122 Franchises Ranked Bottom to Top:

[Kepler]

Re: 122 Franchises Ranked Bottom to Top:

Kep

As a lifetime Sox fan, I beg to disagree. Fenway has to go. They try to put lipstick on the pig with renovations (though the Green Monster seats were a work of genius) but the park is 106 years old. The seats are uncomfortable, the leg room is non existent (think Spirit Airlines) and it is undercapacity by about 5,000 seats.

No.

[joecct]

No.

That's Dr. No (oops, wrong thread)

[mookie1995]

Re: 122 Franchises Ranked Bottom to Top:

While sitting straight in your seat, if you are looking over your shoulder for home plate, you have a problem

[CLS]

Re: 122 Franchises Ranked Bottom to Top:

... Fenway Park is the best park in baseball. It is absolutely true that it smells like a toilet (this is literally true, not Boston hate -- the only place I've ever seen/otherwise sensed that was worse was the old Durham Bulls park where for fifty years people used to relieve themselves under the bleachers. That was a Urine 10, Fenway is a Urine 7. Fenway smells like the NY subway system in 1977).

But... Fenway is exactly how a ballpark ought to FEEL. Wrigley is a distant second and nobody else deserves consideration since they tore down Tiger Stadium.

.... Fenway: a nearly perfect gem.

Kep

As a lifetime Sox fan, I beg to disagree. Fenway has to go. ...

While sitting straight in your seat, if you are looking over your shoulder for home plate, you have a problem

I’m not a lifer, but I’m 50+ years as a fan, but I agree with Kep. Great location and atmosphere. Mookie is right about the sideways seats (also they sell seats that have a post directly between the seats and home plate) but you learn about that and avoid them. As for the smell, I remember the old “bathtub” urinals. You learn to keep your eyes down when taking a pizz.

17. Boston Red Sox

...
The Ugly.

I assumed the “ugly” was going to be the racial history of the organization.

[Kepler]

Re: 122 Franchises Ranked Bottom to Top:

I assumed the “ugly” was going to be the racial history of the organization.

In that city it's a feature not a bug.

[CommAvHusky]

Re: 122 Franchises Ranked Bottom to Top:

I assumed the “ugly” was going to be the racial history of the organization.

That would have been way too easy. Then again, then-owner Tom Yawkey vetoed the signing of Jackie Robinson and Willie Mays. Now there are talks of reverting Yawkey Way back to Jersey Street. John Henry should do one better and not close the street during games.

Funny story, just when the Red Sox were starting to close Yawkey Way, I was leaving my job on Kenmore square at 9pm, I sprinted past security on Yawkey Way, because I used the street to cut through the Fens and head to Ruggles Station to catch the commuter rail to my then-girlfriend's in Roslindale. I've always hated the Red Sox, and I had real personal reason to hate them.

[Kepler]

Re: 122 Franchises Ranked Bottom to Top:

That would have been way too easy. Then again, then-owner Tom Yawkey vetoed the signing of Jackie Robinson and Willie Mays. Now there are talks of reverting Yawkey Way back to Jersey Street. John Henry should do one better and not close the street during games.

Funny story, just when the Red Sox were starting to close Yawkey Way, I was leaving my job on Kenmore square at 9pm, I sprinted past security on Yawkey Way, because I used the street to cut through the Fens and head to Ruggles Station to catch the commuter rail to my then-girlfriend's in Roslindale. I've always hated the Red Sox, and I had real personal reason to hate them.

Do they still have urban gardening in the Fens? Boston sucks, but that was nice.



I think it was part of the Emerald Necklace, one of the most progressive and inspiring uses of public space since Central Park.

[CommAvHusky]

Re: 122 Franchises Ranked Bottom to Top:

Do they still have urban gardening in the Fens? Boston sucks, but that was nice.

I believe so, I was last near the Fens late 2016. I never had a formal Summer Orientation at Northeastern when I first started. We all had meeting when were done moving into the freshman dorm. We all gather round and we met with a campus cop. He told us never cut through the Fens at night because more men get raped than women.

[CommAvHusky]

Re: 122 Franchises Ranked Bottom to Top:

I think it was part of the Emerald Necklace, one of the most progressive and inspiring uses of public space since Central Park.

Yes, a link between the Public Gardens and the Jamaicaway all the way out to Franklin Park. Franklin Park is where Boston has their zoo.

It is not a very impressive zoo but there was odd moment of Boston's racism that comes to mind. On the morning radio Dennis and Callahan show, there was a picture in the Boston Globe of a escaped gorilla in front of a bus sign. Dennis quipped that "he must have been one of them Metco Gorillas", Callahan came back with "yeah the bus is heading to Lexington". For those not in the know Metco is a voluntary desegregation program that places minority students from Boston into schools in Lexington and other wealthy, suburban communities.

[Kepler]

Re: 122 Franchises Ranked Bottom to Top:

Yes, a link between the Public Gardens and the Jamaicaway all the way out to Franklin Park. Franklin Park is where Boston has their zoo.

