MikeO said:
He's a fool. I don't know how far he is going back, but the last 10 years or so......I guess the NY Giants haven't won and been in Super Bowls of late. I guess Buffalo going to 4 straight Super Bowls isn't great. I guess the Knicks going to the Finals in 1999 isn't great. The Mets weren't in the World Series??? How about the Rangers Stanly Cup and having a great year this year. The Sabers weren't in the Stanley Cup Finals a few years back?? MSG is a dump? The Meadowlands isn't a decent stadium? Carrier Dome isn't the largest on campus stadium for College Sports? Ok the Islanders play in a dump. One stadium....whooptie friggin doo!
And....incase he didn't know NY is building new stadiums FOR the Yanks and Mets within the next 5 years they will be done. I guess he forgot to bring up that point.
On the college sports scene its easy. You have Syracuse which is the #1 college in the state. But to look at the NYC area, college sports compete with the pro sports. And those schools can't have stadiums on campus or near a campus. They must play in MSG or these huge arenas. You have UCONN which is a stones throw away from NYC that has killed St.Johns (and Seton Hall in NJ). Also, NY State high school football is very poor. Unlike in Ohio, Texas, Fl, Penn....where High School football is a "year round activity" in some sort. It isn't in NY state, which hurts college football in the state/area. Since the schools can't recruit in state and must go outside the state more.
The man is clueless!! I don't know if he expects EVERY NY team to just win championships just because they are from NY or what. To hold those teams to a higher standard is a JOKE. When was the last time a team from CLEVELAND won anything??????? How about San Diego????????? Seattle???
I totally agree. Colin Cowherd is a moron. I swear there has never been a point that I have ever agreed with him on so I simply stopped listening to his annoying ***. If there's a sports radio host who knows less about sports please point him out. Hes like a more annoying version of Chris "Mad Dog" Russo but much dumber and even more pompous if thats possible.
Cowherd shows how little he knows about NY sports when he starts talking about stadiums. Does he have any idea of how much money it takes to properly run NYC? Plus the overwhelming majority of NYC/Long Island is and has been deadset against public funding for stadiums (see: NYJ stadium protests last year). The only reason the NYM and NYY are getting new stadiums is cause the owners are paying for the overwhelming majority of it, all of it in the Mets case because Fred Wilpon offered to. I think George is getting like $50m from the state if its even that much. But with the insane prices of land in this city how can you build an arena that costs over a Billion and still make money? Plus most of the arena's/stadiums arent that old; i list them with each franchise below.
To further the point I can break down each NY franchise.
The NYK made the playoffs for 15 straight years during the Ewing era and a couple times after. 17 of the last 20 overall. The only reason they dont have at least 1 title to show for the Ewing years is cause of Jordan's Bulls. Every year they finished 2nd. Theyre in a dry spell now and since the NBA seems to be very cyclical its not uncommon.
Finals Appearances: 94 and 99
Arena Status: The new MSG was built in the late 60's/early 70's and has been touched up over the years. Its still "The Mecca of Basketball"....its the best place to watch a basketball game in the world once you get past the corporate fans with tickets.
The Jets..well ok theyre trash but lets face it they still share a nice stadium with the Giants. And no one cares about them anyway.
I cant speak on the Bills or Sabres, I dont know or care about them or their fans. Upstate/western NY is a whole different world from NYC/Long Island. I dont even consider it New York; no one in the city or LI does. No here follows them and they dont get local new coverage. Thats not meant to be pompous sounding (though im sure it sounds that way) thats just speaking from experience.
The Giants: Always an all or nothing franchise. They either finish 1st or are horrible with very little in between. Still very well run and they dont stay down for long.
Sb appearance in 2000.
Arena status: Good (Built in the early 70's) and a new one on the way. A fun place to watch a football game with a very loyal fanbase as evidenced by the fact that season ticket waiting list is 20 years long and growing last time I checked.
The Rangers: Playoff-less for 8 straight seasons because of poor management decisions regarding payroll. poor prospect development hurt them for the last 8 years. The salary cap was the best thing for them because it forced changes in both areas.
Arena status: Its a bad ice rink for the players (always voted poorly in player surveys) but is a good place to watch a game once you get past the $7 watered down beer. As far as the Arena status itself...see NYK.
The Islanders: Playoffs for the last 3 years though its unlikely this year. A younger team after the trade deadline with a good farm and very committed ownership. Charles Wang has lost over 40 million the last 2-3 years while trying to get the new arena (which hes finally getting). He helped resuscitate my hockey team from terrible ownership groups ranging from fraudulent owners (john Spano) to just plain cheap owners. All in all the long term prognosis is very good. And with a new GM on the way (who can be worse then Mad Mike Milbury?) whats not to love?
3 straight playoff appearances
Arena status: The opposition hates the Nassau Mosoleum. Its old (been there since the franchises inception pretty much) and desolate. the scoreboard above the rink has fallen more then once; actually its a once a year occurance it seems. Even though its a little hole in the wall, its very cramped, right on top of the rink, keeps noise in the arena (more of which gets artificially filtered in), and the ice surface is choppy. When the team has its good years it not only gets loud but very difficult to play and breathe in there because its so cramped and so it still provides a real home ice advantage. Tampa didnt like it last year, Toronto absolutely hated it a few years back. New state of the art arena on the way by 2011.
The Mets and Yanks: Ill group them together because in the end Baseball is the biggest thing in NY. Every NY'er knows it, whether they want to admit it or not is a different issue. The Yankees speak for themselves; the most successfully run franchise of any of the 4 major sports in north america. Steinbrenner turned them from just winners to a multi billion dollar industry as evidenced by the fact that in 2004 the NYY accounted for nearly 30% of baseball's total revenue and about 32% of market revenue. The Mets...theyre the stepchild of the city, though I love them, but they may be able to gain a much bigger stranglehold of the NY fanbase if they can build on the young core. Theyve never been able to win over a long stretch of time but theyve done so sporadically. Considering it typically takes 20-25 years for a new franchise to get established they havent done badly at all aside from the initial years and the early-mid 90's which were horrendous. Ownership spends willingly and they finally have a good GM and a chance to establish themselves long term imo.
Playoff appearances...last 10 years for the NYY, 2000 for the mets.
Stadium status: Shea is a poophole that shakes when its packed but its my team's poophole and to be honest i like it. NYY stadium is nice, monument park is something every baseball fan should see. The bathrooms are a dump and its in the south bronx so if you visit get a vest and stay low to the ground cause it is really ugly and impoverished there. Both franchises are getting new stadiums within the next 5 years.
Thanks for playing Colin....anyone have his fax #. I can rip him a new one on this topic.
