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2019-Whenever Misc. Grab Bag Thread

How about a site 1/2 way between Charlotte, raleigh and Greensboro then have a special bball train that ferries people back and forth?
 
Downtown Raleigh for a baseball stadium is a worse idea than a downtown hockey arena. More games, (hopefully) bigger crowds.
IMO baseball's a bad fit regardless, but if it WAS going to work then the stadium would have to be on the beltline ... outer north of town or inner south of town, take your pick. Downtown would be a mess ... especially for day games. I assume they'd be looking at the Kane district south of town, which would at least have a fighting chance. But you're talking an expectation of 35-40,000 spread out over an 81 game home schedule. That's a logistical challenge this city's streets have never seen before and are not designed to manage. Even if you carved that down to 25K, it's still more people than struggle to get in and out of the current hockey arena for TWICE as many games ... a goodly chunk of which would be played in daylight. Yeah, sure. Seems super simple to me.
 
How about a site 1/2 way between Charlotte, raleigh and Greensboro then have a special bball train that ferries people back and forth?
Turning 81 games into 6-8 hour excursions. Hard pass. Get me a monorail and call me back.
 
Key word ... try

I've seen some speculation that MLB thinks the demographics of the RDU market might be a bit better for their product than Charlotte ... but our underlying pluses are basically the same as Nashvillle's, so ... yeah. Seems like a long shot, but you won't get a hit with the bat on your shoulder.

Well, Jerry Reese who was one of the main people trying to get Charlotte a team way back when the Marlins were awarded their franchise, has recently (2022) began lobbying for Raleigh......wouldn't be surprised if he is in the group with Dundon. Apparently Reese already has a spot for the stadium already picked out (and purchased *shrug*) but he won't say where that is.

Who knows....I will believe it when I see it
 
Well, Jerry Reese who was one of the main people trying to get Charlotte a team way back when the Marlins were awarded their franchise, has recently (2022) began lobbying for Raleigh......wouldn't be surprised if he is in the group with Dundon. Apparently Reese already has a spot for the stadium already picked out (and purchased *shrug*) but he won't say where that is.

Who knows....I will believe it when I see it
LOL ... if Jerry freaking Reese has land purchased or optioned for this boondoggle then it's bound to be a reclaimed quarry or a trash dump.
 
IMO baseball's a bad fit regardless, but if it WAS going to work then the stadium would have to be on the beltline ... outer north of town or inner south of town, take your pick. Downtown would be a mess ... especially for day games. I assume they'd be looking at the Kane district south of town, which would at least have a fighting chance. But you're talking an expectation of 35-40,000 spread out over an 81 game home schedule. That's a logistical challenge this city's streets have never seen before and are not designed to manage. Even if you carved that down to 25K, it's still more people than struggle to get in and out of the current hockey arena for TWICE as many games ... a goodly chunk of which would be played in daylight. Yeah, sure. Seems super simple to me.
You may recall a proposed bb stadium a few years ago on the Central Prison land. The right field line lined up with my office.
I wish the State would move that place to the middle of BFE.
 
In an interview with DeCock, Dundon says “not so fast, my friend”. He said he was approached by a group of people to lead an effort to bring a team to either Raleigh OR Charlotte. So it’s not Raleigh specific. He also said he’s not doing this alone. He’ll lead the effort but he’s not spending upwards of $2 billion of his own money to get a team.

Besides what we’ve already pointed out above, the other thing working against Raleigh is the lack of corporate headquarters. The Canes manage to get around it but they’re only selling 18,000 seats to 41 games. MLB needs more corporate money to fill seats and luxury boxes. And none of the few headquarters that are around here stepped up in a meaningful way when Karmanos needed a capital infusion. The one advantage that Raleigh has that neither Charlotte or Nashville have is no summer competition. No overlap with NFL training camps and part of the regular season, no overlap with MLS and their February - October season. And Nashville would have the same hockey conflicts as Raleigh, while Charlotte has them with basketball.
 
You may recall a proposed bb stadium a few years ago on the Central Prison land. The right field line lined up with my office.
I wish the State would move that place to the middle of BFE.
Oh, you've hit on a pet peeve right there. Central Prison should have been relocated DECADES ago and would have if we had a functional relationship between the State and the City. But, no ... too many petty turf battles, too many personal grudges and too much general childishness has meant that a very expensive and important part of a gateway to downtown has that massive stupid eyesore hanging over it. Believe it or not, there was a deal to move Central Prison to Wake County Land south of Raleigh all but wrapped in in Christmas paper back in the freaking 70s but it was squashed because the then director of prisons had a personal grudge with the Wake Co. Manager.
 
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Oh, you've hit on a pet peeve right there. Central Prison should have been relocated DECADES ago and would have if we had a functional relationship between the State and the City. But, no ... too many petty turf battles, too many personal grudges and too much general childishness has meant that a very expensive and important part of a gateway to downtown has that massive stupid eyesore hanging over it. Believe it or not, there was a deal to move Central Prison to Wake County Land south of Raleigh all but wrapped in in Christmas paper back in the freaking 70s but it was squashed because the then director of prisons had a personal grudge with the Wake Co. Manager.
Who was the last governor that was a Raleigh native? I got as far back as Umstead and stopped looking.
 
Oh, you've hit on a pet peeve right there. Central Prison should have been relocated DECADES ago and would have if we had a functional relationship between the State and the City. But, no ... too many petty turf battles, too many personal grudges and too much general childishness has meant that a very expensive and important part of a gateway to downtown has that massive stupid eyesore hanging over it. Believe it or not, there was a deal to move Central Prison to Wake County Land south of Raleigh all but wrapped in in Christmas paper back in the freaking 70s but it was squashed because the then director of prisons had a personal grudge with the Wake Co. Manager.
Would sure as hell be a better sight from my office window!
 
In case you missed it, the couple that owns the Buena Papa Fry Bar in the Morgan Street Food Hall, Streets at Southpoint and the concession stand outside section 301 at PNC Arena, was on Shark Tank last week. They were seeking $400k in exchange for 7% equity. They got the $400k, but it cost them more than 7%, they gave up a 19% stake to Robert Herjavec.

I‘ve had the fries at the arena. They’re good. But very messy.
 
In case you missed it, the couple that owns the Buena Papa Fry Bar in the Morgan Street Food Hall, Streets at Southpoint and the concession stand outside section 301 at PNC Arena, was on Shark Tank last week. They were seeking $400k in exchange for 7% equity. They got the $400k, but it cost them more than 7%, they gave up a 19% stake to Robert Herjavec.

I‘ve had the fries at the arena. They’re good. But very messy.
I might have to walk down there another day. It's a ten minute stroll. As is the Flying Saucer. Trophy is 2 minutes. Would be there more often if they had less froo froo beers.
 
So. Um. Asking for a friend. As a Bears fan, who should I er I mean who should he be rooting for tonight on Thursday night football.

If you’re not aware the Bears have their own and Carolinas first round pick in the next draft. Currently that is pick 2 (from Carolina) and 3 (their own).

I told him that he shouldn’t worry about such things because even if they end up with picks 1 and 2 they’d make a mess of it because they’re the hapless bears and will still lose to the Packers forever and he should just give up on the Bears and the whole NFL.

He was crying when I left him “sniffle” and is seriously considering it but he still wants to know. It’s not like the “local” team in Charlotte is at all attractive as an alternative. Poor fella.
 
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