NLL gets almost no respect....

[Vin]

While it's been over 6 years since the Attack knew the way to San Jose, I'm reminded of how little respect the NLL gets....

The Albany Times-Union, the primary local newspaper, publishes the MLL standings. Now, it does this despite the fact that the closest MLL teams are Boston and then Long Island.

Yet, the T-U never publishes the NLL standings! Whenever I've looked in the past at print issues of the T-U, I never see NLL standings printed during the NLL season... Or am I mistaken?

[RockyNY]

I guess that newspaper know Albany will never get MLL team and may or may not want NLL team at Times Union Center.

Well, with Albany Firebirds (af2) skating on a very thin ice, I dont know what Times Union Center will do if they lose af2 franchise. With Albany River Rats as the only team in this building, perhaps its time for them to look into NLL, if they want to.

It would be nice to have NLL team in Albany when you think of rival with Rochester and Buffalo (as well as Boston) but rival with Rochester and Buffalo will hit it off big.

Roy

[R.I.C.H.]

While it's been over 6 years since the Attack knew the way to San Jose, I'm reminded of how little respect the NLL gets....

The Albany Times-Union, the primary local newspaper, publishes the MLL standings. Now, it does this despite the fact that the closest MLL teams are Boston and then Long Island.

Yet, the T-U never publishes the NLL standings! Whenever I've looked in the past at print issues of the T-U, I never see NLL standings printed during the NLL season... Or am I mistaken?It's the same situation with the Boston Globe. The Globe covers the MLL standings, but not once did I see standings for the NLL, and Boston has a team. There were a couple of articles of Blazers games. But that was just about it.

[SaulinBoston]

It would be nice to have NLL team in Albany when you think of rival with Rochester and Buffalo (as well as Boston) but rival with Rochester and Buffalo will hit it off big.

Roy

errrr..... what? Albany had FOUR years to try and generate a rivalry with its New York counterparts... it never happened. The biggest crowd they ever had was the Championship Game against Toronto. Albany does not have a very good history of supporting its local teams unfortunately.

[thwingfan]

The biggest crowd they ever had was the Championship Game against Toronto.

And that was mostly because of the busloads of Toronto fans along with fans from other NLL cities who made it to the game.

[RockyNY]

Saul ....

Perhaps I can let Vin answer that question why Albany couldnt support the NLL team.

I believe that Albany was in love in Albany Firebirds of AFL (old heydays when they won title) and Albany Conquest/Albany Firebirds of af2.

When I was at Albany Firebirds game last month, they drew about 5,000 fans per game. Thats because the team sucks but drew good crowd. If they were winning, maybe it would be different. I dont know.

I dont know if Albany Firebirds is coming back or not. Due to AFL filing bankrupty, no one know. I spoke to one of af2 coaches and he told me that we should know by Oct 1.

Roy

[RockStar#666]

And that was mostly because of the busloads of Toronto fans along with fans from other NLL cities who made it to the game.

That was a good sized chunk, but they still put 9,000 in the stands, mostly locals. I'm figuring Toronto brought ~300 from the ?6? buses, maybe another 500 that made the trip on their own, and lots of representation from Philadelphia and the other two NYS teams.

What really sold tickets was the sh¡tstorm that Brad Watters started by calling out the Albany fans and trying to host the game in Toronto.

[Vin]

That was a good sized chunk, but they still put 9,000 in the stands, mostly locals. I'm figuring Toronto brought ~300 from the ?6? buses, maybe another 500 that made the trip on their own, and lots of representation from Philadelphia and the other two NYS teams.

What really sold tickets was the sh¡tstorm that Brad Watters started by calling out the Albany fans and trying to host the game in Toronto.

I'd estimate at least 1000 Rock fans. They were very vocal and it was great. For most of the Albany folks, that was probably their first game.
Besides Watters, though, the Albany Times-Union actually started to cover the team. The T-U had an enormous cover shot of Josh Sanderson taking a shot. The advertising and coverage before the championship game was very good.

When the Attack lost, I was rather upset. While it was a close loss and a great game, what upset me is that I felt many of those folks would not come back next season because we had lost the championship. If we had won, the team might have lasted....

[Vin]

Saul ....

Perhaps I can let Vin answer that question why Albany couldnt support the NLL team.

I believe that Albany was in love in Albany Firebirds of AFL (old heydays when they won title) and Albany Conquest/Albany Firebirds of af2.

When I was at Albany Firebirds game last month, they drew about 5,000 fans per game. Thats because the team sucks but drew good crowd. If they were winning, maybe it would be different. I dont know.

I dont know if Albany Firebirds is coming back or not. Due to AFL filing bankrupty, no one know. I spoke to one of af2 coaches and he told me that we should know by Oct 1.

Roy

Roy, Saul used to be SaulInAlbany. He's been here at the NLLMB even longer than me and knows the situation better than me....

As to the original Firebirds, yes, they were loved. The Conquest, the af2 team that eventually was re-christened as the Firebirds this past season, have been sliding for a long time.

College sports do reasonably well here. The Siena Saints Men's Division I basketball team usually plays at the TUC. It also hosts NCAA events quite often.

