So lets just disregard Lynn Thompson and her constant yapping on behalf of the Mariners. We know they don’t like this idea and think that Felix Hernandez needs to call an emergency meeting to explain the difference between losing a game and being a loser. This stuff takes its toll on a franchise.
Chris Hansen on the other hand gets it.
I haven’t talked to him much about arena stuff lately but know from past conversations that Chris approaches these things first and foremost as a Seattle sports fan. His design ideas are going to be cutting edge and they are going to be custom tailored to the things we like to do.
These latest drawings are a great example. Having learned a little bit about Arena’s I can tell you that the “bowl” is in many ways a separate component from the rest of the building. On the concourses an emphasis is placed upon having room and mobility. It has to be comfortable to move around, get food and be entertained. Inside the bowl the emphasis is 100% on an intimate feel, sight lines and the ability to enjoy the event.
When I first saw the drawings without color I did not really fully understand that the designers had essentially gone further than anyone previously to seperate the bowl component from the rest of the building/concourse area.
Why did they do that?
My guess is that it is as simple as the fact that Chris understands that people in Seattle like to feel like they are outdoors even when they are in buildings. During the summer we like to take advantage of the sweeping views and gorgeous landscape of the region. During the winter we just don’t get out enough and are always looking for alternatives that make us feel less cooped up. He gets it because he goes to Mariners game as a fan and like other fans prefers to wander the stadium, grabbing BBQ and a view of the city at the upper deck or hang out in the center field bar.
In this design he has managed to almost completely separate the “in game” component of the bowl with the “destination” feel of the concourse. So while the bowl experience will be 100% game oriented it looks like the “destination” experience will be one that maximizes the feeling of being out in Seattle with views of the water and the city. In the dead of winter you will be able to wander through this glass castle and feel like you are outdoors.
I expect to see more efforts to take the things that Seattle sports fans love about our region and venues incorporated into the building. . I expect some very cool designs replicating the center field experience at Safeco Field and the intimacy of games at the Key. Look for stuff like standing room options, high tech approaches to amazing sight lines and innovative ways to bring the crowd closer to the players and the game.
He’s going to do it like we would do it because he cares about the same thing. This building will be an amazing experience.
I love it. The Barclays Center in Brooklyn has a beautiful entry way and plaza when you first enter, the bowl is VERY tight (I saw in literally the very last row and still though the view was great) and they have a lot of fan involvement, a mobile app, free ATMs, free wi-fi, etc. Can’t wait to see this arena have all the same amenities (and more?).
That’s all well and good, and I don’t doubt that Hansen will put together a good building, but ultimately it’s still about putting a winning product on the court. Fans will still flock to a good team in a bad building, but over time even Safeco hasn’t been enough to save the craptastic trainwreck that is the M’s. They’ve lost more fans than any other pro sports franchise in any league in the last decade.
http://247wallst.com/2012/11/26/13-pro-teams-running-out-of-fans/4/
Of course…if the Mariners were still playing in the Kingdome they’d probably be at the very bottom of attendance…
Having a nice in-game experience does at least create a bit of a floor when it comes to Ws/Ls
hey, they won something!
So, if I’m reading this right, you’re saying that the center “icon” (the orange part) is the inner bowl, where the court and the seats are, and the outer part is actually the concourse?
Thats what it looks like to me.
I hope there is a bit of gamesmanship in the design as well. Like a smaller visitors locker room that is a few minutes walk from the court and the heat is always stuck up on to 90 in there.
I’ve always been partial to the college feel of having the first few rows of fans being on top of the court like Cameron Indoor Stadium or the old Boston Garden. Anything to elevate the home court advantage.
PLUS the acoustics need to match or exceed the Seahawks stadium. If our ears aren’t bleedings its not loud enough.
yes x 1000. love the changes. this tweet from chris daniels got my hopes up:
“NEW #SeattleArena designs released tonight. Preferred Option includes “perforated contextual wrapper with icon”
my hope is that this means some sort of LED system covering “the icon” they could use it to change the color and incorporate huge patterns/images. this thing is gonna be so bad ass.
