you don't owe him anything. he doesn't owe you anything. you can have a team/business - fan/customer relationship though. If he pisses you off as a fan/customer, to the point he loses you, that's a decision he makes as the team/business owner. while i agree with your analysis, i also realize that my way isn't always the right way. his analysis may say different, for whatever reason, and it may be right. i don't think it is, but i'm not going to belittle him for thinking it, until it's proven to be wrong.
absolutely. no one is suggesting otherwise. i can absolutely b**** about it as a fan. and trust me, i will. dollars from this fanbase, of which i am a part, are the only thing this guy cares about, aside from war profiteering and racking up EEOC complaints. i/we can speak in dollars. i think the whole suggestion is a slap in the face to the fanbase and the absolute wrong way to make a first impression....particuarly on the heels of changing leagues and with the baggage this guy brings to the table to begin with.
http://blog.chron.com/ultimateastros/2012/01/24/what’s-in-a-name-astros-is-uniquely-beautiful/ After three seasons as the Colt 45s, the Astros were forced to change their name because of legal action taken by the Colt Patent Fire Arms Manufacturing Company. The gun maker had granted Houston franchise permission to use the name and product as a mascot, and it enjoyed the free publicity, but claimed the team sold use of the insigne to other companies and didn’t include the gun company in on the profits. Business. Instead of splitting the proceeds, Judge Roy Hofheinz decided to change the team name. Hofheinz originally wanted to go with the Houston Stars, to capitalize on the space age, but the unique word Astros won out. While the team hasn’t always been great and the franchise has at times struggled, Astros is a great team name. As best my research team (translation: Zachary Levine) could find, the only team that had a nickname as long as the Astros have had theirs to make a change not involving a move is the Cincinnati Reds, who in the Cold War years changed to the Redlegs for six seasons (1954-59) after being the Reds for 63 years. But at least that short-lived name change was a version of the prior name. I mean, despite many of you suggesting it, Disastros or Lastros would not be the kind of name change Jim Crane has in mind. Of course, he could simply go with a shorter version of Astros. Like maybe just the first syllable … Naw, he wouldn’t do that, would he?
haha...seems to me that Crane is a pretty astute businessman. Didn't take long for him to (re)invigorate the passion for Houston baseball again. Plus, he gets to gauge how much and what type of marketing his team will need to do to get the other part (less passionate fans) to take interest again. Of course winning cures all...but I'm sure that will come with time.
I think crane is gonna be awesome. If he wants to bottom the team out and pay down his interest for a while thats fine with me. Build the farm system with draft picks. When you get a good core of those picks to produce, pick up the salary and be a contender. In the meantime cheaper beer and better hotdogs. and Spoiler
Holy crap, people, they're just exploring the possibility. My guess is that fan backlash is going to make it quite clear they're not going to be changing the name. Stop ignoring all the other fan-friendly initiatives just to focus on something that isn't going to happen anyway. Get a grip.
Get rid of the crappy uniform. Brick Red is butt and pinstripes just don't belong on a Houston team no matter what sport they play.
If Crane is able to advance the franchise as much as McLane did, I'll be happy with that. If he has them win the award for being baseball's best organization..if he wins a pennant..if he can put together an extended stretch of baseball like we saw here from 1997-2005, I'll give him a pat on the bat. But most of what i know about Jim Crane right now, I do not like. And yesterday definitely didn't help.
repped i got into it this morning on the phone with an attorney from Denver and was particularly harsh. i realized after I hung up that a lot of it was fueled by how pissed off i am at the mere suggestion of a name change for the 'stros.
Much like The Browns were named after their owner, I think the Astros should change their name to the Whopping Cranes to honor both their owner and the stately endangered indigenous species. Whatayathink Max? This would make a great hat logo: [IMGhttp://www.fws.gov/northflorida/WhoopingCrane/Crane-Images/flying-wc.jpg[/IMG]
Man I love your passion. The Astros were my first love. I remember 86 so well. I remember being sick for two days after the Kevin Bass at bat. I remember reading about the Bagwell deal, and the drafting of Biggio. I remember reading about Roy O tearing up the minors and the questions about Berkman using a wooden bat. I don't see them changing the Astros name, you don't throw away 50 years of history. Yes, a lot of it was painful, and the play was frankly mediocre, but they are still memories and I want to see a World Series winner in Houston... by the ASTROS. I however do not get a bad vibe from Crane. He has hired very bright people thus far, and I believe we actually have hope for the future. If, on the off chance he changes the name, I will join you in hunting him down and dragging him behind Jose Cruz' lowrider.
We like beer flat as can be We like our dogs with mustard and relish We got a great pitcher what's his name Well, we can't even spell it We don't worry about the pennant much We just like to see the boys hit it deep There's nothing like the view from the cheap seats
Hey guys, new to the board. Lifelong Houston-sports-teams fan who is pushing 40 years old. Sorry to interrupt, but wanted to chime on this. I don't think Crane was announcing a name change, only that he is exploring anything (and everything) he can do to generate some interest in the team. I think he sees that interest is at an all-time low and as a smart businessman he wants to change things up. I don't think he will change the name of the team; but he wants to see and hear all sides to every single scenario. I liken it to a new business owner who buys a fledling company: Tear the whole thing apart; keep what works and dismiss everything that doesn't. I think that was all he was trying to say in the press conference. Nothing in the organization is immune to being changed. I think the new fan initiatives are all good moves. It might make me attend more games this year, and I think that is all Crane is hoping for. If enough people like me might go to a few more games, he wins just a bit of the fanbase back, one piece at a time. That's all he can hope for given how terrible the on-field outlook is for the next 2-3 years. Did anyone listen to sports talk radio this morning and hear the several fans saying that this is all just a ploy to move the team? The argument was he is trying to alienate enough fans (new league, new name) that he can use poor attendance as a reason to move. Personally, I've been a fan of the team my whole life and nothing like a uniform or team name would make me change that. Anyone have thoughts on that?
Insert obligatory rant about Drayton, Crane, MLB, Bud Selig and the owners(not opening the books), conflict of interest, the AL, the DH, Donald Fehr, Bowie Kuhn, lowering the mound, cookie cutter parks, roids, the disintegration of our National pastime, etc.....all in the name of the almighty dollar. Now they are ACTUALLY talking about a name change. Well, at least they're consistent about one thing ...greed. Such a reflection of society ..... both in the audaciousness/boldness of the powers that be and the acceptance by the sheep. MLB has been dying for some time ......and these last few months are the coup de grace for me.
cardpire believes that. here's the problem: 1. the lease for the Astros at MMP would be an absolute b**** to break. Houston learned its lesson...steep, steep penalties for leaving. It was a 30 year lease which commenced in 2000. 2. what available market is better? we've drawn over 3 million fans 4 times since moving to MMP in 2000. to put that in perspective, the Rangers, even on the heels of winning their first AL pennant in "the greatest sports city in the world!!!!" have never drawn 3 million fans. (we've drawn over 2.7 million an additional 3 times in that time span). Even while having our worst season in franchise history, we still managed to draw enough fans to finish in the middle of the attendance numbers relative to other teams. there's too many people here and the corporate base is too big to leave given the alternatives ---- very different than the NFL, where teams share media money and the local market revenues aren't as important.
Why do you say this? Last season's total attendance was 5th highest in history and the highest since 2008.
