Started By
Message
OT - how good do Atlanta Braves officials feel about the move to Cobb County now?
Posted on 7/18/21 at 7:02 am
Posted on 7/18/21 at 7:02 am
Especially in light of the extraordinary turmoil we are seeing in inner city areas AND the shooting outside the National’s stadium in DC?
I remember driving through Atlanta while the new stadium was being built and listening to sports radio - one man in particular was very bitter about the move, said they were not Atlanta Braves, but Cobb County Braves
I remember driving through Atlanta while the new stadium was being built and listening to sports radio - one man in particular was very bitter about the move, said they were not Atlanta Braves, but Cobb County Braves
8
Posted on 7/18/21 at 8:45 am to dcbl
Doubt the same decision would have been made in todays political climate. Stacey would have had them by the balls.
Posted on 7/18/21 at 1:13 pm to dcbl
quote:
how good do Atlanta Braves officials feel about the move to Cobb County now?
It can't be described any other way than a whopping success. Beautiful new stadium in a nice area.
Posted on 7/18/21 at 5:36 pm to dcbl
The National and local left wing media would have called the move racist at the very least. If there was an arena at the battery the NHL would be successful as well. The Thrashers outsold the Hawks many times despite being treated like the Cleveland Indians in Major League. The move has been a complete success.
Posted on 7/18/21 at 7:03 pm to dcbl
quote:
one man in particular was very bitter about the move, said they were not Atlanta Braves, but Cobb County Braves
That would be Mel in SW Atlanta. He's a fricking idiot.
Also a lot of East Atlanta/W.Midtown hipsters were against the move.
Posted on 7/18/21 at 7:05 pm to dcbl
Also, props to the Braves for keeping the move completely under wraps until they made it official. That was a stroke of genius.
The move has been a resounding success. Beautiful park. Great complex in the Battery that has been a prototype for others of its kind.
The move has been a resounding success. Beautiful park. Great complex in the Battery that has been a prototype for others of its kind.
Posted on 7/19/21 at 7:42 am to JCdawg
quote:
The National and local left wing media would have called the move racist at the very least.
They did in 2013 when it was announced.
Posted on 7/19/21 at 7:43 am to SteelerBravesDawg
quote:
Also, props to the Braves for keeping the move completely under wraps until they made it official. That was a stroke of genius.
As a Cobb County taxpayer, I'll have to respectfully disagree.
Posted on 7/19/21 at 9:40 am to dcbl
I'm not an Atlanta Braves official, but I'm still bittersweet about it.
Love the new stadium, love The Battery, and love the shorter drive to watch the Braves.
Summerhill will always be that first house I saw the Braves grow up in because of seeing them play at Fulton County and then at Turner later. I love what GSU has done to the area. If the city ever followed thru with any of the multiple redevelopment plans they talked about before the move to Cobb County I'd still be perfectly happy driving down there to watch the Braves.
Love the new stadium, love The Battery, and love the shorter drive to watch the Braves.
Summerhill will always be that first house I saw the Braves grow up in because of seeing them play at Fulton County and then at Turner later. I love what GSU has done to the area. If the city ever followed thru with any of the multiple redevelopment plans they talked about before the move to Cobb County I'd still be perfectly happy driving down there to watch the Braves.
Posted on 7/19/21 at 9:56 am to Murph4HOF
quote:
If the city ever followed thru with any of the multiple redevelopment plans they talked about before the move to Cobb County I'd still be perfectly happy driving down there to watch the Braves.
Honestly, the Braves never really wanted to stay in Summerhill. Prior to Atlanta winning the Olympic bid in 1990, the team was looking to move to Gwinnett County and only stayed when it was decided to design Centennial Olympic Stadium as a baseball facility that could accommodate track-and-field for 3 months (and it helped that they didn't have to pay a dime in construction costs).
My opinion was that COS should've been further north, either next to the Georgia Dome where MBS is today (which would've given the Braves primo MARTA access) or where Atlantic Station currently is (though the remediation of the Atlantic Steel site at the time would've been a huge hurdle). Building it in AFCS's parking lots was not a wise decision long-term.
Posted on 7/19/21 at 11:32 am to VADawg
quote:
It can't be described any other way than a whopping success. Beautiful new stadium in a nice area.
This is very arguable.
