This is just sad .. forcing a little league team in California to play as the

[cboy4]

Pirates.



I bet they draw much better at the North Rialto ball field than they do at PNC Park in Pittsburgh, and the players are better.

[SteelPenguin]

1. What's with the repeated Pirates hate?

Seriously. You don't even participate in valid discussions of the problem, you just rag on the team, the fans, the players, the city, etc. If you want to have a real discussion on the matter, please do.

Otherwise why? What's your damage?

[cboy4]

2. The Pirates are a complete disgrace to MLB...decade after decade of

consecutive below .500 finishes.

The worst attendance in all of Major League Baseball.

I just think it's humiliating to make the kids wear that particular uniform.

Not one kid on the team could be saying to themselves, I hope I get to play for Pittsburgh when I get older.

No, they say they'd rather jump off of a mountain!1!

LOL

[SteelPenguin]

5. Ok so have a real discussion

They are a disgrace because they have performed poorly for a record amount of time, and have the worst attendance in baseball. You've repeated that over and over again.

Yet you've never once commented or made a reasonable discussion of the cause of the problem. You just are digging in claws.

Why do you think the problem exists and what would a solution be? Or are you just posting things to be a jerk, and don't really care about a solution (besides stating something moronic like demoting them to a AAA team).

What's happening with the Pirates and their attendance is a serious problem for Major League Baseball, not just for the Pirates but many teams. Year after year the Pirates tank in attendance and sit at the bottom of the pennant race, and yet they are one of the more 'Net' Profitable teams in the league.

Don't hate on Pittsburgh, or the players, or the fans. Hate on the Pirates ownership, and Bud Selig.

[cboy4]

7. Hey I don't disagree with what you say. But then you have a team like the

Tampa Rays come out of nowhere, and the Bud Selig apologists get to argue that small market teams (even though Tampa-St Pete is a large television market) can compete .. and why can't that include the Pirates.

It's a real problem, you're right.

And I don't hate on all Pittsburgh fans. Only the ones who deserve my wrath. :thumbsup:

[SteelPenguin]

16. yeah, but people miss the point when that happens

The problem isn't that small market teams CAN'T compete. It's just that they have a financial incentive not to, and the longer they suck, the harder it is to pull out of it without losing that cash.

If Daddy Warbucks were to buy the Pirates tommorrow he'd have them contending in 2-3 years, but he'd have to lose 20-30 million a year to do so. People woudl start filtering back in year 1, with hope, once they start looking competitive in year 2, the attendance would pop back up, and they'd become profitable again.

But the problem is that once a small market team is bad, the system actively discourages the ownership from investing in contending. It's not that they can't. It's that they're being 20 million a year not to.

[TZ]

6. cause he has to rag on madinmaryland

who likes the Pirates.

[cboy4]

8. Listen to the 25 games under .500 Natinals fan make a good point!

:thumbsup:

[madinmaryland]

9. 55 years! That's longer than the Expo/National franchise has existed!

:rofl:

[madinmaryland]

10. Actually, it's me pointing his hypocrisy that drives him crazy, not what team

I like.

[TZ]

13. Oh I know.

I was just pointing out that it wasn't Pittsburgh that he has a problem with..just you..I can understand that..;)

[madinmaryland]

14. You should check out the chess report....

He got his butt handed to him by the chess expert yesterday!

:rofl:

[trotsky]

18. You wanna know the REAL reason?

cupboyton4 HATES Pittsburgh because they have 6 Lombardi trophies and his Whiners "only" have 5. It sticks in his craw and since:

1) It's baseball season, not football
2) The Pirates aren't that good
3) The Pirates are struggling with attendance (as is just about every ballclub in today's economy)

The Pirates are cupboyton4's ersatz whipping boy for beating down Pittsburgh's football accomplishments.

[madinmaryland]

3. STFU, LOSER! If you don't have anything sports worthy to say, then don't bother

wasting Skinner's bandwidth.

The real issue is the economy, jerk. Read it and you will find those people are a REAL inspiration, and are REAL SPORTMEN and women.

GROW UP!

[cboy4]

4. Skinner welcomes my posts to generate interest in what would otherwise

be a sad, lonely forum.

[Jack Rabbit]

11. If you are new to our forum . . .

Some Giants, Pirates and Marlins fans like to drag each team down to the other's level.

[TZ]

12. lol!

I'm thinking thats about right...:rofl:

[RockaFowler]

15. Don't blame us Marlins Fans

Remember, we never show up to the games anyway

[Jack Rabbit]

17. I wasn't blaming all fans of these teams

After all, the "some" in the sentence was meant to be distributive.

There was really only one Marlins fan in particular I had in mind, who is also an admirer of a protege of a Kansas City political boss named Pendergast.