Again I’ll point out things in Seattle that Seattle fans like.
The changing colors of the Century Link arch lights is one of the things I really like about its look. They take it to another level with this…
mentioned this in the previous thread, but more contextual in this discussion. For some idea ofwhat an LED covered building/structure can look like/do check out the new Omni Hotel down here in Dallas. It would be amazingly cool if the inner “icon” portion of the areana was able to do stuff like this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FwdaMGZkC-k
closeup
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bAEtjnwvBhs
^thats pretty much exactly what im talking about.
im thinking ours might be even better. daniels usage of the word “perforated” makes me think there will be more LED’s per sq ft making the whole thing capable of way more detail.
we need a team so this think can start being built!
If you want to see something similar to that second link on a smaller scale, scroll to 2:30 of this clip to see the 787 “rainbow crawl”
http://youtu.be/NqfiFhHqR7U
totally agree. The hotel has a strip above and below every floor. Without that limitation, the stadium could have a much higher “resolution” allowing for much higher quality.
If they did something like that I imagine there’s a good amount of advertising revenue that could be generated if they wanted to occasionally display sponsor video or images on it.
What would be really funny is that it would totally steal the “wow factor” away from the Mariners’ new outfield screen. Anything that gets under the skin of the mariners has my endorsement.
I am just shocked that the Mariner’s are STILL doing this. Are they EVER going to give it up? And to see that be on front page news on the Seattle Times…. Do they realize that they are alientating their fans more and more and making us more pissed off than we already were? Even on the boards we are the majority with only a few trolls left. I don’t see what the Times and Mariners think they are going to get out of this. I wish the Mariner’s would just cooperate and join us rather then keeping up this ridiculous fight. PS…nice work Brian on the WordPress site. So much nicer. I work with WP a lot and love this format.
How can you possibly be shocked at this point? They are the classic emporer with no clothes. Delusional. Outdated. Stubborn. Irrelevant.
Shouldn’t there be light into the seating bowl as well from the outside? I don’t think it should totally be walled off. I think people like the concourses to be open to the seating bowl .
I know Chris would never do this, but it would be delicious when the building is done to see a giant middle finger in the shape and style of an upside down Mariner’s trident painted near the top on the outside of the bowl section.
Whoa. Did I say that outlout?
+1
+2
Why do we even discuss the Mariners??? They really have little impact on this whole thing and I don’t think Chris see’s them as a threat! They are a disoriented franchise that is trying to get it’s feet back on the ground!! I think they care more about their 2019 Lease negotiations with the City of Seattle then anything. I would expect the Mariners to threaten relocation in the next few years despite being built the most expensive stadium in the world at the time. The Mariners ownership is joke and we should stop giving them time on this blog. They are simply spinning their wheels and trying to find traction. Chris Gets it and the Mariners DON’T! End of story! Enjoy the moment!
The Mariners might threaten to move…but most would understand to not take that threat too seriously. MLB is a much different game…it needs big markets with big corporate sponsors and big TV contracts
It’s not that I think they have an impact on this issue any more. Quite the opposite, I think most people just roll their eyes at the Mariners at this point.
It simply upsets me as a Mariners fan who staunchly supported the construction of Safeco field with use of a much higher public contribution percentage. The hypocrisy of the front office offends me deeply. I want the team to succeed and it frustrates me because they would rather suppress competition for the local sports dollar than than compete for it themselves.
They are a rudderless ship in need of new ownership, leadership, and rebuilding.
********??????????? Censorship on the site now?
I put up a filter to make the Mariners a curse word as a joke. It’s down now though.
Alright Kevin, I’m down! We should not even allow the name but I guess we should be the bigger people and not go to that level!! They are a frustrating franchises to say the least!
They try so hard to make me not like them. Yet I stay loyal and they are my favorite local team… Until the sonics get back.
My highlight of the night! Watched the end of the OKC/Hornets game from OKC and it shows Kevin Durant heading to the locker room and he walks right past Clay Bennett and does not even acknowledge him!! I loved it!
i wish that meant something.
