KTUL: Drillers moving downtown?

[swake]

quote:Originally posted by Floyd

quote:Originally posted by Wilbur

Lets take a vote:

How many people on this forum who are opposed to the Drillers moving to Jenks actually have gone to a Driller's game this year?

If you haven't, you've got no right to complain because you are not the fan base the Drillers are trying to attract.  Having been to, maybe, five games in 20+ years, I doubt they care about my opinion.

And as someone mentioned earlier, the Drillers have never been in the actual city of Tulsa.  Their current location is considered country property, which means they are moving from Tulsa County to Tulsa County.  

WHO CARES?

Obviously, I'm a fan and am outraged.  I didn't miss an opener for about a seven year stretch, and I pitched peanuts there in high school and college.

And this nonsense about the Drillers never being in Tulsa is just that -- nonsense.  Just because it's county land, it's still in the city limits.  The Drillers have always played IN Tulsa, ON county land.  Don't get cute with jurisdictions.  

Jenks is trying to steal our baseball team, a franchise that would not exist if not for the core city of Tulsa.

Not cute, they are not in an annexed part of the city of Tulsa. They WILL be in two years, but they have not been.

[cannon_fodder]

I go to about 5 games a year.  Not a hard core fan, but probably part of the base of their operation (the casual fan).  When I go, I usually bring a few people with me.  Its people like me that fill the seats, AA just does not have that many die hard fans.

So I guess I can complain.  I'm also holding my breath.  A non-binding letter of intent means nothing,e specially in Tulsa.  Where development news is as cheap as the women at Caravan.  Lets hope this jump starts something fun.  I'm REALLY tired of development in places NOT Tulsa.

[Renaissance]

quote:Originally posted by swake
Not cute, they are not in an annexed part of the city of Tulsa. They WILL be in two years, but they have not been.

Whatever man.  If they go to Jenks, the Drillers will be moving from inside the municipality of Tulsa to a separate municipality.  Not worth arguing about.  

You want to keep taking it on the chin from the 'burbs?  Fine.  Real Tulsans are going to fight to keep our sports team where it belongs: in Tulsa.

EDIT: I see I'm picking a fight with a resident of Jenks, America.  Not worth doing.  Never mind, brother - keep pretending the team never was in Tulsa, so technically you're not stealing anything.  And keep raiding the urban core of the municipality you depend on, till it rots, and you with it.

EDIT #2:  Apologies.  I'm livid right now.  I have a strong emotional attachment to the franchise and to see it disappear from Tulsa hurts.  I'll try to avoid further lashing out at anyone, even though it's easy to do on these forums.

[Renaissance]

quote:Originally posted by ttownclown

How is Jenks trying to "steal" the team? Sounds to me that the Driller's have shown just as much interest in moving as Jenks as shown in attracting development. The current location of the stadium stinks. If the city of Tulsa or county for that matter wanted to keep them, they would have facilitated an environment that would keep them as an attraction. I would have preferred downtown location that Global had planned, before the Wal-mart announcement. But the development that is in the works south of the Aquarium is going to be a high end entertainment district. I have no problem with them moving there and having an excellent facility and environment. -- Let me see, keep the Drillers at the current location, and I can go to Wal-Greens before or after the game. Or we can move it downtown, where I can visit Wal-Mart...No, I think I would like to see it in a place that is going to be hopping with hustle and bustle before and after the game.

For all of you people out-raged, it's not like they are moving to Joplin. It's still the Tulsa area. And in reality, about 2 miles from the Tulsa city limits (or maybe closer).  Not a big deal whatsoever.

Horse****.  I'm tired of coming home to see things in my city vanish.  The line is drawn and the bull**** stops here.  

If this doesn't galvanize the city to action, Tulsa is a lost cause.  I don't really understand why there's such parochialism in the outlying areas, but I'm sick of watching it from afar.  I'm picking up the phone and writing emails until I hear this rumor die.  I hope you all join me.

