FB: Liberty League

[PBR...]

pbr's friends have checked in from tampa....and said tropicana field is a bigger dump than the vet was in philly. the turf is awful just like the old astro turf used and the stadium is awful. disappointing to hear plus add in the stupid white dome which makes it hard to find the ball add in all the stupid catwalks et al is ridiculous. it depends which catwalk you land in whether its a double or HR would hate for the series to come down to a call based on what catwalk you hit, especially the moon shots howard hits. amazing the difference in the the stadiums...anywho lets go phils!!!

Good time to review ground rules for El Troppo.

No ground rule doubles unless the ball stays in the catwalk.  If a batted ball strikes one of the top two catwalks in fair territory (catwalks A & B) it is in play.  If it strikes one of the botton two catwalks in fair territory (C & D) it is a dinger.  No one has ever hit A (because it is like a billion feet above the field and right over the plate).

When the ballpark was built (10 years before a team ever played there) HOK guaranteed that it was humanly impossible to hit the catwalks.  So much for that.

The turf, on the other hand, is in great shape.  The Trop was the first professional sports stadium in the country to go to FieldTurf and is also the first with the next generation of FieldTurf.

thx jose, figured you could fill everyone in,  too many rules....any chance they are going to build a new stadium any time soon?

[JQV]

JU: It is the only turf park with full basepaths.  That actually makes it interesting with the advent of FieldTurf because the dirt is just about 8 inches on top of concrete (like old school astroturf) while FieldTurf is built to give more natural hops.  So a ball that lands on the edge of the clay gets fast real quick and takes a different hop than if it lands on the "grass."

They originally built it to try and lure a team in.  Bud Selig used it to get three new parks built in other cities: New Commiskey, SafeCo, and PacBell.  Each of those teams threatened to move to Tampa and, unlike other move threats, could do so the next day because there was an empty park.  In fact, somewhere I have a Tampa Bay Giants T-Shirt because that move was so imminent.

The site lines are really good in the park even though the place looks awful on TV.  The seats that were "empty" are above the A-Ring catwalk so are obstructed.  We tarped them off this year and decided to untarp them for Games 6 and 7 because people didn't give a **** and just wanted in the door. 

You can play football in the stadium.  Before we got a baseball team the Lightning used it as a hockey arena (still hold every attendance record in the NHL I believe) and the Arena Football Tampa Bay Storm used it for a while too. 

It also will host a bowl game in 2009 and has hosted the Final Four, the Sweet Sixteen and Elite 8, a couple of 1st and 2nd rounds, Metallica.

However the all-time attendance record for an event at the Trop (which was formerly known as the Thunderdome when the Lightning and Storm occupied it) was a 1990 New Kids on the Block Concert.

PBR, they want a new park but plans stalled.  The plan was a park on the waterfront but, the St. Pete City Charter requires any waterfront change to be approved by the voters and they didn't think they had the votes so they pulled the referendum.  They are currently exploring other sites.

[Jonny Utah]

Yea Ive been to a few games there and I actually liked it.  Im just wondering what the outrage will be when a ball hits one of those catwalks in a world series game or something.

[JQV]

I would hope the outrage would be incredible.

In late August the Rays nearly lost a game in the 9th inning (when the division race was tight) when a routine fly ball to RF hit the B ring and a run scored. 

They are really a joke.  One of the best things the Rays did was to spend some money to take all the railings and fences off the lower two rings so they were at least a little harder to hit.

[PBR...]

cant wait philly is just about ready to explode....jose you going to any games? can you score pbr a ticket if it gets to game 6 or 7?

[redswarm81]

They originally built [ Tropicana Field ] to try and lure a team in.  Bud Selig used it to get three new parks built in other cities: New Commiskey, SafeCo, and PacBell.  Each of those teams threatened to move to Tampa and, unlike other move threats, could do so the next day because there was an empty park.  In fact, somewhere I have a Tampa Bay Giants T-Shirt because that move was so imminent.

More evidence that Bud Selig is the cause of all things bad, across the entire U.S.--in fact, with opening day games in Japan, Bud Selig is the reason things are bad all around the world.

Tied All-Star Games, for God's sake.
No playoff or World Series games in the daytime.
The list goes on. . . .

There was actually a signed, LEGALLY ENFORCEABLE contract for sale between the SF Giants and the St. Petersburg owners, but the move was vetoed by the owners.  That is only possible in MLBaseball, thanks to that stooopid antitrust exemption bestowed on MLB by the courts.  I'm digging for the Bud Selig connection to the antitrust exemption, I know it's there somewhere.

[Kira & Jaxon's Dad]

Jose, you going to any Rays' games?

PBR, I know you have commented on this in the past, but where are the "Healthy" young ladies in your sig. line from?

[JQV]

Not going to get any argument from me about Selig.  He has done his best to ruin the national pasttime.

PBR, tickets are incredibly tough.  I got two tickets for Games 6 & 7 of the ALCS from a friend with the AL but didn't find out about them until about halfway through game 5.  Ironically, I think there will be more Philly fans at the Rays' home games than there were Sox fans because the Phils have trained about 10 miles up the road for 100 years.

