today's RTD:

http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/sports/professional/professional_football/article/RAID14_20100313-231001/330326/

[varider]

You guys should be getting a little excited for baseball season, it's right around the corner. Baseball back in Richmond, are you all happy?

[burt]

Richmond's new and lower level of professional baseball (AA) launches individual game ticket sales today.

From a recent edition of the RTD:

http://www2.timesdis...-213204/329627/

And here's a video of the park showing changes that have been made to the facility still known as The Diamond.

From Richmond dot com:

http://www2.richmond...ls-style-17302/

Edited March 15, 2010 by burt

[calwinston]

The opening game, April 15, for the Richmond Flying Squirrels is soldout. The only way you can get tickets now is by purchasing seson tickets for $568.

http://www.richmondbizsense.com/2010/03/23/martin%e2%80%99s-teams-up-with-the-squirrels-for-sell-out/

[HopHead]

The opening game, April 15, for the Richmond Flying Squirrels is soldout. The only way you can get tickets now is by purchasing seson tickets for $568.

Good news! Hopefully Richmond will be able to give strong support to the Squirrels. Reducing the capacity of the diamond will help draw more sellouts. I have to admit, I thought the name was kind of lame. But the logos and stuff look pretty cool.

[burt]

Double A Eastern League unveils new look at old Diamond.

From today's RTD:

http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/sports/minors/minors_baseball/article/BASE27_20100326-223406/333353/

[burt]

An Ethiopian won Ukrop's Monument Avenue 10K this morning.

Today's RTD reports that "More than 39 thousand runners, joggers and walkers of all ages converged upon Monroe Park.

"...each of the day's races established participation records: 37,365 for 10K, 2,016 for the First Market Mile Kids Run."

http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/sports/other/article/alene_reta_wins_ukrops_monument_10k/333384/

[burt]

Here's a video of today's Monument 10K from the RTD:

http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/sports/other/article/alene_reta_wins_ukrops_monument_10k/333384/

[burt]

Richmond's new baseball team, an affiliate of the San Francisco Giants, is lining up players.

While the last paragraph (Notes) in this story by John O'Connor in today's RTD is not very uplifting to those who think of Richmond as an accessible, vibrant city with suitable air service and worthy of big-town sports competition, remember, opening night at The Diamond is SOLD OUT!

http://www2.timesdis...-223009/334077/

Edited March 31, 2010 by burt

[burt]

The VCU Rams were snubbed by NCAA and NIT, but they walked away with a win over St. Louis to take the College Basketball Invitational prize.

From today's RTD:

http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/sports/college/college_basketball/article/VCUB01_20100331-234202/334403/

[burt]

Is football on the horizon at VCU?

From the current Style Weekly:

http://styleweekly.com/ME2/Audiences/dirmod.asp?sid=&nm=&type=Publishing&mod=Publications%3A%3AArticle&mid=8F3A7027421841978F18BE895F87F791&tier=4&id=A9AF5EB22E814229B9A1F6F9FBA4A973&AudID=20938C672A3049EEB0CF33069AEE1AE0

[burt]

Here's another update with video of improvements at The Diamond and possible future plans for the Double A Eastern League team which is the new tenant at the ballpark:

From today's RTD:

http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/sports/minors/minors_baseball/article/BASE02_20100401-221608/334637/

[burt]

After playing shortstop for the Richmond Braves a few seasons ago,Tony Pena, Jr. returns to Richmond. But this time, as a pitcher for the double A Eastern League team.

From today's RTD:

http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/sports/minors/minors_baseball/article/SQUR07_20100406-223206/335569/

[burt]

The first game Richmond played in the Double A Eastern League was rained out in the bottom of the fourth last night at Prince George Stadium in Maryland.

I think it's ironic that Richmond, one of the nation's most conservative cities, is the farm team of San Francisco, indisputably the most liberal metropolis in America.

Since it was a weather-called game, John O'Connor of the Times Dispatch spends much of his column on amusing side stories, such as uniforms and team names.

From today RTD:

http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/sports/minors/minors_baseball/article/BASE09_20100408-223008/336058/

Edited April 9, 2010 by burt

[calwinston]

2 more days till Baseball is back in Richmond!!!

The Richmond Times-Dispatch today has a full rundown of the team lineup and the history of baseball In Richmond!

Here are just 3 of the 7 articles done today, from how the team came to Richmond, Paul Woody's view of baseball in Richmond, and the multiple businesses that plan on drummed up patronage from the crowds coming to the Diamond.

Paul Woody's Op/Ed

http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/sports/columnists/article/WOOD13_20100412-220804/336807/

More Buisness on the Boulevard

http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/local/article/DIAM13_20100412-222807/336894/

'Failed Local-Ownership deal complicated Squirrels arrival'

http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/sports/professional/article/BASE13_20100412-221006/336808/

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20100412&content_id=9244904&vkey=news_t3410&fext=.jsp&sid=t3410

[burt]

The fun and games start tonight at the sold out Diamond. And yes, baseball will be on the schedule as well as promotional hijinks.

This new team has something besides the National Pastime to offer at every game -- in fact, there'll be some sort of entertainment between each inning!

If some grumble about the name "Flying Squirrels" think about it in an economical way; batting helmets bear the initials "S" and "F" in a sort of intertwined mode. Depending where you are, the letters refer to the Richmond team name or San Francisco, home of The Giants who call the shots, and are worn by players at Candlestick Park as well as at The Diamond.

Story with related info box from Zack Reid in today's RTD:

http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/entertainment/attractions/article/W-BALL15_20100414-190405/337337/

[burt]

Richmond takes opener against Reading before a full house at The Diamond.

And there's plenty of press coverage, including slideshows and videos, thanks to the Richmond Times Dispatch:

http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/sports/minors/minors_baseball/article/BASE16_20100416-002001/337798/

[burt]

Richmond's new baseball team seems to be a box office hit at The Diamond. The first four home games (three wins, one loss) attracted more than 35,000 spectators -- averaging 8,820 per game.

From today's RTD:

http://www2.timesdis...-215001/338326/

Edited April 19, 2010 by burt

[Cadeho]

We had a team outing at Tuesday's game. I hadn't been inside the Diamond since 1991. It was fun to me... why do we need a new stadium again?

[burt]

The Squirrels have wound up their first home set by winning six of the seven games and attracting about 45,000 people to the ball park.

[calwinston]

The Richmond Flying Squirrels are prepared to pay 1/4 of the cost of building a new baseball stadium if Henrico ,Richmond, Chesterfield are involved. 1/5 of the cost if Hanover County gets involved. Seems like the leaders are looking at the Boulevard site. Once again Richmond has come full circle to the Boulevard site. The only problem I have is the thinking to build another surface parking lot when the old Diamond is torn down, than build a parking deck and use the extra land for something more valuable.

http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/sports/minors/minors_baseball/article/SQUI29_20100428-222402/340842/

[wrldcoupe4]

Parking decks shared with commercial and residential higher density development...