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A sad day


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I know it's been a long time coming, but it is still tough to see the Expos leave Montreal. When i think what could have been with 1994 and all it still hurts. I wish they could stick around for just one more season, but i guess that would be simply delaying the inevitable.

Hopefully the Spos end their run in Montreal with a win tonight!

GO SPOS GO

:can::que::can:

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It is a sad day, I gave up the joke sport after the strike, that was the 'spos year no dought.

RIP EXPOS........RIP BASEBALL (pleeeeeaaaaaaaase!!!!!!)

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Bad luck again for the Expos, lucky bounces for the Marlins.

I liked the "Merci de Rien" sign out there which attacked Selig, Brochu and Loria.

Pathetic how they announced that if another person jumped onto the field, "The Expos will forfeit."

Why do they make dumbass threats that they know they can't live up to? They would never dare forfeit.

Frankly, I believe the MLB and its staff deserves whatever it gets from Montreal fans. They've screwed us for a decade, so screw them.

Nobody even bothered to save the 'Spos in the MLB, at least publicly. Pathetic.

Montreal will always be the Expos real home.

ESPN

It's a good read.

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I was at the game, it was fun... Lots of signs (against Selig, Loria, Samson mainly) ... good atmophshere... I've got a few pics of the game that I took , I'll upload them later.

- American anthem was boo'ed very loudly, but other fans compensated by cheering it.

- Fans were allowed onto the field before the game to take pictures and pretend to be a "real player" it was fun...

- The fans chanted "na na na na hey hey hey goodbye" towards the end of the game, that was hilarious

- Oh yeah... I caught a ball! that was pretty awesome for me, not bad considering the game had 33,000+ fans compared to the usual -5k (more competition for the ball) . It was the first foulball that I had ever caught (I've been to around 10 expos games in my life)

- The stadium was FULL of police tonight, the Expos must have been expecting something to happen (a riot maybe?)

[Edited on 2004-9-30 by puck7x]

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That was a great article by Jim Caple on ESPN, i couldn't agree more. I'm glad/surprised that someone has taken the side of the fans for once.

I went to a game a few weeks ago and the atmosphere (i think there were 8,000 fans) was 10 times better than at a Jays game. There may not have been a ton of fans towards the end of the Spos run, but the fans that showed up loved their Expos.

Thanks for the pics Puck, i think the signs showed everyone why baseball fans gave up on the Expos a while ago.

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If they can't get fans to the games they don't deserve a team. Averaging under 10,000 fans for as long as they have proves there was no fan base strong enough to support a team. I am glad the team is getting a home that will support it, through good times and bad.

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Originally posted by Fanpuck33

If they can't get fans to the games they don't deserve a team.  Averaging under 10,000 fans for as long as they have proves there was no fan base strong enough to support a team.  I am glad the team is getting a home that will support it, through good times and bad.

I disagree. I dont think its as easy as saying "if they have no fan support, they dont deserve a team" . What reason does the average Montrealer have to support the expos? Look at the way the organization has treated the fans over the past decade. They've sold all our stars, they went a year without an english radio deal, they have no major TV deal, the ownership has done a piss poor job of selling this team to Montrealers, and the people of montreal arent going to blindly support this team, Montrealers do not put up with this kind of treatment the same way that other cities would.

Plus I'm not even mentioning the horrible Stadium the Expos had to play in (In a out-of-the-way location).

###### the MLB, ###### Loira, Samson and Brochu.

Baseball can succeed in Montreal under the right circumstances, I am sure of that. Just look back to the fan support we had before 1995.

[Edited on 2004-9-30 by puck7x]

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Right, when the Expos were winning. Teams like the Cubs have always had great support, even when they were horrible. They lost all the time and weren't worth watching, but people still went. The Reds are terrible now, but they still have more than 10,000 per game, even after selling all their best players last season. I'm not saying the Expos haven't been screwed, but if they really wanted to save the team, they would have gone to games to show Selig that Montreal can support a team, not giving up on them and waiting for them to leave.

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Originally posted by Fanpuck33

Right, when the Expos were winning.  Teams like the Cubs have always had great support, even when they were horrible.  They lost all the time and weren't worth watching, but people still went.  The Reds are terrible now, but they still have more than 10,000 per game, even after selling all their best players last season.  I'm not saying the Expos haven't been screwed, but if they really wanted to save the team, they would have gone to games to show Selig that Montreal can support a team, not giving up on them and waiting for them to leave.

Have the cubs and reds had the kinds of firesales of players which the Expos have had every year? Do the cubs and reds have owners who dont give 2 shits about the team or the fans? But only about themselves?

Its not just about winning, sure winning is important, but the Expos have had great attendance during losing seasons in the past.

No other team is comparable, because no other team has been mistreated as badly as the Expos have been.

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Did you see how many players the Reds traded away last season? Have you seen their lack of being able to sign any pitching? Carl Lindner refuses to spend the money needed to make a team competetive. And the MLB has had it out for the Reds before. I believe the only trade rejected by the commisioner was to prevent the Reds from improving the Big Red Machince. They ran Marge Schott out of the league because she said Hitler was a good leader, a true statement, even though he was a horrible person. If Lindner could get rid of Griffey, you could be sure that he would.

