OT: Baseball is apparently viable - The Champions 2015 Inaugural Season Talk

[jbeck5]

I love baseball, but I'd only bother going to a game if it's the Jays' AA or AAA team.

Me too. I went to a few lynx games in the 90s. Since they downgraded, I've been to none.

The difference between AAA and what we have now is like the difference between the sens and the Ottawa u hockey team.

I wouldn't go see the Ottawa u hockey team if the sens weren't here.

Same thing for baseball.

Go big or go home. Especially in a non traditional baseball market.

 

[OttawaSenators11]

Yup, if it was a Jays minor league team, i would have interest!

I thought at one point we were expected to get a Blue Jays AA team? It didn't workout which obviously sucks!

 

[jbeck5]

Yup, if it was a Jays minor league team, i would have interest!

I thought at one point we were expected to get a Blue Jays AA team? It didn't workout which obviously sucks!

Haha good one

 

[Back in Black]

Same as the last few teams to roll on through here! No interest!

Baseball would be great if it were Hockey!

 

[FuriousSenator]

Me too. I went to a few lynx games in the 90s. Since they downgraded, I've been to none.

The difference between AAA and what we have now is like the difference between the sens and the Ottawa u hockey team.

I wouldn't go see the Ottawa u hockey team if the sens weren't here.

Same thing for baseball.

Go big or go home. Especially in a non traditional baseball market.

So essentially:

"I refuse to attend x because I want y"

"Why aren't we ever able to get y?!"

I don't really get the strange sense of entitlement in this city.... At this point a city our size will not be getting anything truly top level in the majority of sports, why not be happy with what we do have and support the great athletes that are playing for this city?

I'll be at more than a few games. The team and stadium are going to be top notch. Plenty of MLB experience on that roster and on the coaching staff.

http://www.ottawachampions.com/

 

[snowmobile]

I would much rather have an independent league team like Ottawa and Quebec over a Single-A or Double- A team. An independent team answers to no one but themselves and look to find the best players available within the roster rules. Watching Single-A ball is like watching a season of spring training.

As an example, if say Ricky Romero is sent down and is stinking it up, the jays could tell the team to play him instead of the young guy who is lights out. Well an independent team is going to play who gives them the best chance at winning. Sure some guys do get picked up during the year but the attitude is still win at all cost.

 

[FuriousSenator]

I would much rather have an independent league team like Ottawa and Quebec over a Single-A or Double- A team. An independent team answers to no one but themselves and look to find the best players available within the roster rules. Watching Single-A ball is like watching a season of spring training.

As an example, if say Ricky Romero is sent down and is stinking it up, the jays could tell the team to play him instead of the young guy who is lights out. Well an independent team is going to play who gives them the best chance at winning. Sure some guys do get picked up during the year but the attitude is still win at all cost.

This. We have three pitchers in our rotation who played in the MLB. That's not bad for an independent club.

On paper we should be dominant.

 

[DrunkUncleDenis]

Me too. I went to a few lynx games in the 90s. Since they downgraded, I've been to none.

The difference between AAA and what we have now is like the difference between the sens and the Ottawa u hockey team.

I wouldn't go see the Ottawa u hockey team if the sens weren't here.

Same thing for baseball.

Go big or go home. Especially in a non traditional baseball market.

They did go big. With the Lynx. Then everyone went home. That was the problem.

 

[DrunkUncleDenis]

Same as the last few teams to roll on through here! No interest!

Baseball would be great if it were Hockey!

Who comes to an OT sports thread to say I'm not interested

<3 Richard

Me too. I went to a few lynx games in the 90s. Since they downgraded, I've been to none.

The difference between AAA and what we have now is like the difference between the sens and the Ottawa u hockey team.

I wouldn't go see the Ottawa u hockey team if the sens weren't here.

Same thing for baseball.

Go big or go home. Especially in a non traditional baseball market.

