I’m very busy this morning, busy enough that one entire news item will have to wait till Monday when I can give it its due, but that means an extra post on Monday, so what are you complaining about, really? Anyway, there’s still plenty of stadium and arena news from this week, let’s have at it:
- The Oakland A’s released some new Howard Terminal stadium renderings as part of their environmental impact statement, and the big news is that the design looks to be subtly asymmetrical now, I guess so that the outfield opening provides a better view across the bay?
There’s also some airplane flyovers for some reason, and a kid who has chosen to go to the game wearing a vintage Dave Stewart jersey and waving an enormous A’s flag:
That poor kid’s day is only going to get worse when he’s told at the gate that banners aren’t allowed to obstruct the view of other fans, plus that Dave Stewart retired in 1995. - Baltimore Orioles owner John Angelos has promised that the team “will never move” from Baltimore, even while seeking a lease extension and possible renovation of Camden Yards to, as the Baltimore Sun puts it, “keep the team at the stadium for the long term.” You think they give cognitive dissonance lessons at baseball owner school?
- Collapsing soccer stadium deals are all the rage in northern California: No sooner did Ron Burkle pull out of his planned Sacramento Republic F.C. stadium than the city of Fresno put on hold a plan to sell its arena to the owners of Fresno F.C., a former semipro USL League Two team that folded in 2019 but is hoping to return, so that they could build a stadium in the arena parking lot. The stated reason: a 2009 law requiring the city to do due diligence before spending $1 million or more in public money on a private project. Keep on passing those sports subsidy oversight laws, kids!
- The Wilmington Sharks, which as a college wood-bat team I previously might have dismissed as amateur sports but which I should probably start paying attention to now that amateur sports is part of the new minor-league business model, fell $15,000 behind in their rent to the city of Wilmington, N.C., thanks to “a software system error,” and are being allowed to make it up by paying for upgrades to their own stadium instead. (Technically the city’s stadium, but the Sharks owners are the ones who get to use it and profit from it.) Will this get team owners to stop demanding $1.3 million in city money for a more substantial renovation and threatening to leave town otherwise? Do you even have to ask?
- The media drumbeat for a new Tennessee Smokies stadium in Knoxville continues, with a retired Knoxville Chamber of Commerce president being the latest to get free newspaper space to lobby for the city to spend $65 million on the project. Membership does have its privileges.
- New York Islanders president Lou Lamoriello vows that the team’s new arena will be ready to open this fall despite only the lower bowl being completed so far, but would he really say anything otherwise even if it was behind schedule? Anyway, it’ll be open eventually, and if nothing else the past year should have given sports fans a good appreciation of “eventually.”
- Missouri is spending $100,000 on a study of the $16.2 million that the St. Louis Regional Sports Authority spent on trying to keep the St. Louis Rams from leaving town, which they did anyway. Oversight is good and all, but I can’t help feeling like this will be turtles all the way down.
I’m going to skip rent next month, blame it on a “software error,” and buy a new dishwasher for the kitchen with the money instead. My landlord should be okay with that, right?
Should be good. Just submit a economic impact statement showing how many jobs you create in place of your next rent check.
Ah Neil, the long-standing debate of whether Fresno is considered Northern or Southern California. Wikipedia lists it as Northern, but that source should never be the deciding factor.
It’s closer to SF than to LA, and closer to Merced than to Bakersfield. I think northern California is stuck with it.
I saw a facebook page awhile ago that used zip codes to determine the approximate boundaries of baseball team fandoms. A line running roughly from the coast at San Luis Obispo east to a point between Fresno and Bakersfield defined the boundary between majority Dodger fans and Giants fans. The A’s and the Angels only dominated the fan bases in their immediate areas.
So the answer to the original question is neither southern or northern california, Fresno is in the Central Valley.
Then let’s assign Fresno to Central California!
Even with the asymmetry of the Howard Terminal redesign, people in the upper deck down the 3rd base line would still be looking out at the channel and a few mile stretch of Alameda before the Bay even starts.
Can’t wait for the opening of the “old timey” post-bleacher seating that will be set up on top the Howard Terminal cranes reminiscent of the seating on top of the brownstones across the street in left + right field at Wrigley Field.
I like the asymmetrical design. I mean, in concept at least. I don’t know everything about it, but the thought of a 3/4 concrete donut with the ballfield itself at a 30^ angle just seems interesting in my mind. Why not go even further and put the home plate seats along the third base line so the best seats in the house actually point to the lovely view of the bay?
Because batters should never be staring into low sun angles.
Most ballparks that don’t follow the MLB guideline of “line from home plate through center field should point somewhat northerly of due east” are domed or have retractable roofs.
Newsday report the islanders’ arena will be ready in November. Assuming the season starts on time this means they’re on the road for a while or they play at Nassau a little while longer.
Rule 6 of Vaportecture? Don’t worry if you know nothing about physics or geometry (or the western power grid). Apocalyptic vision of the Bay Area, Northern California minus Fresno, where the entire power grid has gone down. Well, except for that area surrounding the new A’s stadium.
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