Tulsa mentioned in possible NHL move

[deinstein]

quote:Originally posted by recyclemichael

I like the debates.

The soccer guy has done a great job selling soccer and doing his research.

I am still totally in favor of baseball stadium versus soccer stadium downtown, but he makes good, well-thought out arguments.

Keep up the discourse.

Well, he has to. He's arguing for soccer.

[USRufnex]

Minor league mafia....

Of course, deinstein has NEVER even attempted to answer my question...

and over the summer, he made a quip that the only way MLS could be successful, is if it signed name players.... now, he's dancing on the head of a pin, insisting Tulsa doesn't deserve a team...

leave Tulsa already, deinstein... like you said you would.

Thank you.

[deinstein]

I think the MLS would be successful if they signed players in their prime, not pulling a Pele New York Cosmos on us and signing Beckham and Ronaldo. Those are just publicity stunts and it makes a joke out of the league. They'll still never be on the level of something like the EPL even if they did sign players in their prime though.

By the way, why can't they keep Adu from leaving for Europe? Answer that.

[USRufnex]

Soccer is less a contact sport compared to football or ice hockey, but is still more physical than baseball and probably basketball.... hated the dives in the World Cup... MLS doesn't have that problem...

I thought Freddie Adu had been traded to Salt Lake City...

The NASL didn't just pull a "Pele New York Cosmos" on us...

Pele retired after the 1977 season...

Tulsa started play in '78... the NASL had many over-the-hill stars... Beckanbauer, Johann Cruyff, Carlos Alberto, etc... and also had some foreign players in their prime... the Pele-less NASL had its best year in 1980-- teams in Tampa and Vancouver drew over 25,000 fans per game... teams in Atlanta and Philly drew less than 5,000 fans per game... the problem for Tulsa was that all our fans were novices who wouldn't have known the difference anyway... Manchester United played in Tulsa in 1978... but the game attracted a crowd of less than 6000 fans at Skelly, since nobody in Tulsa knew who ManU was at the time...

If the NASL had simply stopped at Pele and concentrated on the development of American players rather than hype soccer in America as "the Sport of the 80s," the NASL could have survived...

2006 price of an NHL team in Pittsburgh = $175 mil
2005 price for MLS's 14th expansion team $15 mil

So, you could hypothetically build a stadium for $70 mil AND buy an MLS team for about half the price of an NHL team...

The NASL overhyped, overspent and overexpanded... MLS has the opposite set of problems...

[USRufnex]

quote:Originally posted by Floyd

Would you guys please stop baiting the soccer guy?  AJ, I'm looking in YOUR direction.  These debates they're just so moot, and so tiring.

Using 20/20 hindsight, they were probably moot starting February 2006......... but the shovels still haven't hit the dirt in the "east village," "east end," "east...?"... have they???... [}:)]

[USRufnex]

quote:Originally posted by deinstein

Hey, anyone want to go play some soccer? Fake some injuries, etc. It'd be fun.

MLS for life!

[}:)]

Oh, and my last NHL game... last year got great seats from my employer for a Chicago Blackhawks game against Vancouver...

There was a fight right before the game started... almost as if it were STAGED...

Yeah, NHL... Jerry Springer on ice complete with cheap Hammand organ music and mullets... []

[RecycleMichael]

The National Basketball League has had their share of fights lately. Do you think that Americans just need to have some fights as part of their sports?

I have to say this about soccer...the players actually want to get hit in their heads by the ball.

[deinstein]

quote:Originally posted by USRufnex

Soccer is more physical than basketball....

Myth.

[USRufnex]

Lie.

I said this:
"Soccer is less a contact sport compared to football or ice hockey, but is still more physical than baseball and probably basketball."

When a basketball player takes a dive, we call it "taking a charge".  And elbows can fly in both sports...



http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/world_cup_2006/4853182.stm

[RecycleMichael]

The NHL Penquins are now looking at Houston.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070123/ts_alt_afp/ihockeynhlpenguins_070123182406

[Kiah]

Tulsa joins growing list of suitors for Penguins
Minor league hockey team owner in Oklahoma hopes to lure Penguins with 18,000-seat arena
Thursday, February 01, 2007

By Mark Belko, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette


As state and local officials try to complete a deal to keep the Penguins in Pittsburgh, another city could be in the hunt for the team if those efforts fail.

Bob Funk, president and chief executive officer of Express Personnel Services Inc., told a Tulsa, Okla., newspaper that he has an interest in bringing the Penguins to that city if a deal falls through in Pittsburgh.

Mr. Funk, owner of the Oklahoma City Blazers hockey team, previously was part of a business group looking to invite the Penguins to Oklahoma City to play in the Ford Center. That invitation never materialized.

In Tulsa, the 18,000-seat BOK Center currently is under construction, with a scheduled opening in 2008.

According to the Tulsa World newspaper, Mr. Funk said he has formulated a plan to try to bring the Penguins to that city. He said he hoped to talk to Penguins co-owner Mario Lemieux about a possible relocation.

Mr. Funk could not be reached for comment yesterday.

Tulsa is just one of several cities that could be in the running for the team if local efforts fail. Kansas City, with the $276 million Sprint Center getting ready to open this fall, is the presumed frontrunner should the team leave Pittsburgh. Officials there have offered the team a free arena, no construction costs, and half the building revenues.

Houston also has an interest in the team. While Oklahoma City did not extend an invitation to the Penguins, there may still be interest in bringing the franchise there.

The Penguins declined comment yesterday.

As cities line up to try to lure the team away, the team continues to talk to Gov. Ed Rendell, Mayor Luke Ravenstahl and Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato about reaching an agreement that would keep the franchise in Pittsburgh.

While public officials continue to express confidence about completing a deal, no formal negotiations have been scheduled, although the two sides are exchanging information and proposals.

Mr. Ravenstahl said the parties could talk on a conference call later this week, but he added nothing has been scheduled yet.

"They're having conversations. I have not heard about any blowups so I guess that's a good thing," said state Sen. Wayne Fontana, a board member for the city-county Sports & Exhibition Authority, which is involved in the negotiations.

"Everything seems to be positive. There's been no negative conversations or statements by anybody, which I think is a positive sign. Some agreement could be reached any day now."

The state and local politicians are hoping to complete a deal under Plan B, a funding formula that includes $14.5 million a year for 30 years in slots gambling-related revenues, plus an annual contribution from the Penguins. Mr. Rendell has said the team contribution is now a "fraction" of the $2.9 million a year the Pirates pledged toward PNC Park.

In his interview with Tulsa World Sports Columnist Glenn Hibdon, Mr. Funk said three or four other franchises could be interested in relocating to the BOK Center, but that he had his sights set on the Penguins.

"Pittsburgh has Sidney Crosby, the brightest young star in the NHL in many years," he said. "They have great young players and they should be a strong team for many years to come."



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(Mark Belko can be reached at mbelko@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1262. )

[sgrizzle]

Wow, now someone will think there is a whole other reason for the fiberglass penguins.

The "Tulsa Penguins."

I'd go.

[Laramie]

Oklahoma City's CHL attendance figures are not padded.

I occasionally go to games, I prefer that both Oklahoma City and Tulsa join Houston and San Antonio in the AHL.  

Oklahoma City once average 10,300 fans during one of their CHL seasons.

This league is considered AA.   Believe me, the CHL isn't even close to be considered AA.

I hope that Tulsa will get an AHL franchise; because that is the only way that OKC would leave the CHL.