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sports in norfolk


rusthebuss

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I think 10 to 15 might be a little optimistic. Anyways guys the nationals arn't going to suck forever. My dad has told me that if I stick with the nationals i can say i followed them when they stunk after they win whe world series).

Though I like the Orioles better. Anyway is baseball and i like to watch baseball no matter whos playing.

How bout those Pilots! We often forget about the other baseball team in Hampton Roads. They were great this year. They made it to the championchip. I went to all the playoff games and some of the last ones of this year. Not bad playing for college guys.

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I think 10 to 15 might be a little optimistic. Anyways guys the nationals arn't going to suck forever. My dad has told me that if I stick with the nationals i can say i followed them when they stunk after they win whe world series).

Though I like the Orioles better. Anyway is baseball and i like to watch baseball no matter whos playing.

How bout those Pilots! We often forget about the other baseball team in Hampton Roads. They were great this year. They made it to the championchip. I went to all the playoff games and some of the last ones of this year. Not bad playing for college guys.

You gotta root for your teams no matter what, I have been a Cleveland Browns fan all my life and they have sucked a good portion of it. A friend here in Portland has converted me to a Cubs fan, which was easy to do when I found out the Mets dropped the Tides as their AAA team...plus I dont ever get to see Mets games all the way out here (but I still root for them over the Yankees). Which as we all know, being a Cubs fan is always a huge disappointment.

It does suck the Nationals went to DC, Norfolk and Portland were the two cities on that list that actually could of handled a team...Portland will probably get a MLB team eventually (if someone wealthy comes along to help make it happen of course), but for Norfolk, I dont seem them getting a MLB team while the Nationals are right up the road, that market is officially too crowded...though it brings up a point, why hasnt Charlotte gone for a MLB team yet? One would think they could handle one, which if they got one, that would put Norfolk even more out of the running.

Actually when you think about it, Virginia and Norfolk gets screwed by Charlotte and DC when either of those two cities are trying to get a pro team.

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You gotta root for your teams no matter what, I have been a Cleveland Browns fan all my life and they have sucked a good portion of it. A friend here in Portland has converted me to a Cubs fan, which was easy to do when I found out the Mets dropped the Tides as their AAA team...plus I dont ever get to see Mets games all the way out here (but I still root for them over the Yankees). Which as we all know, being a Cubs fan is always a huge disappointment.

It does suck the Nationals went to DC, Norfolk and Portland were the two cities on that list that actually could of handled a team...Portland will probably get a MLB team eventually (if someone wealthy comes along to help make it happen of course), but for Norfolk, I dont seem them getting a MLB team while the Nationals are right up the road, that market is officially too crowded...though it brings up a point, why hasnt Charlotte gone for a MLB team yet? One would think they could handle one, which if they got one, that would put Norfolk even more out of the running.

Actually when you think about it, Virginia and Norfolk gets screwed by Charlotte and DC when either of those two cities are trying to get a pro team.

To answer your question about Charlotte, I know some people here have wanted a MLB team for years. But the reason why we don't have it is simple, the population base and financial support for a baseball team is not here. We already have the NFL, NBA, 3 Nascar races and a PGA tournament. I forgot what the exact number is but the actual amount financial resources for a given population base to spend on an MLB team is double what any of the other 3 major league sports require. Mostly because you have 81 home games to support versus ~40 for either NBA or NHL (not including playoffs) or the NFL with 8 games. So I know we're maxed out. We probably need to add another 500k in population to really be a truly viable market in my opinion. As far as Norfolk goes, yea it will be tough for a number of years to get one. Not only Charlotte in the Carolinas, but also Raleigh with the NHL. Norfolk probably would've been a very viable market for MLB before the Nationals. It's a shame you didn't get one b/c it definitely would've been great for the state of VA. I don't think Richmond could support a team, plus the Hampton Roads area has a larger population base to draw from. Honestly, I'd put my eggs in the MLS basket. It's a growing league and is relatively inexpensive right now to get into... I think it will be a solid league within the next 10 years, much like the NFL when it grew in the 60s and 70s.

