Baseball or Basketball - what would do better here?

[Vancity]

Originally Posted by mrjauk

It is no longer strange once you understand that Vancouver is not a "major international city."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_city

well. Vancouver is an international city. oh well. my bad.

[Spikester]

Gonzaga vs. Hawaii, NCAA Division I hoops. A homecoming game for Gonzaga's Robert Sacre, who's from North Van. I'm curious to see what the attendance will be.

[mrjauk]

Originally Posted by Spikester

Gonzaga vs. Hawaii, NCAA Division I hoops. A homecoming game for Gonzaga's Robert Sacre, who's from North Van. I'm curious to see what the attendance will be.

Hmmm....interesting! I just may pop by and watch. It's too bad the Zags didn't have a better foe than UH lined up, though. The game's not even going to be close.

[Vancity]

I was listening once to the Team1040 radio, and they were having a discussion about whether or not Vancouver is a good sports town. I would have to say, no, we're not a very good sports town. The sports scene in this city, quite frankly, sucks. we have a lot of amateur sports, but major sporting events is a rarity in this city, which is one of the reasons why the sporting scene here stinks.

i'm glad that they have gonzaga playing hawaii on NCAA Div 1. bball. that should be something good. anyways, it's time for more pro sports to come to town!

CFL crowd for the Lions/Eskimo game is going to be reasonable. not a sell-out, but I think the atmosphere will be a good one. I'd love to visit Boston, where they are supportive of their teams, and their teams are actually winning championships on almost every sporting frontier (Red Sox, Bruins, Patriots, etc). Crazy. Wish Vancouver would develop a better professional sporting culture in this city.

[Spikester]

Originally Posted by mrjauk

Hmmm....interesting! I just may pop by and watch. It's too bad the Zags didn't have a better foe than UH lined up, though. The game's not even going to be close.

You're probably right, but I'll be there anyway. I'm a lifelong college basketball fan (growing up in Kentucky will do that to you), and I just got home from a trip to New York to see Kentucky vs. Kansas Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden.

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by Vancity

I was listening once to the Team1040 radio, and they were having a discussion about whether or not Vancouver is a good sports town. I would have to say, no, we're not a very good sports town. The sports scene in this city, quite frankly, sucks. we have a lot of amateur sports, but major sporting events is a rarity in this city, which is one of the reasons why the sporting scene here stinks.

i'm glad that they have gonzaga playing hawaii on NCAA Div 1. bball. that should be something good. anyways, it's time for more pro sports to come to town!

CFL crowd for the Lions/Eskimo game is going to be reasonable. not a sell-out, but I think the atmosphere will be a good one. I'd love to visit Boston, where they are supportive of their teams, and their teams are actually winning championships on almost every sporting frontier (Red Sox, Bruins, Patriots, etc). Crazy. Wish Vancouver would develop a better professional sporting culture in this city.

I agree that Vancouver is not a great sports city, but I don't think the quality of the leagues here is the issue. In the late 70s early 80s, the Whitecaps were huge and the Lions were drawing a lot more people that today to the games.

I'm going to blame it on a few things:

1) Lots to do here, people are stuck in their homes for weeks or months really getting into a particular sport

2) This is a city of immigrants, both from around the world and around Canada. Obviously newcomers to North America won't have any history with either hockey or football. Far less people have grown up with the local teams compared to other cities. Lots of people become hockey fans as they assimilate, but it takes time.

[Vancity]

Originally Posted by WarrenC12

I agree that Vancouver is not a great sports city, but I don't think the quality of the leagues here is the issue. In the late 70s early 80s, the Whitecaps were huge and the Lions were drawing a lot more people that today to the games.

I'm going to blame it on a few things:

1) Lots to do here, people are stuck in their homes for weeks or months really getting into a particular sport

2) This is a city of immigrants, both from around the world and around Canada. Obviously newcomers to North America won't have any history with either hockey or football. Far less people have grown up with the local teams compared to other cities. Lots of people become hockey fans as they assimilate, but it takes time.

I don't think it's the quality of the leagues either, but we really don't have a lot of leagues to begin with: NHL, CFL, and MLS. that's it. I'm not even talking about pro leagues, just sporting events in general - there seems to be lacking in this city. I don't know if I can compare Van to Boston, since Boston has been around what seems like forever, but it seems like they've built a tradition, as for some reason, the sporting tradition/scene stinks over here, and we can't always blame it on the fact that we're a "young" city.

I can't agre with your second point. City of immigrants? That could be just about any city globally these days. People are moving place to place all the time. Toronto is a city of immigrants, and they have the NHL, NBA, MLS, CFL, MLB, and are looking to bring an NFL team to their fair city. Granted, they ARE a larger city, but surely this city can support at least one, if not two more profesional leagues (NBA and NLL?). We have a world class beautiful city, but our sporting scenes are anything but world class.

People here complain about the NBA returning (one day) to Van. I'll be honest. I'd completely support the move. While there's a lot of spoiled players not "wanting to play in Canada" - it'd be a great addition to our sporting scene in this city. it would certainly put us on the map, as basketball is as much a global sport than, say, hockey is for most european countries. I'll admit that MLS is a decent soccer league here in North America, but Vancouver CAN, and SHOULD do better when it comes to bringing more pro sports teams, and investing in their sporting culture here.

[Vancity]

With all this talk about Seattle getting a new arena, and therefore, most likely the return of the NBA and maybe even a new NHL team. do you think this will peak Aquilini's interest in bringing an NBA club to Vancouver? It makes sense to have another tenant in Rogers Arena, when the Canucks aren't in town to fill the other 41 home dates. Thoughts?

