Reply With QuoteI didn't have you down as a Rockie, CAMiller.
Hold on, how far away are you from Oakland ..... :-)
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Due to the prospects of relegation think yourself lucky that one thing you don't have to face in football in England (most of the time) is the prospect of a team 'giving up' half way through the season.
Here in the US, and particularly in baseball, if your team is not doing well at the 'trading deadline' and have little or no prospect of making the playoffs, the owners/managers will usually trade away anyone who is worth anything (e.g. players due to be free agents at the end of the season who might be useful to other teams in their push for playoffs) in return for getting young prospects or future draft picks.
With no relegation to fear there are no consequences of being 'pants' for the remainder of the season - except of course for the fans who get to see their team just making up the numbers for the last 62 games of a 162 game season.
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I didn't have you down as a Rockie, CAMiller.
Hold on, how far away are you from Oakland ..... :-)
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Right 2nd time.Spent 1999-2006 in Santa Clara and due to the fact that the company I worked for had naming rights to the Oakland Coliseum I had unlimited access to the corporate box behind home plate. It was interesting to be there at the height of Moneyball and I guess that's what made me a fan. After last season's collapse after going all-in, throwing in the towel this season is just as disappointing. At least I have the satisfaction now of living in Seattle and laughing at The Mariners woes.
Hall Of Fame
I always liked rounders at school and got into baseball in the UK when Channel 5 would show it. I was a Mets fan because I love New York and hate the Yankees. Living in Vancouver, I have a soft spot for Seattle as it's the closest MLB stadium (went to watch the Red Sox 2 years ago) but I'd have to go with Toronto as my team. They have a Single A farm team here in Vancouver (Canadians) and the atmosphere is the closest I've seen to Millmoor since I've been in North America.
Generally, I really really miss promotion / relegation. I guess it's in the blood but I find it hard to commit to a team that doesn't have that fear of dropping or the thrill of a promotion chase. A play-off race just doesn't have the same edge to it.
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Should I be talking to you after the Whitecaps demolition of the Sounders on Saturday?
We are lucky as Vancouver and Seattle are two great places to live. You should try and get to a Seahawks game for atmosphere although tickets are hard to come by. Even all the pre-season training sessions are sold out :-(
Unfortunately, apart from via streaming I haven't witnessed the NYS rocking yet. I was there for the 5-1 thrashing by Bournemouth in January and the atmosphere that day was about as somber as it was at my Dad's funeral 3 days later.
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I wasn't expecting a walkover that big. I had a chance of going but my son is between passports at the moment and I couldn't be that cruel to leave him behind!!
I went to watch Seattle play Chelsea a few years ago with some friends from work but it all seemed so plastic. The march from downtown to the stadium and everything ...... wasn't my scene at all. I guess the one-off atmosphere of the day clouded my judgement somewhat.
Have you been on the Safeco tour yet? I won't give away the spoiler but the sign on the umpire's room is a hoot.
I was at NYS last summer for the Leicester, Wolves and Watford games. As I was walking in the Bruno Mars song 'Locked Out Of Heaven' was playing. I doubt there's many folk think about the Millers when that song comes on :-)
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They are really in trouble this year and I think the coach will be gone soon. He makes SE look like slimmer of the year
I think the march to the stadium is something that they do for every game so it wasn't a one off. If I remember there were 67,000+ there for that Chelsea game so crowd size was a one off although they seem to be averaging 40K+ each week.
Doubt I'll do the Safeco tour although I do go to quite a few baseball games (usually when the A's are in town). Feel free to post the spoiler. Heard a radio interview last year with a guy from Leeds who travels here every summer to spend a few weeks/months when the Leeds United games end to watch the Mariners for no real reason other than he has them as his baseball team. Mad these Yorkshiremen.
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