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But the Tides almost average as much as the Nationals.. D.C. already follows football and basketball.. If we had a MLB team it would be the only thing to watch and just the vibe of pro sports in hampton roads would boost attendence.. Plus followers from Richmond, Western virginia, etc.. I truly think Norfolk or VB would get a sports team within the next 10- 15 years

MLB needs to fill a spot in the AL West, so the next expansion team will go to a city on the west coast. The Marlins finally got their new stadium approved, so they're going to be in Miami for a long time to come (and will become known as the Miami Marlins). I can't think of any other east coast team in real financial/stadium trouble. Just about every team has gotten a new or extensively renovated stadium in the last 15 years, with the exception of Oakland. And MLB won't move them back to the east coast.

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MLB needs to fill a spot in the AL West, so the next expansion team will go to a city on the west coast. The Marlins finally got their new stadium approved, so they're going to be in Miami for a long time to come (and will become known as the Miami Marlins). I can't think of any other east coast team in real financial/stadium trouble. Just about every team has gotten a new or extensively renovated stadium in the last 15 years, with the exception of Oakland. And MLB won't move them back to the east coast.

Tampa Bay Rays actually come to mind... They've been trying to get a new stadium for a number of years. Watching their game tonight, Red Sox are in town and the stadium is half empty. Part of their problem though, aside from the ugly stadium, is that it isn't easy to get to for a large portion of the Tampa/St Pete population.

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MLB needs to fill a spot in the AL West, so the next expansion team will go to a city on the west coast. The Marlins finally got their new stadium approved, so they're going to be in Miami for a long time to come (and will become known as the Miami Marlins). I can't think of any other east coast team in real financial/stadium trouble. Just about every team has gotten a new or extensively renovated stadium in the last 15 years, with the exception of Oakland. And MLB won't move them back to the east coast.

Which Portland is probably the only west coast city that could handle an AL team...so now all I have to do is wait it out and hope for some deep pocket baseball fans to come out of the woodworking in Portland.

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Tampa Bay Rays actually come to mind... They've been trying to get a new stadium for a number of years. Watching their game tonight, Red Sox are in town and the stadium is half empty. Part of their problem though, aside from the ugly stadium, is that it isn't easy to get to for a large portion of the Tampa/St Pete population.

I don't see MLB dumping the Tampa Bay market. Florida is too big with too much $$$ for them to have only 1 team. Like the Marlins, they'll eventually get a new stadium too. Anyway, it's a moot point. Norfolk doesn't have the resources to support MLB. Honestly, I don't see any top tier league here in the foreseeable future.

Edited by Glassoul
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I don't see MLB dumping the Tampa Bay market. Florida is too big with too much $$$ for them to have only 1 team. Like the Marlins, they'll eventually get a new stadium too. Anyway, it's a moot point. Norfolk doesn't have the resources to support MLB. Honestly, I don't see any top tier league here in the foreseeable future.

MLS or NBA are the only two pro leagues that I could ever envision locating in the Hampton Roads area and my guess is that there will eventually be a NBA team in downtown Norfolk and a MLS team in downtown Virginia Beach.

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MLS or NBA are the only two pro leagues that I could ever envision locating in the Hampton Roads area and my guess is that there will eventually be a NBA team in downtown Norfolk and a MLS team in downtown Virginia Beach.

You think it will be named the tidewater or hamptonroads whatevers? or will they say norfolk (nba team) and virginia beach (mls team)

that would be kind of weird. But then again, I have never crossed referenced teams in other cities who have multiple teams to know (besides NY).

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You think it will be named the tidewater or hamptonroads whatevers? or will they say norfolk (nba team) and virginia beach (mls team)

that would be kind of weird. But then again, I have never crossed referenced teams in other cities who have multiple teams to know (besides NY).

My guess is that it would be either Virginia <Insert name> or Hampton Roads <insert name>... My first bet would be Virginia b/c that's more recognizable than Hampton Roads to people not in the Southeast.

I don't see MLB dumping the Tampa Bay market. Florida is too big with too much $$$ for them to have only 1 team. Like the Marlins, they'll eventually get a new stadium too. Anyway, it's a moot point. Norfolk doesn't have the resources to support MLB. Honestly, I don't see any top tier league here in the foreseeable future.