There are no reports that anyone is stepping up in New Orleans to buying that franchise and keeping it there in the city.

Vancouver and Seattle would at least have two rivalries right off the bat, should they land an NHL franchise (Whitecaps and Canucks would be instant rivals with Seattle Sounders and ______). If Vancouver could land an NBA franchise, it'd be three rivals. that'd be sweet. Do you think Aquilini still has interest? Or is there fear that an NBA team could take interest away from the Canucks? (IMO, I don't think that'll ever happen).

[Zassk]

Reports on the radio today say the Seattle stadium is a go, and the Sacramento Kings and Phoenix Coyotes are both intended to move there.

[peterprinciple]

Baseball. I would like to see Vancouver and Seattle as rivals.

[incognism]

I would be inclined to believe that a (properly run) NBA team in Vancouver would have a better chance of succeeding compared to a NHL team in Seattle.

Or at the very least, there would be more interest from Vancouverites to a NBA team than Seattleites to a NHL team.

[Pinion]

The articles from Seattle really show how excited they are about the NHL. i.e. not at all. Basically "Seattle getting a new NBA arena!!! Could also be used for something called ice hockey"

[Vancity]

Originally Posted by incognism

I would be inclined to believe that a (properly run) NBA team in Vancouver would have a better chance of succeeding compared to a NHL team in Seattle.

Or at the very least, there would be more interest from Vancouverites to a NBA team than Seattleites to a NHL team.

I heard that the stadium being built was contigent on whether they could get both the NBA and the NHL to be tenants there.

I'm not entirely sure if the NHL would work in Seattle. The NHL team would be competing against MLB, NFL, MLS, and now the return of the NBA. Is there enough cash to go around?

I also am inclined to believe that a properly run NBA franchise here in Van would do better than an NHL franchise in Seattle. I hope it does cause Aquilini to really take a hard look at the business possibility of having an NBA team here in Vancouver. I think if they run it well, the team would be fully embraced by the community here as well. Could you imagine if Vancouver could get a talent, and player like Jeremy Lin? This franchise would explode!

[phesto]

Originally Posted by Vancity

I'm not entirely sure if the NHL would work in Seattle. The NHL team would be competing against MLB, NFL, MLS, and now the return of the NBA. Is there enough cash to go around?

I also am inclined to believe that a properly run NBA franchise here in Van would do better than an NHL franchise in Seattle. I hope it does cause Aquilini to really take a hard look at the business possibility of having an NBA team here in Vancouver. I think if they run it well, the team would be fully embraced by the community here as well. Could you imagine if Vancouver could get a talent, and player like Jeremy Lin? This franchise would explode!

I think the NHL would do fine in Seattle. You have to keep in mind that it is not just a cash/attendance issue but local TV rights and ratings. For the most part, the NHL team would only be competing directly with the NBA team and not the NFL/MLB/MLS, whose seasons only slightly overlap the NHL. With the deal that would have to be put in place, the team would be secure and I'm sure that would allow the hockey fan-base in Seattle to grow.mo

I don't see an NBA team in Seattle really influencing the return of NBA to Vancouver, but it certainly doesn't hurt. Geographically, Vancouver was always isolated from the rest of the NBA and the Sonic's departure just made it worse.

[dennis1]

How about both?

There is 2.7 million people in the lower mainland, and not everyone likes hockey or the CFL(yeah right). Vancouver is big enough. More people downtown. Think big.

[dennis1]

Originally Posted by Vancity

With all this talk about Seattle getting a new arena, and therefore, most likely the return of the NBA and maybe even a new NHL team. do you think this will peak Aquilini's interest in bringing an NBA club to Vancouver? It makes sense to have another tenant in Rogers Arena, when the Canucks aren't in town to fill the other 41 home dates. Thoughts?

There are no reports that anyone is stepping up in New Orleans to buying that franchise and keeping it there in the city.

Vancouver and Seattle would at least have two rivalries right off the bat, should they land an NHL franchise (Whitecaps and Canucks would be instant rivals with Seattle Sounders and ______). If Vancouver could land an NBA franchise, it'd be three rivals. that'd be sweet. Do you think Aquilini still has interest? Or is there fear that an NBA team could take interest away from the Canucks? (IMO, I don't think that'll ever happen).

Two different markets. NBA will do fine in Canada and the MLB would be in the summer and only have the CFL as competition.

[EastVanMark]

Originally Posted by dennis1

How about both?

There is 2.7 million people in the lower mainland, and not everyone likes hockey or the CFL(yeah right). Vancouver is big enough. More people downtown. Think big.

We don't do that very well round these parts.

[Vancity]

Originally Posted by EastVanMark

We don't do that very well round these parts.

that's really unfortunate

[Vancity]

Originally Posted by dennis1

Two different markets. NBA will do fine in Canada and the MLB would be in the summer and only have the CFL as competition.

If the NBA will do fine in Canada, then, it's only a matter of time until a second chance is given to Van, for an NBA franchise

[Vancity]

Originally Posted by dennis1

Two different markets. NBA will do fine in Canada and the MLB would be in the summer and only have the CFL as competition.

I can't ever see Bud Selig seeing Vancouver as potential place for a MLB franchise. It would never happen. If the demand for a specific baseball park only was the condition, we couldn't do it, unless it all came from private funding, without taxpayers $$...and we're talking about Vancouver here, MAYBE that'd work (hint hint, remember the 'Caps trying to build their own stadium with private funding...look what happened to that - instead we renovated a decades old stadium, with taxpayers money...our leaders in this city are really )