News 13 Special Report tonight

[danefan]

News 13 is airing a special report tonight at 11pm on sports in the Capital District sports and why there is limited fan attendance.

 

Sounds interesting. I'd like to see their take on it and see if they address the football stadium project.

[UA_MA_2000]

Any details on the report? What was said? (I missed it)

[danefan]

Any details on the report? What was said? (I missed it)

 

 

Haha...so did I.

[UAalum72]

It was just a review of the pro minor league teams (BB, hockey, indoor football) that have come and gone in the last 30 years, said the AA Yankees would still be here if they had built a new baseball stadium in 1994. Didn't really inquire as to why. No mention of college sports.

 

Don Ostrom did have a few seconds on screen, talking about the Red Wings.

[scrabbleship]

It was just a review of the pro minor league teams (BB, hockey, indoor football) that have come and gone in the last 30 years, said the AA Yankees would still be here if they had built a new baseball stadium in 1994. Didn't really inquire as to why. No mention of college sports.

 

Don Ostrom did have a few seconds on screen, talking about the Red Wings.

 

Is it just me, or did the report have some glaring omissions. Namely the following:

• The Albany-Colonie A's left solely because they became the Albany-Colonie Yankees, therefore throwing the A's in there is a little unfair.
  
• The AHL was starting to lean toward larger markets when the Red Wings left Glens Falls. Given the choice between Philly and Glens Falls, which one would you rather have a team in if you were the highest level league for a pro league
  
• Part of the new Patroons problems can be traced to the implied instability of the CBA. Given how the league's headquaters are now in the Armory, the risk of them leaving town at this point is nil unless the whole league goes under.
  
• The Diamond Dogs departure was because of the ValleyCats coming in with a better caliber of play in a far better facility.
  

All of that aside, I still think the old Patroons would have inevitably left town if they didn't go to the then-Knick because of the condition the Armory was in and that even if Heritage Park was expanded to AA standards the AC Yankees would have still looked elsewhere because Heritage Park would have needed a total redo. The Firebirds number was up for a while given that the trend of AFL teams moving to larger markets was already underway and Albany was a holdout.

 

On a Wyland tangent, I'll bring up something he once discussed on the radio. If the Joe was expanded to AA standards, would we land an AA team?

[GDBD]

It was obvious that the AC Yankees would leave because of the state of AA stadia in general vs. what Hertitage Park offered. But, remember that the club was sold to folks from Conn. who professed that they had no intention of moving the franchise & then 1 year later moved the club to Norwich.

Let me mention our cred as a region is affected by our media as well. The T-U had a tough week. First Brian Ettkin took an opportunity of a special interview w/ Stanley Wilson - NFL DB, here for an un-compensated stint at the Disabilities Center Telethon, and turned it into a painful rehash of his father's cocaine meltdown to the exclusion of Wilson Jr. fine year. Then Jeff Ruland had a few things to say about the T-U's portrayal of his team in Thursday's paper. God forbid we sugar coat or make heroes out of sports figures who aren't deserving. But the Ettkin piece was bush-league & Ruland had a point.

[scrabbleship]

Let me mention our cred as a region is affected by our media as well. The T-U had a tough week. First Brian Ettkin took an opportunity of a special interview w/ Stanley Wilson - NFL DB, here for an un-compensated stint at the Disabilities Center Telethon, and turned it into a painful rehash of his father's cocaine meltdown to the exclusion of Wilson Jr. fine year. Then Jeff Ruland had a few things to say about the T-U's portrayal of his team in Thursday's paper. God forbid we sugar coat or make heroes out of sports figures who aren't deserving. But the Ettkin piece was bush-league & Ruland had a point.

 

It isn't as much of a media overall situation as it is a TU situation. Since Rex Smith came in, political leanings aside, the level of journalism has wallowed in mediocrity where some rules have been bent for the sake of selling papers as they've lost readers to TV, the internet, and even the Gazette and Record as those papers have become regional in stature. If it was a paper in a major city doing the same, would it hurt their cred as much?

 

Still, many cities of "higher" cred would kill for a paper like the TU or the situation we enjoy. Rochester, with their AAA baseball team, AHL heritage, and constant cries to get a MLS team, can't stand the Democrat-Chronicle because it's journalism is poorer than that of the TU. Then again, Rochesterians often have the market cornered on complaining (my apologies to those who don't).

 

At least Albany can hold two things over the head of Rochester: DI sports and an indoor football team that is in a higher caliber league (AF2>>>GLIFL). The TV markets are also sizeably larger in our favor, though Albany does have a huge fringe and Rochester gets cheated out of a good chunk of area DMA wise.

[GDBD]

Very good points!

BTW, I need to applaud Mark Singelais' coverage of Great Danes basketball. He does a nice nice job covering the program.

Maybe if the T-U had done a similar job & the very public unfriendly Rip Rowan hadn't been in charge of Public Relations, the AC Yanks would have stayed longer. (Naw They were history as soon as they were sold.)

BTW, my favorite Rip Rowan quote was - when asked on the phone who was pitching that night?, said - "Why don't you shell out a couple of bucks & come out and see for yourself?"

 

I'm sorry if it's hard to hear what I'm saying - I probably shouldn't be grinding my axe this close to the computer. ;-) See you all at the growl!

[purplehaze]

Very good points!

BTW, I need to applaud Mark Singelais' coverage of Great Danes basketball. He does a nice nice job covering the program.

Maybe if the T-U had done a similar job & the very public unfriendly Rip Rowan hadn't been in charge of Public Relations, the AC Yanks would have stayed longer. (Naw They were history as soon as they were sold.)

BTW, my favorite Rip Rowan quote was - when asked on the phone who was pitching that night?, said - "Why don't you shell out a couple of bucks & come out and see for yourself?"

 

I'm sorry if it's hard to hear what I'm saying - I probably shouldn't be grinding my axe this close to the computer. ;-) See you all at the growl!

They don't make 'em like the Ripper and good ole Bob McNamara anymore. Thank God.

[scrabbleship]

Very good points!

BTW, I need to applaud Mark Singelais' coverage of Great Danes basketball. He does a nice nice job covering the program.

Maybe if the T-U had done a similar job & the very public unfriendly Rip Rowan hadn't been in charge of Public Relations, the AC Yanks would have stayed longer. (Naw They were history as soon as they were sold.)

BTW, my favorite Rip Rowan quote was - when asked on the phone who was pitching that night?, said - "Why don't you shell out a couple of bucks & come out and see for yourself?"

 

I'm sorry if it's hard to hear what I'm saying - I probably shouldn't be grinding my axe this close to the computer. ;-) See you all at the growl!

They don't make 'em like the Ripper and good ole Bob McNamara anymore. Thank God.

 

This will make me sound a lot, LOT older than I am, but wasn't Rip a protege of McNamara? I know that Rip replaced McNamara at 10 ages ago, way before myself and most of this forum was even alive (what looking at old TU TV listings on microfiche can teach...). In fact, McNamara's effect will be felt in some form in this market for a long, long time given the Wyland factor.

 

Bringing this back to the present day, agree or disagree: Wyland is this generation's McNamara. I was unlucky enough to spend most of my formative years in an area with poor reception of 13 and got a steady diet of 6 and their various sports people and O'Brien/Murph/etc. at 10 so it'd be easier for someone else to judge.

[danefan]

The video is online right now.

http://www.wnyt.com/