[ttownclown]

quote:Originally posted by Floyd

quote:Originally posted by ttownclown

How is Jenks trying to "steal" the team? Sounds to me that the Driller's have shown just as much interest in moving as Jenks as shown in attracting development. The current location of the stadium stinks. If the city of Tulsa or county for that matter wanted to keep them, they would have facilitated an environment that would keep them as an attraction. I would have preferred downtown location that Global had planned, before the Wal-mart announcement. But the development that is in the works south of the Aquarium is going to be a high end entertainment district. I have no problem with them moving there and having an excellent facility and environment. -- Let me see, keep the Drillers at the current location, and I can go to Wal-Greens before or after the game. Or we can move it downtown, where I can visit Wal-Mart...No, I think I would like to see it in a place that is going to be hopping with hustle and bustle before and after the game.

For all of you people out-raged, it's not like they are moving to Joplin. It's still the Tulsa area. And in reality, about 2 miles from the Tulsa city limits (or maybe closer).  Not a big deal whatsoever.

Horse****.  I'm tired of coming home to see things in my city vanish.  The line is drawn and the bull**** stops here.  

If this doesn't galvanize the city to action, Tulsa is a lost cause.  I don't really understand why there's such parochialism in the outlying areas, but I'm sick of watching it from afar.  I'm picking up the phone and writing emails until I hear this rumor die.  I hope you all join me.

This is the reality until people quit moving to the burbs.  Most of the new PRIVATE development will move with them.  Tulsa must find a way to revitalize itself to stop this trend.

Just becasue you don't like it doesn't mean it's BS -There are several good reasons this would be appealing to the Drillers.

[swake]

quote:Originally posted by Floyd

quote:Originally posted by swake
Not cute, they are not in an annexed part of the city of Tulsa. They WILL be in two years, but they have not been.

Whatever man.  If they go to Jenks, the Drillers will be moving from inside the municipality of Tulsa to a separate municipality.  Not worth arguing about.  

You want to keep taking it on the chin from the 'burbs?  Fine.  Real Tulsans are going to fight to keep our sports team where it belongs: in Tulsa.

EDIT: I see I'm picking a fight with a resident of Jenks, America.  Not worth doing.  Never mind, brother - keep pretending the team never was in Tulsa, so technically you're not stealing anything.  And keep raiding the urban core of the municipality you depend on, till it rots, and you with it.

Hey, read up, I want them downtown. Always have. I don't want them on river at 106th or at 21st.

I want them downtown, the best place for the Drillers by far is downtown. But with the inaction in Tulsa with developers downtown and the anti-tax sentiment in the city it's not looking good for them to get a site downtown in the foreseeable future. Combine the situation downtown with the apparent pending loss on the river vote in Tulsa and I can't blame them for moving on.

And I for one do go to games, not a lot, only 2-3 a year, but I do go. I would go more downtown and probably would in Jenks as well. And I'm far from alone.

Tulsa is down to 41% of the metro's population and falling, the "screw the suburbs" argument you are making is a losing proposition for Tulsa as Tulsa over time is a smaller and smaller percentage of the metro.

Certainly Tulsa needs to succeed, but, right now the majority of citizens in Tulsa are whiners that don't want to pay for anything and just want to complain. People in the metro area seem to get that Tulsa needs to improve more than residents of the city.

Remember 2025 lost twice as a city issue before passing as a county issue. The River tax is best for the city of Tulsa, the vast majority of the money will benefit the city. Owasso, Jenks, Bixby, and others get that Tulsa must do well, but the metro is at a point where Tulsa can't make it without the suburbs anymore either.

[Renaissance]

Please see apologies above.  I shouldn't have lashed out.  But this is a big deal, and it's a wake-up call because I don't think Tulsa proper, as a community, fully comprehended what has become the new economic and political reality.  The fact that this deal very well may go through will either galvanize the city into welcoming future attractions, or finish off any aspirations to "destination" that the City of Tulsa might have had.

It's a watershed moment, to be sure.  Bass Pro and the Aquarium were new ventures, so it was easy to avoid seeing them as Tulsa's loss, rather than the suburbs' gain.  But the Drillers moving . . . that is so clearly a city/suburb loss/gain that there is no avoiding the reality of the situation.  

I sure hope it changes.  I'm not really a suburbs kind of guy.

[TheTed]

If the Drillers move to Jenks they've lost me as a fan. I've been to dozens of ballparks and never  enjoyed the suburban ones. Half of a park's allure is in its surroundings.