I could very easily see MLB dropping the Tampa Bay market. Year after year, they have one of the lowest attendances in the league and they really don't make a lot of money. The franchise has struggled. While I don't see them going to a market like Portland, I could easily see San Antonio coming into play. The Spurs are the only major league team in the city. They have tremendous population growth and probably the financial resources to support the team.

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You think it will be named the tidewater or hamptonroads whatevers? or will they say norfolk (nba team) and virginia beach (mls team)

that would be kind of weird. But then again, I have never crossed referenced teams in other cities who have multiple teams to know (besides NY).

Like what dbulls75 said, it would be very smart for any pro team in Hampton Roads to just call themselves the Virginia (team name). Much like what the Carolina teams do. Anyone who is a fan of those sports would quickly figure out where those teams are playing in Virginia.

But I will say this, that is my prediction for pro teams. I would also be willing to guess that this will happen between now to 20 years from now. Norfolk has a better chance of it happening sooner if there is a team looking to move, which with the NBA it often gets screwed at being a third market league which is why the Sonics were so willing to move out of Seattle. All Norfolk needs to do is to become friends with one of these teams that hates how their city is treating them, then before you know it the city would be building a new stadium for the team that would probably become the anchor to the SPQ redevelopment.

As for VB, their time frame is a bit different...it depends on how agressive they are about this downtown plan that are finalizing, which if this begins to seriously take shape in the next five years and new projects and road alignments start to happen (which restructuring the street grid should be their first priority) then there is a better chance they will get a team sooner rather than later. MLS is still a fairly young league, which is looking for unique markets to be in...Portland is ideal because of this weirdly large number of soccer fans that we have here...VB has always been a soccer friendly city and many of the people who grew up there played soccer as a kid at one point or another. So there is a good chance there is a foundation fan base for something like this, plus I could see soccer being an affordable outing for families in VB which would have even more appeal.

So there are my predictions, and I do hope I am right about them cause I cant wait for the day I get to watch my Portland Timbers kick the crap out of VB's team...and they will. :shades:

Though I am not a fan of the Blazers, so I would probably root for Norfolk's team in that match up...go figure.

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Are you guys ready for a busy sports day in Hampton Roads?

Norfolk State is expecting nearly 30,000 for its home opener tonight.

Old Dominion is going to be a mad house. Tailgating is allowed on all surface lots and Foreman field is completely sold out for the first football game at ODU in over 50 years. The game is being televised locally on Cox Channel 11 and in surrounding states on Comcast Sports Network.

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I love how much sugarcoating they are giving the ODU football team. Yes, its great for them to have a team, a new beautiful stadium. Yes, its great for Norfolk in general. However, they just basically played a scrimmage against a team coming from a school with an entire student body of 900! My HS (Princess Anne) had double that. How can you even field a team? Secondly, game 2 is against a team with a student body of 1600 (again, fewer than my HS). ODU has 24THOUSAND UNDERGRADS! They should have beat Chowan by at least 5 touchdowns.

Anyhow, its going to be a rude awakening when they play 3rd game, against an actual FCS opponent...and even worse, when they start playing real CAA teams next season...ie, the ones that just beat DI UVA and Duke.

Again, not to be a hater, but happy for Norfolk, ODU...just need to downplay how great of a team they are already.

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I love how much sugarcoating they are giving the ODU football team. Yes, its great for them to have a team, a new beautiful stadium. Yes, its great for Norfolk in general. However, they just basically played a scrimmage against a team coming from a school with an entire student body of 900! My HS (Princess Anne) had double that. How can you even field a team? Secondly, game 2 is against a team with a student body of 1600 (again, fewer than my HS). ODU has 24THOUSAND UNDERGRADS! They should have beat Chowan by at least 5 touchdowns.

Anyhow, its going to be a rude awakening when they play 3rd game, against an actual FCS opponent...and even worse, when they start playing real CAA teams next season...ie, the ones that just beat DI UVA and Duke.

Again, not to be a hater, but happy for Norfolk, ODU...just need to downplay how great of a team they are already.

Time and reality will downplay it, if it needs to be downplayed. For now, why not just let them enjoy their moment?

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