No Love for the Coyotes (Phoenix, Glendale: moving to, mayor, locations)

[RCR]

Originally Posted by techaz

So Bryz seems like he's in playoff mode. 3 goals allowed in the first 13 shots.

And none on the next 15 to get the win....

Go 'Yotes!

[azriverfan.]

Originally Posted by Finger Laker

Half true

The sports complexes in philly are not centrally located

they are very easy to access either by public transport of the adjacent freeway .... although living in the city I can only think of a couple times where we actually drove to games .... usually just connected into the broad street line and took it south

Also, Philly is not Phoenix ...... in Philly using public transport is common ..... in Phoenix it is not ...... car ownership is much higher here ....... while it's difficult to get there by bus it isn't super impactful as this is a driving city, not a riding city

You are missing the point. Philly is a traditional city with an urban core. The stadiums in Philly are not located in the suburbs. The stadiums are not in Conshohocken. Furthermore, it's unfair to compare any Phoenix sports team to teams in cities where they have been there for decades and have generations growing up following the team. Finally, Phoenix may be as big or slightly smaller than Philadelphia but Philly's metropolitan area is much larger. It's easier to fill stadiums when you have a much larger population to draw from.

Originally Posted by Ponderosa

Actually it is pretty easy to get to here as well. The arena is easily less than 1 hour away from the vast majority of the valley. I don't know about Philly, but I bet it takes just as long on public transportation for many fans there. Yes, you drive ther.

I bet it doesn't take that long for the majority of the fans in Philly, in fact I would bet it would take half the time. Philly has a subway system and a regional train system. And with regard to the Valley, it depends on the time and where you are coming from. I've easily waited over an hour in traffic trying to make one of those games coming from the east valley. Also, it's a lot easier riding on a subway with friends(ie you can drink beforehand) versus sitting in traffic behind a wheel for an hour.

[magnum0417]

Been to Philly many times. They have the best set up for Pro Sports with all the stadiums being adjacent to one another on Broad Street in South Philly. Phoenix has it half right with the Suns and Dbacks adjacent to one another. Again, not sure why they chose Glendale . Had they found a way to blow up Sun Devil Stadium and put U of Phoenix Stadium in the same spot, that would of been great financially and for fans (majority of population east of Downtown). ASU plays on Saturdays and Cardinals play on Sundays. Just like the 20 years they shared Sun Devil. I believe the Coyotes shared the stadium with the Suns in the 90's too. Never should of left.

[Finger Laker]

the downtown configuration for hockey was by far one of the worst in the league ....... they never should have been there with that setup

[observer53]

Originally Posted by magnum0417

Been to Philly many times. They have the best set up for Pro Sports with all the stadiums being adjacent to one another on Broad Street in South Philly. Phoenix has it half right with the Suns and Dbacks adjacent to one another. Again, not sure why they chose Glendale . Had they found a way to blow up Sun Devil Stadium and put U of Phoenix Stadium in the same spot, that would of been great financially and for fans (majority of population east of Downtown). ASU plays on Saturdays and Cardinals play on Sundays. Just like the 20 years they shared Sun Devil. I believe the Coyotes shared the stadium with the Suns in the 90's too. Never should of left.

You are a relative newcomer if you don't know the history. or the realities involved. First, there's no way that could have been found to have "blown up Sun Devil Stadium" and put UOP in the same spot. ASU was not going to rebuild a stadium just to keep the Cardinals there one day a week.

The Cardinals stadium was originally going to be built just west of ASU. They had actually started moving some dirt around on the site when it was decided by the FAA that due to the flight path into Sky Harbor and potential interference with navigation equipment, the planned stadium constituted a hazard. They had looked at going downtown too, but that didn't happen.