[PBR...]

Not going to get any argument from me about Selig.  He has done his best to ruin the national pasttime.

PBR, tickets are incredibly tough.  I got two tickets for Games 6 & 7 of the ALCS from a friend with the AL but didn't find out about them until about halfway through game 5.  Ironically, I think there will be more Philly fans at the Rays' home games than there were Sox fans because the Phils have trained about 10 miles up the road for 100 years.

there is a boat load of phillies fans that live down there plus a ton that flew down for the game. trip packages werent bad at all. for 1,000 included airfare, hotel and ticket to the game plus bfast at the hotel, and ticket to the phillies spring training complex where they are showing games 1 and 2 on the big screen. plus the hotel is 1/2 mile up the road from the stadium so you can walk to the game and not worry about driving.

[PBR...]

Jose, you going to any Rays' games?

PBR, I know you have commented on this in the past, but where are the "Healthy" young ladies in your sig. line from?

the young ladies attend n.c. state....and enjoy pbr

[Garnet]

Based on the article in today's Wall St. Journal, I don't see the Rays building a new stadium anytime soon.

[Frank Rossi]

Hi Frank,

     Its been a while. How are things? I have been talking to Coach Knapp a little bit and keeping up with the team. Seems like they are starting to turn it around. With all their youth on Offense they remind me alot of my freshmen yr. It takes the Frosh some time to learn the college game and the system but as they mature it seems the U offense will be pretty good for the next few years to come. I am so busy with work coaching and grad school getting up to the U has been near impossible but Ill be up there for the Shoes game of course! hey Frank I don't think people say it enough but it is appreciated by alot of people your dedicated support of Union Football. GO U!!! Frank keep in touch...my email is in my profile.

Ang

Steve -

Great to have you on board in the LLPP.  I know a lot of you guys have been lurking out there for a while, but it's great to have some fresh perspectives in here from former players.  Senor RT and I will be doing our WABY Shooz Tailgate Pregame Show from the parking lot again on Saturday (starting at 11:15am -- someone get me a bloody mary early that day), so I hope you and a couple of the other member's of the '05 team that beat RPI in that thrilling high-scoring affair can join us to talk about the rivalry.

I'm back in grad school myself -- and had to hand in a 25-page paper yesterday (an explanation for my silence over the past day).  It's a challenge just to get up to the five away games to broadcast them... so I can only wonder what coaching alongside grad school is like for you.  It's a great thing, though, that you're coaching and moving forward with football even past graduation; keep following that path.

I really appreciate your kind words here and all of the support from your family over the years.  Send my best to your parents -- I miss seeing them at the tailgate parties.  And make sure to jump in on this message board when you get the urge!  

See you in Troy...  Just 10 days away now.

- Frank

[Frank Rossi]

JU: It is the only turf park with full basepaths.  That actually makes it interesting with the advent of FieldTurf because the dirt is just about 8 inches on top of concrete (like old school astroturf) while FieldTurf is built to give more natural hops.  So a ball that lands on the edge of the clay gets fast real quick and takes a different hop than if it lands on the "grass."

They originally built it to try and lure a team in.  Bud Selig used it to get three new parks built in other cities: New Commiskey, SafeCo, and PacBell.  Each of those teams threatened to move to Tampa and, unlike other move threats, could do so the next day because there was an empty park.  In fact, somewhere I have a Tampa Bay Giants T-Shirt because that move was so imminent.

The site lines are really good in the park even though the place looks awful on TV.  The seats that were "empty" are above the A-Ring catwalk so are obstructed.  We tarped them off this year and decided to untarp them for Games 6 and 7 because people didn't give a **** and just wanted in the door. 

You can play football in the stadium.  Before we got a baseball team the Lightning used it as a hockey arena (still hold every attendance record in the NHL I believe) and the Arena Football Tampa Bay Storm used it for a while too. 

It also will host a bowl game in 2009 and has hosted the Final Four, the Sweet Sixteen and Elite 8, a couple of 1st and 2nd rounds, Metallica.

However the all-time attendance record for an event at the Trop (which was formerly known as the Thunderdome when the Lightning and Storm occupied it) was a 1990 New Kids on the Block Concert.

PBR, they want a new park but plans stalled.  The plan was a park on the waterfront but, the St. Pete City Charter requires any waterfront change to be approved by the voters and they didn't think they had the votes so they pulled the referendum.  They are currently exploring other sites.

Jose -

Is the bowl game that new "St. Petersburg Bowl" I saw being advertised the other day?  That one struck me as a little funny -- just not the first city I'd think of to host a bowl game under its own name.  By the way, you ever make it down to Miami?

- Frank

[labart96]

RIP Dolemite (aka Rudy Ray)

http://www.presstelegram.com/ci_10778800?source=rss

[Frank Rossi]

RIP Dolemite (aka Rudy Ray)

http://www.presstelegram.com/ci_10778800?source=rss

May he rest in peace, with plenty of bling and chicks on the side.