I respect your point of view - it is one many around the city share. But I share a different one. To me I'll have just about the same game day experience cheering for my local Fat Cat/Rapid/Champion team because I love the sport of baseball and I love watching it in any form. But I think that's where I differ from the masses. Most people don't want to bother with a losing team, or waste their time on an "inferior product"... I just wanna watch some ball.

That's the thing about a non-traditional sport in a market. If it's not top of the hill, it won't bring in the fans (see: Fury right now).

Seriously though, I'd pretty much become a STH if the team was associated with the Jays.

 

[ChocolateLeclaire]

They did go big. With the Lynx. Then everyone went home. That was the problem.

To be fair, when the Lynx were affiliated with the Expos, the turnout was fantastic.

It was only when the Expos fell apart and suddenly we were now an Orioles farm team (doubly awful because the O's were a huge rival of the Jays) that people stopped caring.

I'm a big Jays fan, if Ottawa got their Double-A team, i wouldn't miss a game.

 

[Big Papi]

I'll be checking out a few games for sure.

Big baseball fan!

 

[FuriousSenator]

Jerseys came out today:

 

[Old5oh]

We're excited, the boy and I plan on seeing some games.

 

[DrunkUncleDenis]

Jerseys came out today:

Looking good. Not gaudy or anything. Like that they went with the blue/red/white of the Rapidz, although I did like the Fat Cats jerseys:

Champions' hat logo is sweet, too. The Fat Cats hats/0 logo look like they all have....er.... use your imagination.

 

[Inkling]

Like the jerseys. Glad they didn't follow the baseball convention of having the city name on the away greys, and the team name on the home whites.

 

[Smash88]

I will definitely check out a few games, as I did with the past few teams, it's always fun to sit outside on a nice summer day with a beer watching a ball game.

As others have said though, if they were affiliated with the Jays, I'd definitely get a mini pack of some sort. They need to get AA ball in Ottawa.

I'm not quite sure why it hasn't been done already.

 

[Big Papi]

baseball across Canada failed in the 2000s. Ottawa was the last city to lose its Triple A Franchise, with Vancouver, Edmonton and Calgary losing theirs as well before us, not to mention the Expos going south in 2004.

For Ottawa, the tough sell for season ticket holders were April/early May games, coupled by the bonehead decision of the city to sell off a significant portion of the parking lot for a freaking hotel reducing the parking lot by a third from 1600 to roughly 1000 spots for a 10,000 seat stadium. The city also failed to renew a lease for close off-site parking of 900 spots. so roughly 6 years after the Lynx had come to town they went from having 2500 parking spots on site or across the street to 1000. Transit wasn't the best to get to games and its only this year that the link to the transitway was done

Anyone who tried to go to Lynx games in the last 8 years or so will vouch at how crazy it was to find parking, often having to drive deep in overbrook/vanier. When you wanna catch a game after work on a weekday does that really appeal to you? The Lynx were killed in large part by the City. i'd love to know who voted to sell the parking lot to build a hotel. I asked my councillor (who didn't run last election) for the voting record on that and he ignored my request.

 

[Filatov2Kovalev2Bonk]

So essentially:

"I refuse to attend x because I want y"

"Why aren't we ever able to get y?!"

I don't really get the strange sense of entitlement in this city.... At this point a city our size will not be getting anything truly top level in the majority of sports, why not be happy with what we do have and support the great athletes that are playing for this city?

I'll be at more than a few games. The team and stadium are going to be top notch. Plenty of MLB experience on that roster and on the coaching staff.

http://www.ottawachampions.com/

Being happy with what we have is the road to constant mediocrity.
We are the national capital and I expect this city (perhaps foolishly) to put its best foot forward and give us top product in sport, entertainment, food, everything. If it is top notch I will go. If the team struggles I may go.

To be fair, when the Lynx were affiliated with the Expos, the turnout was fantastic.

It was only when the Expos fell apart and suddenly we were now an Orioles farm team (doubly awful because the O's were a huge rival of the Jays) that people stopped caring.

I'm a big Jays fan, if Ottawa got their Double-A team, i wouldn't miss a game.