And I wouldn't say they firesale every year. Players like Vlad, Vidro, and Vazquez were with the team for quite a long time.

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<i>Right, when the Expos were winning. Teams like the Cubs have always had great support, even when they were horrible. They lost all the time and weren't worth watching, but people still went. The Reds are terrible now, but they still have more than 10,000 per game, even after selling all their best players last season. I'm not saying the Expos haven't been screwed, but if they really wanted to save the team, they would have gone to games to show Selig that Montreal can support a team, not giving up on them and waiting for them to leave.

</i>

Show me the time in the Reds history where they were the best team in baseball, only to have MLB shut down the season and lose most of your top players due to lack of funds the next season. You want to know another thing the Reds have? A new ballpark. I can say with 99.9% confidence that Baseball can work in Montreal under the right circumstances.

No one is going to compare Montreal as a baseball city to Chicago.

But just imagine that the Cubs were leading the entire MLB, then mid-season MLB shutsdown and cancels the world series. In the off-season Sammy Sosa (Larry Walker), Corey Patterson (Marquis Grissom) , Kerry Wood (Ken Hill) and their top notch closer (they don't really have one, the Spos had John Wetteland), are all let go, either through trades or through Free Agency. Over the next several years Mike Barrett (Darrin Fletcher), Moises Alou (Moises Alou), Mark Prior (Pedro Martinez) Nomar Garciaparra (Wil Cordero), and Matt Clement (Jeff Fassero) are all let go with no immediate return.

All this seems tough to swallow, but theres more. The Cubs play in a dump of a stadium 20 minutes + out of downtown, 45-50 min from the main suburbs. The owners promise a new stadium, but it never happens and those plans fall through.

Even the great baseball city of Chicago would have a tough time stomaching these developments, let alone your average MLB city.

Baseball in Montreal was never given a fair opprtunity, thats the bottom line. I still believe that if the Expos were given a new downtown stadium with a new owner, they would succeed despite the past difficulties with MLB. Don't blame the fans, blame the league.

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Don't even try to compare the current Cubs with those Expos, who were far superior.

Even in recent years, the Expos have put out competetive teams, such as the team a couple years ago that challenged late into the season, even aquiring big name players such as Cliff Floyd. Even then the Expo fans did not go to games. Sure, the Expos got a raw deal, but the fans did little to try to support their team, even as they knew they were likely to lose the team if they didn't support the team.

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All this seems tough to swallow, but theres more.

You still forgot to mention that the Cubs (Expos) somehow discover and then develop great talent, only to have teams take them away.

You also forgot to ask, have the Cubs been threatened to be moved by the MLB for the past 6 years?

Why would fans support a team that would move the next year, but never did? It seemed every year was the "last" for the Expos according to MLB.

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Originally posted by fanpuck33

Even in recent years, the Expos have put out competetive teams, such as the team a couple years ago that challenged late into the season, even aquiring big name players such as Cliff Floyd. Even then the Expo fans did not go to games. Sure, the Expos got a raw deal, but the fans did little to try to support their team, even as they knew they were likely to lose the team if they didn't support the team.

Exactly, they knew they were likely to lose the team. Why would you as a fan support a team which you were going to lose? Why would you spend your money on a team which was going to eventually move to another city? Whats the point? Why show support? What would the point be?

EDIT: I accidentally clicked Edit instead of quote.

[Edited on 10-1-04 by Fanpuck33]

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Puck7x, did the crowd at Olympic Stadium cheer when fans threw stuff onto the field or jumped onto the field? Or were they upset?

Unfortunately, I couldn't make it to the game. I'll probably regret that for years to come. :nono:

[Edited on 2004/10/1 by Ribeiro]

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Originally posted by puck7x

Exactly, they knew they were likely to lose the team. Why would you as a fan support a team which you were going to lose? Why would you spend your money on a team which was going to eventually move to another city? Whats the point? Why show support? What would the point be?

This would make me want to attend games even more, to show the league that the fans care about the team. To show the league that Montreal can support a team. But instead, they gave up and abandoned the team. Look at Minnesota, Selig threatened to move them and look at them. The fans rallied around the team, which improved enough to be a playoff contender.

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Originally posted by Ribeiro

Puck7x, did the crowd at Olympic Stadium cheer when fans threw stuff onto the field or jumped onto the field?  Or were they upset?

Unfortunately, I couldn't make it to the game.  I'll probably regret that for years to come.  :nono:

The fans were generally pretty upset about the junk being thrown onto the field, as they were also upset about the boo'ing (by a minority) of the American national anthem.

This would make me want to attend games even more, to show the league that the fans care about the team. To show the league that Montreal can support a team. But instead, they gave up and abandoned the team. Look at Minnesota, Selig threatened to move them and look at them. The fans rallied around the team, which improved enough to be a playoff contender.  

Well, all I can say to that is that Montreal is not Minnesota. They are different cities with different people with different reactions. Like I've said, the majority of fans in Montreal had enough of being toyed with and just stopped caring (and stopped going to the games).

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