Enjoy the view of parking lots, strip malls and chain stores from your new generic, placeless ballpark.

I'll be burning my Drillers cap if this happens.

[Renaissance]

quote:Originally posted by TheTed

If the Drillers move to Jenks they've lost me as a fan. I've been to dozens of ballparks and never  enjoyed the suburban ones. Half of a park's allure is in its surroundings.

Enjoy the view of parking lots, strip malls and chain stores from your new generic, placeless ballpark.

I'll be burning my Drillers cap if this happens.

Don't forget to email Chuck Lamson your sentiments . . . chuck@tulsadrillers.com

[sgrizzle]

quote:Originally posted by Floyd

quote:Originally posted by TheTed

If the Drillers move to Jenks they've lost me as a fan. I've been to dozens of ballparks and never  enjoyed the suburban ones. Half of a park's allure is in its surroundings.

Enjoy the view of parking lots, strip malls and chain stores from your new generic, placeless ballpark.

I'll be burning my Drillers cap if this happens.

Don't forget to email Chuck Lamson your sentiments . . . chuck@tulsadrillers.com

Done.

[tjay88]

quote:I'll be burning my Drillers cap if this happens.

Maybe all ten of you guys that actually care about the drillers can get together and have one big (well maybe not so big) hat burning.  That would really show them.  []

On a serious note (yes I was just kidding above and I really don't want that to come across mean spirited), most of Tulsa will not care about this.  I'm pretty sure that more Jenks/South Tulsa folks will be pleased with this, than downtown/midtown Tulsans will be disgusted.  Plus if it works out financially for the Drillers (which it should), then they will be happy as well.

I don't think I have ever gone to a Drillers game, but I sure as heck will go if they build a new park by the river in Jenks/South Tulsa.  Once the novelty wears off I probably won't go very much, but it will be fun for a while.  Although who knows, maybe I will really like it and become a big fan.

On another note, I wonder how this will effect the annual bedlam game.  7,000 seats won't be enough.  I wonder if they would still continue to play at the old Driller Stadium?  I would assume that if they lose their only tenant, that it would go downhill really fast (it isn't in the greatest of shape already).

[TheTed]

I've sent my email to Chuck.

Build a downtown park and we could have something like this.



Build in Jenks and get a park like this.

[Townsend]

quote:Originally posted by TheTed

I've sent my email to Chuck.

Build a downtown park and we could have something like this.
[IMG]

Build in Jenks and get a park like this.
[IMG]

Well done

[sgrizzle]

I'm a South Tulsa folk and I'm unhappy about this.

[Gold]

quote:Originally posted by Wilbur

Lets take a vote:

How many people on this forum who are opposed to the Drillers moving to Jenks actually have gone to a Driller's game this year?

If you haven't, you've got no right to complain because you are not the fan base the Drillers are trying to attract.  Having been to, maybe, five games in 20+ years, I doubt they care about my opinion.

And as someone mentioned earlier, the Drillers have never been in the actual city of Tulsa.  Their current location is considered country property, which means they are moving from Tulsa County to Tulsa County.  

WHO CARES?

I go to Drillers games all the time and I'm very much against the move.  

My understanding is that the Drillers games are now taxed like everything other than the horse show.

I think Lamson should do what's best for his business ultimately.  I'd like to see him take the risk downtown because I really think it can work.

This move will upset many current season ticket holders.  Some will certainly be replaced, but you have to wonder how well this sits with some long time supporters.  Not many businesses can run off half their customers and replace them.

I've talked to a couple of long time Driller season ticket holders today and they've had interesting remarks on the subject.  One dropped his tickets in part because he thought Lamson was too much about his own profits.  There is a very different feel to Drillers stadium these days.

Here is the official statement from the Drillers:

August 21, 2007 - Tulsa Drillers President Chuck Lamson has released the following statement in relation to today's stadium developments.

"The River District Development Group, the developers of the proposed River District in Jenks, has approached the Drillers about including a new stadium for our team in the project," said Lamson. "It is an idea that is very exciting for our franchise, and we have recently signed a letter of intent to further explore this possibility with the River Development Group. The letter is nonbinding, and we are continuing our discussions with the city of Tulsa. As these situations develop in the coming weeks, we will address issues at the appropriate times."