The Cobb county tax payers are still livid about it, and it remains to be seen the viability of the play if Liberty Media doesn't invest in the team to win.
I like the concept of the stadium, but plainly if you've gone anywhere else, the stadium is super pedestrian. There's genuinely nothing unique or cool about it. IF you ever look up "MLB stadium rankings" it always falls in the bottom half of the league, which is absurd considering how new it is. Frankly, it's the 3rd nicest facility in the city behind MBS and State Farm - which admittedly, is a high bar (both MBS and SFA have won awards in the past year for fan experience/venue quality).
I like the vantage points of the stadium, but I think the Braves had a golden opportunity to do something cool with the stadium and complex, and they went for the Buffalo Wild Wings experience... all of the bars/restaurants are chains, the stadium is new, yet bland, and the area around it is just... I mean it's a mall, a red lobster, a Lexus dealership, a failed 1980's office development and a myriad of fast-food options. It just seems like whoever thought of it was stuck in 1991.
There's nothing wrong with it and I enjoy going if the Braves are good, but it isn't a "destination" like Wrigley Field, Yankees Stadium, Camden Yards, Fenway Park, Coors Field, Dodgers Stadium, etc... where the experience is authentic to the city, storied, unique, and irreplaceable elsewhere.
FWIW - I grew up down the street from the McGuirks and my pops plays golf with Terry somewhat regularly. He's actually mentioned there's some "remorse" over the move, but they felt it was necessary at the time because the city wouldn't negotiate with them on a site/funding until the Falcons deal got done.
From what I understand the team execs wanted either the gulch or the site on Northside drive about .5 miles south of the Marietta street exchange, but LM wanted a deal done immediately and they were able to railroad the Cobb County vote quickly enough to get the cranes up quicker.
Posted on 7/19/21 at 12:17 pm to ATLabama
quote:
The Cobb county tax payers are still livid about it, and it remains to be seen the viability of the play if Liberty Media doesn't invest in the team to win.
It would seem like a bait and switch given that the biggest justification for the move was to increase payroll due to the lousy TV deal.
quote:
I like the concept of the stadium, but plainly if you've gone anywhere else, the stadium is super pedestrian. There's genuinely nothing unique or cool about it. IF you ever look up "MLB stadium rankings" it always falls in the bottom half of the league, which is absurd considering how new it is. Frankly, it's the 3rd nicest facility in the city behind MBS and State Farm - which admittedly, is a high bar (both MBS and SFA have won awards in the past year for fan experience/venue quality).
It's no accident that most of the praise goes to the Battery more than Truist Park itself (though I like the stadium).
quote:
I like the vantage points of the stadium, but I think the Braves had a golden opportunity to do something cool with the stadium and complex, and they went for the Buffalo Wild Wings experience... all of the bars/restaurants are chains, the stadium is new, yet bland, and the area around it is just... I mean it's a mall, a red lobster, a Lexus dealership, a failed 1980's office development and a myriad of fast-food options. It just seems like whoever thought of it was stuck in 1991.
The Braves' main focus was to keep fans at the Battery for revenue purposes, hence the lack of grid connectivity to the surrounding area. That was also a sticking point with trying to do a development at the Ted (the team wanted full control of the area and restrict development in Summerhill so that they wouldn't have any competition).
quote:
There's nothing wrong with it and I enjoy going if the Braves are good, but it isn't a "destination" like Wrigley Field, Yankees Stadium, Camden Yards, Fenway Park, Coors Field, Dodgers Stadium, etc... where the experience is authentic to the city, storied, unique, and irreplaceable elsewhere.
See my above comment.
quote:
FWIW - I grew up down the street from the McGuirks and my pops plays golf with Terry somewhat regularly. He's actually mentioned there's some "remorse" over the move, but they felt it was necessary at the time because the city wouldn't negotiate with them on a site/funding until the Falcons deal got done.
If Terry cited the end of the lease in 2016 as the rationale to hurry up, the team had two five-year options on the Ted to extend the lease.
quote:
From what I understand the team execs wanted either the gulch or the site on Northside drive about .5 miles south of the Marietta street exchange, but LM wanted a deal done immediately and they were able to railroad the Cobb County vote quickly enough to get the cranes up quicker.
