I think the A's will be a tough team this year for the Angels to beat

Lets get the season start

Halos up and Pathetics down

The Return of the Pathetics sounds like a movie title

Yeah, only a fan since 1969 when I was 7. That's truly bandwagoning! Imbecile.

Or maybe just recognition that there are no other games in San Jose so if you want to see professional sports, hockey is your only option. Besides, the Sharks sold out when they played in SF too so it's not some San Jose loyalty thing.

It is now!

I was at a Sharks game toward the end of the last season and it was a sell-out before the game and those fans were hanging around for another 20 minutes after the game,,,the place still looked half full.
The same thing took place at yesterday's game, all the interviews later the place still looked full!

"the Sharks sold out when they played in SF too so it's not some San Jose loyalty thing."

The Cow Palace holds 11,000 for hockey. HP Pavilion holds 17,496. If the Cow Palace held more they may have sold out regardless, but we'll never know.

Beane, are you watching the Sharks tonight? It is 2-0 after 1 period...the place is packed w/some standing room only. HP Pavilion and the Shark Tank is an electrifying venue, the place is deafening. You cannot hear your neighbor in the next seat unless they're screaming!

"I believe the major income results from local TV contracts. YES network produces around $140M/yr. for the Yankees, for instance. I think the A's deal is $5M."

Absolutely, how about the Dodgers deal with Time-Warner, believed to be close to $7 billion over 20 years, also their own station. That computes to $350 million per year, compared to the A's @$5 million, a joke.

Could be but how many A's fans on this forum living close to the stadium have said if the A's move they will not attend games or curtail the number they currently attend. Gosh, when Wolff wanted to move to Fremont those same fans were outraged over the inconvenience of driving all the way to Fremont.

The San Jose Sharks enjoy loyalty from San Jose, I have had season tickets for years, and can attest to it.

Unfortunately, I missed the game tonight to go to a concert. I heard it was a terrific game, but Marleau scored only 1 goal! Time to trade him while he's still worth something :-)

Loyalty, IMHO is reflected when attendance stays high when the team consistently loses---like the Warriors, who truly have loyal fans and very much unlike the Sharks. Besides, if you use yourself as evidence of San Jose's loyalty, I guess I can claim Oakland is loyal to the A's because I've had season tix since 1988.

Fremont was an ill-conceived real estate scheme. People complained about the location because there was no BART station (remember the shuttle bus scheme to get thousands of people to the five miles away BARt station after each game?), parking was limited at best because most of the spaces would be for mall and condo parking and with one exit for the mall, condos and stadium, driving would have become an inconceivable nightmare. I can only imagine a full mall taking each parking space while 32K fans missed the entire game driving all over Fremont trying to find a parking spot.

He likes it with the Sharks, and the Sharks like him...but then if they get a "good" offer they might trade him...pro sports can be brutal...and so can the trades, depending on various types of contracts with the team.

I was being facetious. Every offseason there are numerous articles about how the Sharks should trade Marleau because he doesn't show up in the playoffs, plays soft, etc. If you look at his stats, including playoffs, you'll see that he's a pretty remarkable player. They'd be idiots to trade him.

Loyalty, IMHO is reflected when attendance stays high when the team consistently loses---like the Warriors, who truly have loyal fans and very much unlike the Sharks. Besides, if you use yourself as evidence of San Jose's loyalty, I guess I can claim Oakland is loyal to the A's because I've had season tix since 1988.

What is your basis for ASSUMING Shark fans are not loyal? They draw 17,000 + every night. Doesn't matter what night of the week they play, doesn't matter who they play or if there is a free give-away. You must think our A's don't have loyal fans then. We don't draw d!ck on weeknights against the bad teams in the league. In fact, the final days of the season, the A's attendance magically doubled or even tripled because the games we're important.

ALL games are important...not one member of the A's team thinks a game is un-important, nor did they play that way last year...ever, even when it was out of reach, they ran out every hit, out, fly ball, or third strike in the dirt. I loved their hustle, that is the reason we won the division...there was "no quit" in the team, or Melvin.

I think you misunderstood my point. I agree that every game is important, and obviously the A's players understand this. My post was because another poster said the Sharks don't have loyal fans. As a fan of both the A's and Sharks, I was commenting how the Shark tank is filled to near capacity or capacity every night, while the coliseum was only full at the end of the season because those games we're important to the fans.

What we really need is a 40k limit,smaller park at or somewhere around Jack London Square and let the Raiders have O.co. I too am a Sharks fan and a die hard A's fan since 1970, but a fan before that too, splitting time between Detroit and San Jose. I didn't misunderstand you, just added to the importance of every game as I saw them played!