Just wanted to let you all know we're still here

As you know, there hasn't been a lot happening on the stadium front, so nothing really to post here at Ballpark Frankness. I owe you all a heat check, but I'm going to wait until after tonight's game.

I can tell you we're working on something quite indepth related to the stadium pursuit. Hopefully I can share more soon... say maybe a week. Until then.

Comments

[Will Ferrell]

I ring the cowbell in your honor!

[BehindTheCurtain]

I seriously doubt that the following, taken from the intro above, is a true statement:

"As you know, there hasn't been a lot happening on the stadium front."

It's like a duck in a pond -- all serene above, lots of furious paddling going on below the surface.

Stick THAT in yer cowbell.

Can't hardly WAIT to see what the secret ABC, Inc. cabal-kleptocracy springs on us down the road.

[Thomas]

Aaron is still here.

I left and came back.

Boom! (hey) Outta Here
Boom! (hey) Outta Here
Boom! (hey) Outta Here
Boom! (hey) Outta Here

Regards,
Brett Myers

[John]

Hey what a concept, A PRIVATELY FUNDED SPORTS VENUE!!!! Lyash & Co better take notice because we will not forget...

TAMPA -- A group of investors has chosen a site in Town 'N Country for the new Tampa Bay Rowdies soccer stadium, a team official said Wednesday night.

The stadium will be on 18 acres near the Veterans Expressway at Waters Avenue, according to Perry Van Der Beck (left), a former Rowdies player who is now a marketing official for the team. It will seat 5,500 to start but also have the capacity to be expanded to 15,000 seats. The privately funded stadium would likely be named after a corporate sponsor that has not yet emerged, Van Der Beck told a group at a Brandon Area Youth Soccer League meeting.

The investor group includes Bern's Steak House president David Laxer and other local and out-of-town businessmen.

"They're young, they're aggressive and they're smart," Van Der Beck said of the owners.

The team, which first played in Tampa from 1975 to 1993, will retain the Tampa Bay Rowdies name and sell retro merchandise in its gift shop. The stadium design features seats on a lower level, a mid-level concession area and luxury boxes above. It is unknown whether the group has the funds in hand to build the stadium, which the investors would like to finish in time for a scheduled April 2010 opening.

[Round II]

Oh RRiccky, RRRicckky, here RRiccky Ricky rrickky, sooo-eeeee, soooo-eeeee, I know you're out there, boy. Slops are up again!

I guess they haven't figured it out yet. Euro-KickBall doesn't work in America! That's the only reason they are not feeding off the taxpayers.

[Paul]

I guess I've been seeing the 'Ballpark Frankness' graphic for so long, I don't even notice it but have recently looked close at it. First off, I like how the existing Trop is in an unfavorable black and white, ugly photo, doesn't even have the Trop logo or new graphics on it... yet the no longer proposed 'new' stadium is in shiny color and looks nice. How blatant. Can we please get rid of the graphic on the right by placing a big red X across it, making it black and white, and putting a nice, full color, shiny, pretty picture of the existing Trop? That would be more honest of the current situation, I believe.

The ABC is so transparent, such a public process that is inclusive that you don't even hear anything about them. They are a joke and a sham. I'm guessing the true definition is 'A Blatant Con'.

Ready for Round II.

[Al Lang]

Hey Paul - Why not point out how POWW graphically altered the Rays image of the new stadium to a darker, less colorful image?

Stop being so paranoid.

We STILL want a waterfront stadium! It's the ideal location and will showcase St Pete. Too bad there are folks like you who want to hide your heads in the sand and prevent this city from growing.

[John]

Al Lang, why are you hiding your head in the sand by using someone else's name?

And no, WE don't want a waterfront "stadium"....YOU might, but the majority (WE) do NOT. If WE did, we'd have a referendum coming up, now wouldn't WE?

Why don't you buy the Al Lang property and sell it to the Rays so they can build their ballpark with THEIR money, not OURS.

[Paul]

hey Rick, thanks for the reply, seems I'm the only one who can stir up the fire enough to bring your lame self out of hiding.

[Chris Jenkins]

Hey Thomas, and the others of you who are capable of writing an intelligent opinion without flinging insults, I'd like to talk to you a little more in depth about a public platform where your writing could do some good. Where you stand on the issue isn't important, just your ability to form it into an intelligible sentence.

Email me at cjenkins@flmediasolutions.com

[.]

What ever happened to Gary Grooms? Is he on the Alcoholic Beverages Commission, Inc., or what? He seemed like a kind of anti-Lorraine. We need controversy and hatred -- let's get it back on, already. Stadium Subsidy Death Match!

[Lame]

Please.

[Kathleen]

Let me guess, another glossy magazine pullout on St. Pete's wonderful baseball history (which there is one) highlighting potential new baseball stadium locations and different funding mechanisms that do not rely on public handouts, ie naming rights, licensing agreements, condominiumized ownership of suites and parking, and which pays off all of the existing debt at the Trop and reimburses the City for lost naming rights revenue and ticket revenue-so the city gets its benefit of the bargain before the Rays move.