Glendale was not the first choice for the Coyotes, the former Los Arcos Mall site at Scottsdale Rd and McDowell, which would have been a great location, was. The then owner of the team didn't want to pay for demolition of the mall, he sparred with the city on other issues, and there was NIMBY resistance, so they ended up in Glendale. Yes, they started out in US Airways Center, but the sight lines for hockey were awful, hockey and basketball in the same facility created some issues, and they just wanted their own facility, designed first and foremost for hockey.

[Bondurant]

A Blackhawks fan gave me crap for the Wings losing in Nashville. Can't wait to see him today.

Let's go Yotes! I don't get NBC Sports. I'll have to hit up a bar for games.

[DR2012]

Hehe give that Hawks fan crap!
I've got Yotes tickets for Saturday! Can't wait!
I wound up living extremely close to the stadium, so I got lucky there I guess.

[pbenjamin]

Originally Posted by magnum0417

Phoenix has it half right with the Suns and Dbacks adjacent to one another. Again, not sure why they chose Glendale .

I think that the only bad choice of the 4 teams' locations was Glendale for the Coyotes. Chase Field and US Airways Center are centrally located and have been fairly successful where they are. Although I have lived in the City of Phoenix for 31 years and near downtown for 5 years, I don't think that the Cardinals belonged downtown. It would have used up too much land (particularly with the Bidwills' insistence on that roll-out parakeet tray deal for the grass) for something that is used so rarely. Glendale is as good a place as any and people are willing to drive farther and longer for something that is typically at 1 or 2 on a Sunday afternoon and only happens 8-10 times a year. For hockey, though, with 40+ games, many of them on weeknights, you really need to have a central location. I am not sure where the population center of the Valley is, but it must be east of Central. Downtown Phoenix, south Scottsdale or Tempe would have made a lot more sense. This is not an anti-West Valley thing, I would have said the same thing if the arena had been built in east Mesa or north Scottsdale. Just my opinion, but not real significant, I am that rare person, an ex-Detroiter who has no interest in hockey.

[azriverfan.]

To be fair, it's NOT Glendale's fault that the Coyotes are located there. The rest of the Valley didn't want them. They tried to put them near Old Town Scottsdale (Los Arcos) and Scottsdale City Council said "No" We should be criticizing Scottsdale but instead all of us turn our frustrations out on Glendale, the only city that made an effort to host them. No other city in the Valley stepped up. If Tempe, Chandler, Phoenix, Mesa or Scottsdale wanted the Coyotes and had a plan to build a stadium, they would have went there first. The reality no other city stepped up and Glendale kept raising their hand saying they wanted them and were willing to build what was necessary to host them and now we are criticizing them for being there. Granted a central location would have been better but it's not Glendale's fault that the Coyotes aren't playing more centrally.

The reality is if Glendale didn't step up to the plate, we wouldn't have the Coyotes at all. And to be honest, if Glendale didn't intercede, the NFL Cardinals would be in Los Angeles.

I do blame Glendale for messing up this deal and not having an owner in place. Glendale could have easily worked with the Tohono Oodham tribe to purchase the stadium and set up their casino in harmony which was a golden opportunity to save the taxpayers in Glendale and find an owner with money that can offset the cost of the Coyotes during down years but instead they balked at that.

However, we have to give Glendale credit for essentially keeping the NHL and NFL in the Phoenix area and they wouldn't be here if it wasn't for them.

[Bondurant]

Originally Posted by azriverfan.

I do blame Glendale for messing up this deal and not having an owner in place. Glendale could have easily worked with the Tohono Oodham tribe to purchase the stadium and set up their casino in harmony which was a golden opportunity to save the taxpayers in Glendale and find an owner with money that can offset the cost of the Coyotes during down years but instead they balked at that.

The glory of being able to vote. I think this debacle is one of the reasons why Scruggs is not running for mayor again. Incredibly stupid move to fight the casino and poo poo a proposal to buy the team.

In lighter, more appealing, news...

I've been asked to venture out to a sports bar called Cocomo Joe in Cave Creek tonight. I'm going to assume this place has NBC Sports and that is why I accepted the invite.

Go, Yotes, go!