Not to mention they forbade fans from throwing Oh Henry! bars when O. Henry was there...which was a massive, massive buzzkill.
And yes, if they were affiliated with the Jays it would be awesome.

 

[Big Papi]

Being happy with what we have is the road to constant mediocrity.
We are the national capital and I expect this city (perhaps foolishly) to put its best foot forward and give us top product in sport, entertainment, food, everything. If it is top notch I will go. If the team struggles I may go.

sarcasm?

 

[ChocolateLeclaire]

I will definitely check out a few games, as I did with the past few teams, it's always fun to sit outside on a nice summer day with a beer watching a ball game.

As others have said though, if they were affiliated with the Jays, I'd definitely get a mini pack of some sort. They need to get AA ball in Ottawa.

I'm not quite sure why it hasn't been done already.

Because the city (or whoever it was that was driving this) sucked at timing. Both times the Jays affiliate was up for renewal lately, the city couldn't get it together to place a bid.

For goodness sake, at one time, the Jays had their Double A team in Las Vegas...how does that make any logistical sense?!?

 

[Big Papi]

Because the city (or whoever it was that was driving this) sucked at timing. Both times the Jays affiliate was up for renewal lately, the city couldn't get it together to place a bid.

For goodness sake, at one time, the Jays had their Double A team in Las Vegas...how does that make any logistical sense?!?

agreed, funny though how man West NHL teams had AHL teams in the east up until this year.

Expos had their Triple A team in Indiana before Ottawa, which wasn't too bad I guess.

Sens were in PEI to begin with.

 

[JD1]

Whatever, I went to a ton of Rapidz and Fat Cat games. If the lot is full (which is rare) just park at the shopping centre and walk the <10 minutes to the park. This city and "parking", man. Obsessed with entitlement, god forbid someone is mildly inconvenienced.

Is it viable? Probably not. I wish it was, because it's a lot of fun. The Fat Cats were actually really building a decent fan base, then they quashed it prematurely when rumors of a Jays AA team surfaced.

and how many people were at those Fat Cat or Rapidz games? Not many I presume.

Back in the day the AAA Lynx drew an excellent crowd. I think their season attendance figures remain a record to this day. Not sure about that but I vaguely recall that.

How do you ruin a good thing? Slowly but surely the parking lot area around that stadium got tken over by hotels and slowly but surely there was less and less on street parking in the vicinity.

So, there really wasn't enough available parking to support a viable franchise and taking the bus there sucked because you had to walk 20 minutes.

Expecting huge crowds to show up somewhere that you cannot get to is kind of moronic. And that more than anything ruined baseball in Ottawa.

 

[jason2020]

Same as the last few teams to roll on through here! No interest!

Baseball would be great if it were Hockey!

To be fair there was interest take the Fatcats in a league that avg 50 yes 50 fans.

 

[FuriousSenator]

Being happy with what we have is the road to constant mediocrity.
We are the national capital and I expect this city (perhaps foolishly) to put its best foot forward and give us top product in sport, entertainment, food, everything. If it is top notch I will go. If the team struggles I may go.

Not to mention they forbade fans from throwing Oh Henry! bars when O. Henry was there...which was a massive, massive buzzkill.
And yes, if they were affiliated with the Jays it would be awesome.

If you refuse to be happy with what you have you'll never get anything.

 

[FuriousSenator]

and how many people were at those Fat Cat or Rapidz games? Not many I presume.

Back in the day the AAA Lynx drew an excellent crowd. I think their season attendance figures remain a record to this day. Not sure about that but I vaguely recall that.

How do you ruin a good thing? Slowly but surely the parking lot area around that stadium got tken over by hotels and slowly but surely there was less and less on street parking in the vicinity.

So, there really wasn't enough available parking to support a viable franchise and taking the bus there sucked because you had to walk 20 minutes.

Expecting huge crowds to show up somewhere that you cannot get to is kind of moronic. And that more than anything ruined baseball in Ottawa.

Once the LRT is finished, RCGT Park will be the best connected sports venue in Ottawa to good public transit.

Stop with this car first mindset.