Rays bandwagoners still haven't reappeared

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Ah, well this may explain it.

Bank gives Tampa Bay Rays' high-profile heckler a Bronx cheer

By Stephen Nohlgren, Times Staff Writer
In Print: Saturday, February 21, 2009

Florida's anemic housing market does not affect cowbells, but another slice of Tropicana Field ambience may have taken a hit.

Robert Szasz, whose foghorn heckling from behind home plate during Rays games sometimes reaches all the way to ESPN's Sports Center, apparently is in a financial jam.

Szasz, 42, is a developer. Since January, banks have filed five lawsuits saying he has stopped paying on more than $9 million in loans that he personally signed for. Wachovia Bank has served notice that it intends to foreclose on his 7,000-square-foot waterfront home on Snell Isle, which carries a $3.1 million mortgage.

Szasz launches his barbs at Rays opponents from Section 103 in the Home Plate Club, where his typical two season tickets cost $12,400 each.

Can Rays fans expect him back, front and center?

Szasz did not return repeated telephone calls for comment. The Rays declined to comment.

Opening day is April 13 against the hated Yankees.

[Last modified: Feb 25, 2009 04:34 PM]
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Wasn't there a Rays fan on here at one point?

Though, knowing Tampa fans, he/she probably abandoned their fandom as well. :LOL:
 
ProvidenceColts said:
The Tigers, in Detroit (somebody told me they have economic problems :coffee:) check in about 10 spots higher than the Rays in terms of attendance.
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Detroit has economic problems. Pretty much no one lives there, though. The 'burbs still have some cash money.
 
Michigan Dave said:
Detroit has economic problems. Pretty much no one lives there, though. The 'burbs still have some cash money.
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Though, it's not like Tampa is some barren wasteland of poverty.

Most of the people here are old people that have all their beijing saved up and could easily pay for it.

Hell, my hometown according to the 2000 census had the highest per capita population of people 60+ in the United States.
 
ProvidenceColts said:
Though, it's not like Tampa is some barren wasteland of poverty.

Most of the people here are old people that have all their beijing saved up and could easily pay for it.

Hell, my hometown according to the 2000 census had the highest per capita population of people 60+ in the United States.
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I think that sums it up.

Tampa just isn't a great sports town. MLB should have never put a team there. Eventually the Rays will relocate.
 
OSUBuckeye said:
I think that sums it up.

Tampa just isn't a great sports town. MLB should have never put a team there. Eventually the Rays will relocate.
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There's also plenty of youth around here, too.

Tickets for the World Series games went for like $250 a pop, even nosebleeds.

These people can spend the money, they just choose not to. All the while, claiming that they're true diehards.

And all the talk on the radio down here is of them building a stadium in Tampa (not St. Pete, where Traschicana Field is). They do that, it'll probably be a disaster, but that'll keep the Rays there for a good long, long time. For better or for worse.
 
3 Point Stan said:
Don't you get 2 hot dogs and a drink with every ticket there?
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No, but you do get a free concert after the game sometimes. I saw Izzy Top after the Rays played KC Royals a few weeks ago. And Poison is coming. I'm planning on going to that game too.

The big complaint here is that the Trop is just not that accessible compared to Tampa and with traffic. They complain about it on the radio too. There are also many fans for other teams.
 
OSUBuckeye said:
I think that sums it up.

Tampa just isn't a great sports town. MLB should have never put a team there. Eventually the Rays will relocate.
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That's :BS:. Football has lots of fans here. RJS gets full. You have to account for this area having many other people who follow other teams tied to their home state. There's not a lot of natives here. For instance there's 4 houses in my neighborhood, not far from me, who are Patriots fans. One is across the street. Next I see a good amount of Steeler fans then Bucs fans. Each year my gf has a SB party and it's Dolphins, Colts, Patriots and Bucs there.
 
BTW ProvidenceColts,
Isnt' a bandwagoner someone who only follows the team when they're winning?
I think so. So I don't get the use of that word for your complaint. I mean there's hardly anyone at the Ray's games when they're doing great this year.
 
BradyLady12 said:
BTW ProvidenceColts,
Isnt' a bandwagoner someone who only follows the team when they're winning?
I think so. So I don't get the use of that word for your complaint. I mean there's hardly anyone at the Ray's games when they're doing great this year.
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They're not winning deep into the season, however.

In late 2008, that's the only time they've been there? What happened to all you "diehards"?

I still see plenty of you with your Rays shit running around town, how come you never think to go to the stadium?
 
BradyLady12 said:
I don't have to tell you anything. And I don't wear Ray's shit.
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That's fine, but I'd be willing to bet that the Rays merchandise sales have skyrocketed, actually I know that it has.

How come the money that it takes to buy these shirts/hats (shirts are like $20, hats are like $30), aren't being used to actually go to the games? If everyone's as poor as you make it out to be, couldn't they redeem their food stamps at the games? :shrug:

Point is, this "BOOO HOOO" we're poor BS is just that, BS. Tampa is a crappy sports town.

Apparently you've got a short memory on the Bucs. Recall the creamsicle days when people were literally leaving perfectly good tickets on the ground in front of the stadium.

Even now, they're practically giving the tickets away. It's a mockery. Last year, I was able to snag a ticket on the streets for $15. And it was lower level, right at the 40 yd line, about 15-20 rows back.

It stands to reason that these dick-waving faux Rays fans should still be around. But they're not. They are the epitome of everything that is wrong with sports, with the stupid cowbells, the bullshit excuses for attendance, and the ridiculous fairweather crap that they call fandom.

Everyone who has ever watched a sporting event is worse off because of Rays fans. I used to think that having the Rays around was kind of a good thing because it meant that I could see the Red Sox in town on the cheap, but with me leaving Florida, it's not an issue for me anymore. Tampa sports fans are the biggest loads of shit in the world. It'll be a better place when the team gets moved and nobody actually really gives a shit.
 
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