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13 March 2005

What? and Why?

Welcome to the new A's Ballpark blog. My name is Rhamesis Muncada, and along with being a lifelong A's fan, I have always been a fan of the architecture of stadiums, arenas, theaters, or any venue where people gather to watch entertainment. For as long as there is an effort, I will keep this blog updated with news and links to articles about efforts to build the A's a new ballpark. First, I'll post a couple of statements about myself.

1. I am not a season ticket holder, but I go to 30-40 games a year. The A's attendance patterns make it easy for me to go to games as a spur-of-the-moment thing. If a new ballpark is built for the A's, I would most likely become a season ticket holder. I also attend roughly a dozen Giants games per year as well.

2. It is my belief that low revenues directly related to pricing and attendance at the Network Associates Coliseum have led to the team's inability to keep major free agents. I am astonished that General Manager Billy Beane and his staff have been able to keep the team competitive for six years straight even with the problems that a low-revenue team faces every season. That said, a new stadium with more attendance and revenue streams could very well help make the A's more competitive, though I acknowledge that a new ballpark is not a guaranteed panacea.

3. My focus is entirely on a new ballpark. While I understand the "Moneyball" approach to building a team and have faith in Beane's methods, there are other blogs and fansites that do a comprehensive job covering topics such as OPS, WHIP, and Range Factor. There are links for those sites on this page.

4. I do not support new general taxes such as sales or utility taxes to fund ballparks. I believe that ballparks should be able to fund themselves in large part, with minimal public investment in the form of limited infrastructural improvements. I would support a bond measure to fund ballpark construction if debt service on those bonds is met by revenues obtained through activities at or related to the ballpark. (Why the Tax Reform Act of 1986 largely prohibits this.)

5. I prefer to see the A's stay in Oakland, and have hope in new owner Lewis Wolff's efforts to get a new ballpark built. However, I hope that if a new ballpark can't be built in Oakland, it can be built elsewhere in the Bay Area so that I can continue to support the team. This includes San Jose, which is not currently available due to the Giants' territorial rights over Santa Clara County.

6. Yes I am named after a pharoah.

7. I live in San Jose. At A's games, I usually sit in the bleachers.

1 comments:

Anonymous said...

You are very informative and logical. Keep up the good work.