He probably didn’t see him.
more maloof monkey business . they are trying to keep the anahiem royals name
wtf are these clowns doing?
http://www.news10.net/video/1924671957001/1/Gavin-Maloof-talks-Kings-from-New-York
Anyone else watching this Jazz vs. Spurs game? Helluva 4th quarter and Mo Williams just drained a 3 at the buzzer for the win. Man, I can’t wait for NBA back here!
Mariners need to stop, their attendence went down again and it was similtanious to their opposition of the arena
Here’s hoping they lose out on Josh Hamilton…..they will
What big FA have the Mariners ever got? Answer: none
This is a tease just like pretty much every FA they mention in every off season. Why would a player like Josh Hamilton, or anyone who wants to win, come to play for this organization? You would be asking someone to pull an Arod and basically just chase money. Do you really want that type of player anyway?
Ichiro is the closest thing to a BT free agent but he wasn’t, his bargaining rights were bought by the M’s…other than him the ONLY two that come to mind are Richie Sexon and Adrian Beltre. Of those only Beltre was a legit big signing. Even then, he only had one monster year w the Dodgers previously. I know these things because I USED to be a fan.
Adrien Beltre, Richie Sexon, Carlos Silva, Chonne Figgins. These were all over $10 million dollar a year players. Of course you’re going to say they all sucked and that’s the thing about FA…they almost always end up sucking for their new teams.
Spending money has never been an issue with the Ms they just spend it in the absolute worst way possible.
bc-sonictotem, that’s an old video from before the start of the season.
Mariners are dead to me until they are sold to a new ownership group. I cant support a team that has no interest in winning.
While they figure things out you should also really look at MLB and see what the teams that are winning do with player acquisition. Might Change your outlook.
Forget the M’s they have no interest in anything besides how often they can give away bobble heads. All of this new stuff coming out about the arena makes it sound even more awesome. I just can’t wait for the day when its announced we have a team and work can start on the arena.
Let us not forget that Safeco Field was voted DOWN by the people, but built anyways.
As much as I hate the M’s front office, I’ve got to take exception to this one. It wasn’t Safeco Field that was voted down by “the people” (of King County only), it was the financing package. I know plenty of people that were in favor of building the stadium, but didn’t feel it was equitable that only the residents of King County were on the hook for a 0.5% sales tax increase when the M’s were touting the ballpark as a REGIONAL destination. That’s a big distinction that needs to be made.
The measure that narrowly lost (by less than 1% of the vote; it was actually ahead until the absentee votes tipped it the other way) was a King County general sales tax increase to build the stadium. The state legislature shortly after came up with a different tax package (the hotel/motel/bar/restaurant/car rental tax that was also used for the Seahawks stadium) to build Safeco. That wasn’t put to a vote, but I’m actually pretty sure it would have passed, since it was less regressive than the measure that narrowly lost and since the Mariners craze had reached critical mass by then.
Which is not to defend the M’s ownership in general, but the whole “the politicians overrode the will of the people” line that the stadium-haters parrot is something of a myth.
Well there ya go. Josh hamilton to the angels. Maybe chuck and howie should take some of that arena smear campaign money and give it to jack z for payroll. Damn…..
The M’s are an absolute disgrace. I would compare them to the Cleveland Browns but that would be an insult to the Browns.
I think you can make a pretty good argument that the Ms are the worst organization is all of pro sports.
They have made the playoffs 4x. 4x!!! That is horrendous. The highlight of their entire existence is MAKING the ALCS (then losing). That is pathetic.
Well, I would say the highlight was winning 116 games. But even that year, they couldn’t make the World Series.
They’re definitely an exercise in futility … which makes their organziational arrogance even funnier, as if they’ve actually done anything in their history other than squander opportunities and give the world a primer on how not to run a MLB franchise.
warriors, clippers, royals, pirates, brewers, bobcats, raptors, bucks, browns…far from the worst team in sports over the last 20 years.
Why limit it to the last 20 years. Bobcats have only been around for a few years.
