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This week in Shut the F#ck Up: John Romano

To be very clear here, this is NOT AN OFF TOPIC THREAD, despite the fact that I posted it. I'm cool with OTTOTD discussions, but this really needs to be a one stop shop for SHUTTING THE FUCK UP ABOUT ATTENDANCE.

So, John Romano vomited this shit all over a keyboard which found its way into the paper today.

John, shut the fuck up about attendance. Your perspective is worthless. You work 10 blocks from the stadium. You go to games for free. I'm going to go out a limb and guess you draw a salary more than twice the regional average for churning out sportstalk-radio-level dreck once or twice a week.

Is it entertaining? No. Is it productive? Not yet. Is it necessary? Apparently so.

Is it necessary? NO IT IS NOT. THIS IS A WEDNESDAY GAME IN APRIL AGAINST FUCKING OAKLAND

On top of that there are certainly other reasons why the attendance was low, I think I saw somewhere that the economy in the Tampa Bay MSA is down a little bit. But, that's probably not the driving factor, its because we're babies that don't understand sports.

I mean look at this stupid bullshit:

Granted, there are valid reasons for this. A lack of major corporations and a dearth of high-paying jobs in the region would be a start. No real community identity would be another cause. But the bottom line is that this is not a strong sports market.

Always a great rhetorical technique to put in the actual explanation, then brush it off with stupid shit like "this is not a strong sports market."
Look, if the region thinks downtown St Pete is way to far to drive, fine. If everyone thinks The Trop (one of the few remaining stadiums with a "quirk") is unsuited for baseball, fine. I disagree with both those points, but they are actually points, not "Tampa Bay is a weak baseball market."
Let me just come back to the fact that we're talking about A WEDNESDAY GAME IN APRIL AGAINST THE A's. Friend of the site and fantasy guru Jason Collette (who somehow manages the harrowing drive from Orlando, to see baseball in that awful warehouse in the far reaches of St Pete) posted some numbers on his twitter last night that seem particularly salient:

in 2009, Rays and A's hooked up for a midweek-May series; average attendance was 13,089. Played weekender in July; averaged 27,786
Once school got out in 2009, Rays didn't have a game dip below 15,000 again until mid September when club was out of contention


We are currently 21st in the league in average attendance. Last year we were 23rd. The only teams ahead of us in attendance with smaller media markets were San Diego and Baltimore. Both have a MUCH MUCH higher wage standard. This isn't the end of the world. The Sky is not falling.
So, John, Chicken Little, please, SHUT THE FUCK UP.

Yours,

Incensed Internet Poster TGN1

P.S. Stick to Football or Hockey or whatever, leave Baseball alone.

This post was written by a member of the DRaysBay community and does not necessarily express the views or opinions of DRaysBay staff.

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