Disqus - Latest Comments for hiddentrack

Re: We Must Protect This House

hiddentrack — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 10:22:28 -0000

My point wasn't that LA survived the loss of the Rams and Raiders due to their other pro teams, I was pointing out that they weren't a city with just one major attraction that has been propping it up. Jacksonville has benefited from the Jaguars more than people realize. It's been said many times by many people, “I always used to have to say I was from Jacksonville, FL. Now I just say I'm from Jacksonville and people know what I'm talking about.”

I agree that this city has failed to blossom since securing this franchise. It's one of the things that frustrates me so much, because that potential was one of the reasons the team was even awarded and one of the things I've been looking forward to for so many years. Now it's been used as one more reason to criticize this city (Peter King of SI has brought it up a few times).

That isn't to say, however, that we haven't benefited from having the team. While there may not be a huge amount of tourism directly related to the Jaguars, I don't doubt that there are people who have discovered this area thanks to the added exposure of having this team. We'll lose some of that if we lose the Jaguars. And while we may not have statistics of businesses who say their sole reason for setting up shop in Jacksonville was the Jaguars, there will be business opportunities lost because we don't make it onto someone's short list any longer, simply because we're no longer on people's minds.

And let's not delude ourselves into thinking that having a regular tenant at Jacksonville Municipal Stadium hasn't been one of the reasons we've been able to continue hosting the FL-GA game (as well as the Gator Bowl). Both games would have been lost long ago if they were still being hosted in the old Gator Bowl. We already saw Atlanta try to snatch the FL-GA game, and I know they would have been successful if it weren't for the facility we have now.

Yes, Jacksonville was just fine for many people before the Jaguars, but we're not the same Jacksonville now that we were then. We can't just move from being an NFL city to one of those successful mid-sized cities without an NFL team. First, Jacksonville has become one of those successful mid-sized cities thanks in large part to the Jaguars. I also can't think of any of those mid-sized cities that lost an NFL team, so I'm not sure we can rely on their success to determine ours. Second, those cities all have important things Jacksonville doesn't have right now. I'm not saying that the Jaguars and the Jaguars alone will bring those things, but it will be much more difficult to accomplish if we're starting from a point where we no longer have this team. Expectations have been raised over the last 15 years. The apathy that will spread if this team were to leave will be a lot to overcome.

Re: We Must Protect This House

hiddentrack — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 10:15:54 -0000

Thanks for catching that. I was waiting to eat dinner and rushing through my response. That'll teach me to respond from my iPhone. ;)

As mattlovesJesus pointed out, the blackout threshold doesn't include premium seats, so it's safe to assume that the team wasn't 2,243 tickets away from lifting a blackout.

Last I was told, there were around 10,000 premium seats at the stadium. Let's assume that 75% of those tickets are sold. The team was still in need of selling nearly 10,000 tickets to avoid a blackout, which is a much higher number than other teams are facing.

Anyway, there are two points worth making here. First, let's not get too focused on the blackout number. Let's set a higher goal, selling out the stadium. That's the one sure way to never need to worry about the term blackout again.

Second, the Jaguars did this blackout avoidance dance for years, and we're still in this situation. Doing it again won't resolve the underlying issues they face. In fact, it's only made the situation worse as it's set the wrong expectation, that the Jaguars were going to be on TV every Sunday no matter the situation at JMS.

Re: We Must Protect This House

hiddentrack — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 18:19:07 -0000

And in past seasons, when the Jaguars only needed to sell a couple hundred or a couple thousand seats to avoid a blackout, the Jaguars did the same thing the Bengals and many other teams have been doing this season, buying up the unused tickets and having their corporate partners do the same. We're in a completely different situation this season. We're talking about nearly 20,000 tickets needing to be sold to avoid a blackout. No amount of marketing is going to be able to make up that difference. That's the reason Wayne Weaver made it known at the beginning of this season that he expected all home games to be blacked out.

As for there being more to the LA community than an NFL team, I agree, and that's the argument I was making. The same can't be said for Jacksonville, and I think that's what Gil attempted to say here. Some cities can survive and recover from the loss of an NFL team by relying on the other assets they have. Jacksonville doesn't have a lot to fall back on, and certainly not what would be needed to keep from seeing this city plunge into even deeper financial peril.

Re: We Must Protect This House

hiddentrack — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 17:27:58 -0000

Of course Los Angeles survived when the Rams and Raiders left. It's the second biggest media market in the country. The area has multiple MLB, NHL, and NBA teams. Not to mention plenty of other attractions bringing millions of people to the area each day. Los Angeles could afford to lose two NFL teams. Jacksonville has none of those luxuries.

As far as Cincinnati is concerned, they've faced the threat of blackouts on multiple occasions this season, barely avoiding one this weekend (http://profootballtalk.nbcs....

Re: Urban Jacksonville Weekly Episode #25

hiddentrack — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 15:04:09 -0000

I agree completely. I even mentioned to someone that I gained more respect for Mayor Peyton after listening to this week's show. He seems to be genuinely trying to do the right thing here, while some others out there are just trying to score political points by riding shotgun on this wave of anti-government/anti-tax nonsense that we've been seeing lately.

Re: How New Media is Shaping the Budget Debate: The Discussion Has Begun

hiddentrack — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 14:55:19 -0000

I've always been responsible with my money, and I expect my elected representatives, whether I voted for them or not, to do the same. Taking a lesson from the Bible, you store your surplus from the seven years of plenty to prepare for and protect yourself from the seven years of famine. Unfortunately the city has found itself experiencing a budgetary famine. There's no way to hide the fact that they didn't prepare themselves, not only when the economy was at its "best", but also when all signs were pointing to a looming downturn in the economy.

For that reason, and many others, no matter what side of the issue you find yourself on, there's a lot to be upset about in terms of how the city has been managing its money. There may be a time when you can stand up and proclaim that you will not put more money into their outstretched hands, but I don't think that time is now.

I agree with Joey's comment on UJW that, perhaps, these may simply be scare tactics. But if the millage rate increase is not passed, is the city going to terminate the services they say are on the chopping block? I'm not sure what debts the city has now, but preserving even a portion of those services without the rate increase will only cause our financial situation to worsen.

If I'm not mistaken, one of the reasons JEA has needed to raise its rates in recent years was because they operated so long in debt. Asking our city to do the same only shifts the burden to our children. Are the people of Jacksonville really going to be that selfish?

Personally, I'd like to see the mayor go further. We need to do more than simply preserve the status quo. We need to reinvest in the future of this community. That won't be possible if we find ourselves deep in debt. We'll be in a hole that is too deep to escape from. Scratch that, the city will be in that hole. Those of us who are looking for more from their leaders will be forced to find some place new to call home.

Re: Urban Jacksonville Turns 5 Today

hiddentrack — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 16:17:05 -0000

UJ has become one of the few blogs I read daily. keep up the great work!