Warriors have 3 championships.
Clippers have been to the playoffs 8x
Royals have been in the playoffs 7x and the world series.
Pirates have won a world series
Brewers have been in the playoffs 4x and made the world series.
Bucks have a championship
Raptors have been to the playoffs 5x
New Browns or old Browns? Old Browns had plenty of success.
Compare them to the Cleveland Spiders, it’s more appropriate.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleveland_Spiders
Nice find, futile is the perfect word to describe the Cleveland Spiders.
I didn’t think the Hamilton signing would matter so much to me. But, turns out, the news of the Angels getting him makes me want to SPIT.
It’s not even about IMPROVING the team anymore. It’s about dispelling the impossible-to-ignore feeling that the team is NOT TRYING.
Seriously, we miss out on Swisher and Bourn and we are going into next season with virtually the EXACT SAME TEAM, with the EXACT SAME PLEAS from the Ms to “believe” and “be patient” and “support the young guys.”
Unbelievable.
You nailed it leBleede
Cause over paying for bad players and making it unlikely they will win in the future…basically doing what they did from 2003-2010 is the smarter thing to do?
Do you guys think that franchises should make questionable moves just so the fan base can be happy for five minutes and then complain again when the move doesn’t lead to winning? Seems odd….hope you don’t think the same thing about the future Sonics.
I’m fine with the M’s not over spending on Hamilton. I wouldn’t spend that much on him either. Its more a combination of perceived inaction of the M’s upper brass in regards to improving the team(I don’t think Hamilton would’ve been a huge improvement btw) and frustration at yet another article on the M’s anti arena stance. Do I want the future Sonics to be run like M’s circa 2003-2010? No, I doubt there is anyone that would answer yes. Overall what I want to see from the M’s is for them to work within their budget and acquire players that can improve the team.
$125 mm is a lot for one player. Big money teams can take that risk. We are not a big money team.
Doesnt matter who the player is…..for the Ms to commit that much to one player would be irresponsible IMO.
Knowing this, and the fact that we never really have a shot at players like this……..it upsets me more that the Ms always make it sound like we do.
All this LED stuff sounds cool. But I could care less about any of that. I just want my Sonics back. I’ll watch them anywhere. Just bring’em back!!!!
Let’s get our Supes back. Then Hansen can win over the M’s over time and THEN buy them.
Is it just me or does the roof of the new arena designs just released actually look like a basketball itself? Just pointing that out.
The funny thing about all the people I see who complain about the Mariners is that they basically want the team to do all the things they did from 2002-2010 and got us in this mess in the first place. The complainers are basically of the same exact mindset of the people they hate the most: chuck and Howard.
There is a difference between spending big on good players at the time (Beltre/Sexon) and the last few years of crap like trying to convince us that Jack Cust was the second coming of Babe Ruth.
The main disconnect I see is that many people forget that Safeco hurts more than helps in FA talks. Right-handed power hitters don’t want to play there, unless the M’s essentially bid against themselves and vastly overpay.
Since free agency is essentially a fruitless exercise for them the only thing they can do is try building from their farm system or swinging trades for cost-controlled young guys like Smoak and Montero, an approach that can be equally risky. And they’re still suffering from the fact that over the last 10-15 years they had the worst player development/drafting system perhaps in MLB history … I saw a stat that until last year or so the Mariners farm system had never produced a single position player that played an entire year as a Mariner since A-Rod still blows me away. You have to work HARD to reach that level of incompetence.
It all goes back to absentee ownership, a front office that badly needs to give way to some new blood and new thinking, and an overall lack of organizational accountability. They’re Kansas City Royals/Pittsburgh Pirates hopeless right now.
We did have prospects that could have been productive MLB players. The problem is our leadership traded them all away.
The Sonics were never big in free agency either. Horace Grant? Jimmy Mcilvane? Calvin Booth? A lot of time we just didnt have the cap room to make any big splashes.