It is not a very impressive zoo but there was odd moment of Boston's racism that comes to mind. On the morning radio Dennis and Callahan show, there was a picture in the Boston Globe of a escaped gorilla in front of a bus sign. Dennis quipped that "he must have been one of them Metco Gorillas", Callahan came back with "yeah the bus is heading to Lexington". For those not in the know Metco is a voluntary desegregation program that places minority students from Boston into schools in Lexington and other wealthy, suburban communities.

The entire white native population of Boston and its suburbs should be forcibly relocated to Zimbabwe. I've lived in the north and the south and there's no racism as hard core stupid and vicious as Boston racism.

decent church-going women with their mean, pinched, bitter, evil faces

[mookie1995]

That would have been way too easy. Then again, then-owner Tom Yawkey vetoed the signing of Jackie Robinson and Willie Mays. Now there are talks of reverting Yawkey Way back to Jersey Street. John Henry should do one better and not close the street during games.

Funny story, just when the Red Sox were starting to close Yawkey Way, I was leaving my job on Kenmore square at 9pm, I sprinted past security on Yawkey Way, because I used the street to cut through the Fens and head to Ruggles Station to catch the commuter rail to my then-girlfriend's in Roslindale. I've always hated the Red Sox, and I had real personal reason to hate them.

Wait.

You WALKED from Kenmore to Ruggles?!?

[CommAvHusky]

Re: 122 Franchises Ranked Bottom to Top:

Wait.

You WALKED from Kenmore to Ruggles?!?

You missed the part where I typed sprinted

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Kenm...42.3366467!3e2

approx 1 1/4 miles.

[mookie1995]

You missed the part where I typed sprinted

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Kenm...42.3366467!3e2

approx 1 1/4 miles.

Sprinted past security

-mookie no miss

[CommAvHusky]

Re: 122 Franchises Ranked Bottom to Top:

16. Miami Heat

Why? Judging by their logo, they are the team of the flaming ball.

The Good. 3 NBA Championships (2006, 2012, 2013), 5 Eastern Conference Championships (2011, 2014). Highest ranking in this thread for a franchise that is less than 30 years old.

The Bad. Terrible expansion pains, never got past the 8 seed for the first 8 years. Flailed quickly after winning title in 2006, winning only 15 games two seasons later.

The Ugly. In the 1990’s the Heat picked a fight with the New York Knicks, which is really the equivalent of picking a fight with a punching bag. After the 1995, Pat Riley while New York’s Head Coach faxed his resignation letter in order to become Team President and General Manager of the Heat. The Knicks filed a grievance for tampering and won Miami’s first round draft pick. Somehow, the Heat let the punching bag win. Both teams met in the postseason from 1997 to 2000. The Heat won the first round in 1997, as the Knicks made the mistake of clearing the entire bench during a fight between Miami’s P.J. Brown the and New York’s Charlie Ward. The suspension plagued Knicks fell in 7 Games. In 1998, the heavily favored Heat fell to the Knicks in the fifth and final first round game. In 1999, the 1 seed Heat, fell to the Knicks again in five games in the first round. In 2000, the Knicks beat the Heat in the second round going a full seven games.

Where they play. American Airlines Arena, replaced the Miami Arena in 1999, better known as The Pink Elephant.

Owner: Micky Arison, operator of Carnival Cruise lines gives him much experience in dealing with the carnival that is the NBA.

Coach: Erik Spoelstra, longtime assistant took over as head coach in 2008.

Top Current Players: Goran Dragic, Hassan Whiteside, and Dwyane Wade

Hall of Famers: Alonzo Mourning, Shaq did play for the Heat for a few years.

[CommAvHusky]

Re: 122 Franchises Ranked Bottom to Top:

15. Philadelphia Flyers

Why? From the Broad Street Bullies to the Legion of Doom, this team is always in the thick of things.

The Good. 2 Stanley Cup Championships (1974 & 1975), 8 Stanley Cup Finals Appearances (1976, 1980, 1985, 1987, 1997, 2010). Had a 35 game unbeaten streak in 1980.

The Bad. Missed playoffs for five straight seasons (1990-1994)

The Ugly. They were the first team to wear Cooperalls (hockey pants), until the NHL banned them in 1983.

Where they play. Wells Fargo Center, replaced the Spectrum in 1996. Was going to be called Spectrum II, but banks with name changes, yada yada yada.

Owner: Comcast Spectator, Dave Scott, CEO. Founded by Ed Snider who championed the idea of bringing the NHL to Philadelphia. Snider died in late 2016.

Coach: Dave Hakstol, currently in his third season with the Flyers. Hakstol was a long time head coach at the University of North Dakota.

Top Current Players: Claude Giroux, Jakob Voracek, and Sean Couturier

Hall of Famers: Bernie Parent, Bobby Clarke, Bill Barber, Mark Howe, Eric Lindros, and Mark Recchi