However, this area and professional sports just do not go together well. Also, the Times Union Center gives shitty deals to the teams so it is hard for them to make a profit. Ideally, an arena should be built near Crossgates Mall at near the Intersections of US-20, I-87, I-90, NY-5. That area is easy to get to from anywhere in the Capital District. This general area is the entertainment and shopping heart of the Capital District.

[RockyNY]

That area used to be called Knickboxer Arena and later Pepsi Center then Times Union Center. That arena open up in 1991, I believe.

Ya right, we need new arena in Albany since that arena is outdated. I mean, if one need to go to the bathroom, they need to go downstairs. There are few, I mean, very few bathroom on the floor, but thats for wheelchair use only.

I dont know how wheelchair user get inside the arena when you have walk up the steps in order to get inside the arena. Do they have special enterance for it? I know they do, but only if you have VIP or special pass for it.

Right now, we are in recession, so its hard to justify to get new arena in Albany but again, there is brand new arena coming in Orlando, the 2011 home of Orlando Titans and Orlando Magic.

I hope Lighthouse Project in LI do go though so that more team can come to Nassau Coliseum. They only have Islanders but would NLL team go there, I sure hope so. Could Nets move there? Depend on legal challenge in Brooklyn thats far from over. But, Nets do have choice of moving to Newark if they want to.

Roy

[Vin]

That area used to be called Knickboxer Arena and later Pepsi Center then Times Union Center. That arena open up in 1991, I believe.

Ya right, we need new arena in Albany since that arena is outdated. I mean, if one need to go to the bathroom, they need to go downstairs. There are few, I mean, very few bathroom on the floor, but thats for wheelchair use only.

I dont know how wheelchair user get inside the arena when you have walk up the steps in order to get inside the arena. Do they have special enterance for it? I know they do, but only if you have VIP or special pass for it.
...

LOL. The arena isn't outdated, but it isn't huge either. It could definitely be better, but, when it was constructed - it opened in 1990 - as now, there was not much sports going on. In 1990, there was no AHL team, but the AFL Firebirds did play there.

BTW, the original name was "The Knickerbocker Arena" just like the New York Knickerbockers of NBA fame. "The Knick", as I and many others still call it, did become The Pepsi Arena for several years, but recently became The Times Union Center. Now, the Knick is owned by Albany County, so they probably won't do much. NY state government is so dysfunctional and Albany's is no better, so don't expect anything in the public interest to really get done. If another competiting arena was to be built, it would have to be near the I-87, I-90 interchange. The problems with that are 1) that's Albany County and 2) there really isn't much real estate to put an arena in that area.

Perhaps a better option would be to put an arena in Schenectady County nearby. The Schenectady / Albany County border is close to the I-90/I-87 interchange (this is the NY State Thruway Exit 24). If that occurred, then I'd like to think that a dedicated Thruway Exit would be built.

Another option might be to build an arena in the Clifton Park NY area which is in southern Saratoga County. I-87 (The Adirondack Northway) runs through Clifton Park and, along the I-87 corridor, it is centrally located between Albany and Saratoga. It is also not far Schenectady and Troy either. It's also closer to Albany International Airport than downtown Albany is where The Knick is located....

[SaulinBoston]

Roy, Saul used to be SaulInAlbany. He's been here at the NLLMB even longer than me and knows the situation better than me....



That's right... I went to every game in their franchise history driving all the way out from the seacoast of NH. Hey, it was the closest team to me at the time. I even remember the famous 'snowed out' game!

[RockyNY]

That's right... I went to every game in their franchise history driving all the way out from the seacoast of NH. Hey, it was the closest team to me at the time. I even remember the famous 'snowed out' game!

Im curious about snowed out game. Either you can posted it here or PM me. Was NY Saints involved in this?

Roy

[RockyNY]

LOL. The arena isn't outdated, but it isn't huge either. It could definitely be better, but, when it was constructed - it opened in 1990 - as now, there was not much sports going on. In 1990, there was no AHL team, but the AFL Firebirds did play there.

BTW, the original name was "The Knickerbocker Arena" just like the New York Knickerbockers of NBA fame. "The Knick", as I and many others still call it, did become The Pepsi Arena for several years, but recently became The Times Union Center. Now, the Knick is owned by Albany County, so they probably won't do much. NY state government is so dysfunctional and Albany's is no better, so don't expect anything in the public interest to really get done. If another competiting arena was to be built, it would have to be near the I-87, I-90 interchange. The problems with that are 1) that's Albany County and 2) there really isn't much real estate to put an arena in that area.

Perhaps a better option would be to put an arena in Schenectady County nearby. The Schenectady / Albany County border is close to the I-90/I-87 interchange (this is the NY State Thruway Exit 24). If that occurred, then I'd like to think that a dedicated Thruway Exit would be built.

Another option might be to build an arena in the Clifton Park NY area which is in southern Saratoga County. I-87 (The Adirondack Northway) runs through Clifton Park and, along the I-87 corridor, it is centrally located between Albany and Saratoga. It is also not far Schenectady and Troy either. It's also closer to Albany International Airport than downtown Albany is where The Knick is located....


Vin - I wonder how Tri-City Valleycats, the minor league baseball team are doing so far. They do play against my team in my backyard, Brooklyn Cyclones. Hey, Cyclones are only 5 blocks walk from my apartment in Brooklyn.

Roy

[Vin]

Valley Cats suck this year. They are currently under 0.300.
http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/index.jsp?sid=t577