The difference is they didnt tease their fan base every year saying they were going to go after the top FA and “we have a chance”.
no. they merely told us for a decade that we were on a 5 year plan to reach the championship, or, that we are now the Showtime Sonics LOL
Here is a preview of tonight’s game featuring the Seattle Supersonics at the OKC Thunder…….
http://www.nba.com/games/20121214/SACOKC/gameinfo.html
I have ranked what I think are the 4 worst run franchises, 1 for each league
Sacramento Kings 1
Seattle Mariners 2
Oakland Raiders 3
The entire NHL 4
What is your ranking
At least Raiders have a history and multiple championships
lmfao @ ykiki . jack cust line made my day. and sonicsman thanks for tip.
2012 MLB Payrolls, Yankees taxed, M’s 23rd
http://bit.ly/VHmwIl
Yep. I’m one of the dreaded Mariners fans that wants the front office to “repeat the mistakes of the past” by going after free agents. Risk failure.
But let’s be clear here: what exactly are the Mariners risking by overpaying free agents? Their vaunted status among sports franchises? The “bright future” that I’ve heard so much about…sighted but never captured, like so much farm system Sasquatch?
Oh sorry, am I supposed to care about PAYROLL? Please. Spend money. Spend it, Mariners! Spend TONS of it! What am I, an accountant? Hells no, I’m a sports fan! Unless I start getting discounted tickets to watch guys making the league minimum, I want the Mariners to throw money around like it’s a ticker-tape parade.
Bottom line: I’ve had “patient fan” on the mound for ten years now. I’m making a call to the pen and I’m bringing in “illogical instant gratification fan.”
It won’t work. Nothing will. At least until the idiots upstairs (CHUCK ARMSTRONG, HOWARD LINCOLN) are removed.
Seattle fans need to start a public campaign to oust Armstrong/Lincoln. Haven’t we had enough already? Start a fan union and blast the message on KJR, KIRO, and the internet boards. Get the movement large enough and force the awful Seattle Times to cover the issue. Enough of the garlic fries and complacency, Seattle fans need to do more than simply boycotting the team.
I could not agree more. They just keep trying to enhance the ball park experience with very little regard for the product on the field. Maybe they need all these “enhancements” at the park to distract us from the crap on the field. We deserve so much better and won’t get it until the the two buffoons at the top are gone.
Safeco Field..Booblehead capital of the world. Quit griping and embrace our place.
Welcome back to Ricky Rubio. He’s already dropping crazy dimes.
jnny.co/ba1635
Forget about home attendance for the Kings, interesting to note that the Kings are second in the league in road attendance behind the Lakers! Anyone wanna try and guess why fans outside Sacramento flock to see the Kings??? Very Strange……
http://espn.go.com/nba/attendance/_/sort/awayAvg
Glancing at their schedule, it looks like a large % of their road games have fallen on Fri-Sun - maybe that has something to do with it?
They aren’t “flocking to see the KINGS”..they are seeing the Kings opponent…unless they think it will be the Kings farewell tour.
If you want to see your team look like superstars then just see them against the Kings defense.
That’s what I was thinking too Baker. Easy win for the home team.
And………..Go Seahawks! We need a win today!
Tickets are also cheaper when they play less popular teams.
I think all your points on Kings road attendance are valid!! It’s strange to me and I have no clue but what you guys say makes sense.
We are the Mariners, they are our team, we built their stadium. The closeness of the vote, the fans pouring into the kingdome in the miracle ’95 year. They did good to build a great stadium and the product on the field grew with all of our efforts. And I’m ok with being a fan through some losing years. I was a Pilots fan, then i was a Sonics fan because we lost baseball. I spent a great deal of time helping the Mariners try to win that vote. I was a season ticket holder for years. This latest development by them to thwart the new Sonics arena is unbelievably stupid. I will rail against MY Mariner’s organization & management until i get an apology and a complete about face in their policy against the arena. I will not spend another dime on the M’s until that happens and i will continue to haunt them in facebook posts with the simple words “Go Sonics”, they miscalculate the large number of Basketball fans that also love Baseball and may feel the same way. Wake up Nintendo.