The Gulch was never going to happen unless it was 100% privately financed (CoA wouldn't fund it since the Ted already existed), and the Northside Drive site (assuming that it was the GWCC Yellow Lot) would only work if they got money from the GWCCA. Ironically, had the latter taken place, they would've been eligible to benefit from the hotel tax that funded the Dome/MBS.
Posted on 7/19/21 at 2:12 pm to Wally Sparks
quote:
GWCC Yellow Lot) would only work if they got money from the GWCCA. Ironically, had the latter taken place, they would've been eligible to benefit from the hotel tax that funded the Dome/MBS.
I think this was it... great location, connected to Marietta Street artery through Ivan Allen, would have gotten rail transportation from GWCC and Vine City...
The issue was, the Falcons weren't 100% sure their MBS site was locked down because of the churches and other land on the MBS site that needed to be bought out.
The city bent over backwards for the Falcons and basically told the Braves to "wait their turn."
I get it, if I'm the city of Atlanta and don't blame them for prioritizing the Falcons. I mean, Arthur Blank is a great steward of the city and whether you like it or not, a city's NFL franchise is always going to be #1 in the pecking order, especially when the venue also hosts Super Bowls, premier CFB games, Final Fours, etc...
I absolutely love the concept of the Battery, but again it's like someone from Hoover, Alabama clutched their purse and just picked out the strip mall version of what could have been something really, really cool.
Honestly, though I would have loved the ballpark to stay in the city of Atlanta next to the other shiny, beautiful venues - I just think the location sucks, period. At the very least, you could have taken the Falcons "plan z" site in Doraville so you could be near Brookhaven/Chamblee and be off the Marta orange line.
The whole situation makes me loathe Liberty Media even more. Until the Braves get an owner like Ressler/Blank, it's going to be hard for the organization to make the deep, infrastructural investments necessary to succeed on annual basis. Right now, the team is a P&L statement, and that's just not right.
All that aside - I don't think anything will top my memories of those 6-7 hour tailgates under the big trees and picnic tables in the blue lot on a Saturday. Tents setup by noon, 5 different tent groups lined up next to each other... more coolers of beer than you can count... people just having the time of their damn lives. It was seriously unlike any other pregame experience in baseball. It was like a football tailgate.
Revenue aside, the move took a lot of joy out the Braves for me. There was something about those days that just felt like "home."
This isn't even an "old man yells at cloud" moment (I'm 29). I had the most emotional attachment to the GA Dome (Falcons STH for 20+ years, big Alabama games), and I totally got and understood the new stadium plan.
But when you visit MBS and then go to Truist, it's pretty obvious which one is the world-class venue.
Posted on 7/19/21 at 3:20 pm to ATLabama
quote:Took several friends from out of the area to Braves games at Turner and they all said the same.
It was seriously unlike any other pregame experience in baseball. It was like a football tailgate.
A buddy of mine from St. Louis thought it was the coolest thing he'd ever seen before a baseball game. He went to a college that didn't have a football team and only went to 1 Rams game before they moved.
Posted on 7/19/21 at 4:07 pm to dcbl
It’s the best play. Turner Field area got worse and worse over the years. The ways getting down there are not ideal. No hotels or any developments. So attendance was down. So money is in play. It just made sense. As far a Cobb County I don’t know. I’m not living or from Atlanta. Could it be built closer to Atlanta? I don’t know. The situation now isn’t perfect but it’s better then Turner Field and it’s surrounding area.
Posted on 7/19/21 at 4:58 pm to dcbl
quote:
one man in particular was very bitter about the move,
DEFINITELY a United fan.
Posted on 7/19/21 at 5:00 pm to VADawg
quote:
It can't be described any other way than a whopping success. Beautiful new stadium in a nice area.
And Liberty has increased the payroll since it opened.
Posted on 7/19/21 at 6:03 pm to ATLabama
*hipster alert!*
Posted on 7/19/21 at 6:52 pm to SteelerBravesDawg
I hate Atlanta United.
I’m also a finance guy, so, prolly the opposite of *hipster.*
I’m also a finance guy, so, prolly the opposite of *hipster.*
Posted on 7/20/21 at 6:55 am to ATLabama
If anyone has not been to Summerhill in a while, you should google housing prices. You may be in for a shock.
You could have bought a house for a song about 7 years ago.
You could have bought a house for a song about 7 years ago.
Page 1 of 3
Popular
Back to top
Follow SECRant for SEC Football News