Thought he already made that clear when he pretty much declared that Astros fans don't deserve to see their own team play when things return to normal down here. All because he feared inconveniencing his team's fans.
Nor would any other remotely decent person or organization. Honestly, I'm still having to pick my jaw up off the floor in disbelief this actually happened. This was PR 101. A college freshman would've handled this smarter.
$4 Million from Les Alexander $4 Million from Jim Crane $1 Million from Billionaire Bob who makes more than either of them. Not minimalizing a million bucks, but step up, McNair. Geez.
If the true rangers fans were going to attend a baseball game in a sweat box during September, then me thinks they'd show up for one with a day's notice. I don't see how their true fans get completely screwed. That's awesome that Lex gave that much and crane who everyone calls cheap.
I love this. Astros have been better on the road. This 19 game road trip, absence makes the heart grow fonder. When Astros return home, fans ready for a diversion will be excited. Net effect: Rangers organization looks HORRIBLE. Win-win for the astros.
Reading the salty rangers fans legitimately attempting to use a "long road trip" at the end of the season as the end-all/be-all in this dispute is providing some nice distraction relief entertainment from the hurricane crap. Just when u think they can't be more Dallas... they are.
If they do the same against the Mets, I'll probably go. I'd love to go catch them against the Rangers, but I've been on vacation so much I'd hate to leave during the week again.
I think they care more about being dicks to the Astros, because this wasn't about $$$. The Astros are sacrificing a lot of money playing in Tampa (where they'll be lucky to sell 5K tickets) instead of Arlington where they could have still attracted a decent crowd. Certainly they would have been willing to compensate the Rangers for the move. At this point if the Rangers want to save face, they'll donate the gate for at least one game of that series.
Money goes a long way. They won't make it up to Astros fans, but the general public will accept it if they give major $$$. Of course the PR hit will only be short-term anyway, so they probably ride it out. Unless Arlington gets hit with a natural disaster, and needs the Astros one day, this will be forgotten.
I left out a part. Should've said, "There's nothing they can do to fix the PR disaster they created." Of course the donations would help. Nationally, it will be forgotten...much like the series that prompted this thread in 2008. Locally, we have a loooooong memory and this will not be forgotten.
The defense of the handling of this situation by the Rangers, many of their fans, and some Dallas media members is beyond comprehension. "But but but... we offered all the proceeds and revenue from those games to the Astros." Oh, you mean the ****ing home games you tried to steal from us when our city got popped with a historic flood? K thanks.
Most of the big national names are siding with the home/home swap being the best possible solution in this whole ordeal, and the Rangers refusing that is the end of it. Those taking it a step further and suggesting the Astros should have been the "bigger" man and not switch the games to Florida is really giving this story more legs than it deserves... and really starts to undermine the tragedy of what is actually going on in Houston as nobody truly involved with this hurricane right now (which is most of us) truly gives a rat's ass about where these games are played. This is a distraction... that is all... and sometimes you like distractions to follow common sense and not overly complicate things further.
This whole thing is quite odd. The Astros would rather stick to their guns to travel more to Florida. There will likely be low attendance versus playing in Arlington. I would guess they are going to lose a lot more money than if they just played in Arlington.The Rangers don't want to tack on an extra road series at a key time they are trying to win the wild-card and get a playoff spot (however unlikely that may seem). I applaud the Astros for sticking to their guns about not playing in Arlington. But, it seems they are going to pay for it with more travel, travel expenses, less attendance, and less money to show for it. You can sit there and tell me matter-of-factly the Astros would definitely accommodate if the situations were reversed. But, how can we be sure about that? We're just fans. These people are running a business and trying to win first. IMO...it is a stretch to say they don't care about what's happening in Houston because they didn't want to swap series. And, I think the players should leave it to management...because these aren't player decisions. I don't have a problem with it if you want to hate the Rangers more because of this and take it as petty behavior on their part. I just don't think it's as simple a scenario as that.
Good synopsis, and largely agree... and had the Astros refused, they would deserve the same ****-story the Rangers are currently receiving. In the end, it may be worth it... but I don't think things like this are that easily forgotten by the affected party. People still remember 2008 vividly, and that was for a team that was fighting for their playoff lives.
The games were not originally scheduled to be in Arlington in the first place... so switching from Arlington is such Orwellian language. Gifting them three home games is not exactly in our interest, and we decided on a neutral field (that is not Milwaukee).
