Loria Refusing Overtures to Buy Team from Big Names, Including Jeb Bush

[oakelmpine]

I have had a lot of fun. We've won more games than 16 other teams since Loria's been an owner. We've had some really special players come through and we've won two fucking championships.

This wasn't fun?

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?...s_mlb&c_id=mlb

Or this?

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?...=.jsp&c_id=mlb

This?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OigcvfkX10Q

?

http://deadspin.com/5923463/hanley-r...-home-run-trot

?

What you have there is about all there has been if you are a Marlins fan. With some of the talent they have had, there should been 4 or 5 times that many highlights.

[Mainge]

What I had there is like the first few I remembered instantly.

There's about 92 times more highlights
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you're a better man than me


not really, but in this specific case

No, I am better.

[Chewford]

Urban Meyer is better than both of you.

[Party]

If Fidel, Chavez, and Loria died on the same day Miami would get sucked into a black hole.

[emkayseven]

I don't get you, Daft. You seem to have gone off the deep end. I like you, I hate Loria, but come on dude. I'm hoping you'll listen to me because I support you a lot and I'm not going to accuse you of making a straw man argument in every post.

I KNOW you were on board with trading Hanley and Anibal. At that point the writing is on the wall. You know what's going to happen. Maybe we didn't realize the scale on which it was going to happen, but we knew. I think Loria is a miserable piece of shit and I share just about every sentiment about him that you do. To answer previous questions, yes, I'd trade the next 50 birthday presents even if they included an Aston Martin and a lap dance from Kate Upton in order to get Loria out. That's how much I care about Marlins baseball.

For me though, the caring has kind of stopped with the recent shit that's gone on. The team was such a circus last year I could barely watch, and this offseason solidified it. The Marlins, for now, are going to be like reruns of Roseanne. I'm not going to seek them out on TV, but if they're on while I'm home, I'll watch them. I'm not buying any apparel or buying any tickets direct from them. This has a lot to do with how shitty the team is going to be, but it does have more to do with Loria for me. I can't fathom giving him my money even if the team is making a miracle run. I'll tune in on TV, because the team itself will be more interesting, but I'm not going to the games, because fuck that guy and his stadium.

I imagine you feel something along those lines. If the Marlins were suddenly a contender we'd both still be cursing Loria's existance but we'd be tuning in to watch.

Now, I think that some people on here (Erick, Mainge, bobbob, Hugg?) feel ALMOST the same as we (you, me, oakelmpine, Swift) do. Like, 95%. They feel swindled. They feel cheated. They don't like Loria, they'd love for him to sell to a competent owner. The difference is, their love of Marlins baseball manifests itself in supporting the team no matter what. In the dark days circa 1998-2002 I was in this crowd. I said it was the name on the front, not the name on the back. People cursed Huizenga and I didn't care or boycott games because I still got to see the Marlins, even if Oscar Henriquez was there in place of Kevin Brown.

So when the Ericks and Mainges of the world say they want a championship over Loria selling - which I said too, but I understand why you and oak might feel differently - it doesn't mean they're HAPPY being shit on by Loria year in and year out. It means that they don't want to give up on something they love, even though they hate the fuck out of Loria.

Essentially as Marlins fans, the anti-Loria crew and the pro-Marlins crew share 95% of the same DNA. The other 5% is how they support the team. You and I, we're wired to turn our backs on the team because we hate Loria that much and our hatred of Loria simply overrides our love of baseball. I honestly feel that way. Erick and Mainge, they're the other way around.

It's okay. It makes us different. It doesn't make them Loria lovers, and it doesn't mean that they like being shit on. Please understand this because you have gone bat shit insane on here lately, and I don't like it.
--------------------

ehe
--------------------
Best Big Z post in years

dude broke the news about the new uniforms

but yes, you're right

[Namaste]

I've probably come off a lot angrier than I actually am. Half the time I post on this site I'm smirking and having a laugh.

I will tone it down and apologize for the bat-shitiness I've caused lately. Part of my frustration is this site is so nitpicky sometimes. The other day you posted a fun fact and someone asked you what was fun about it. COME THE F ON.

I don't ever recall saying that I'd rather have Loria gone than have a championship in the next 5 years, btw. But right now, I'm not a fan of the Marlins. Maybe they'll be a .500 team in June and I'll start rooting for them but for now, no. But I'll tone it down. My bad.

[Swifty]

We should be more like the Blue Jays. Those 19 years without a playoff appearance were so much fun. They totally deserve to be a franchise. The Marlins who have won two World Series titles in that 19-year span do not.

This is really funny because of how dumb it is. You realize what the Blue Jays did in those two years before the 19 year drought? Even funnier since the general justification for the down years is "but yeah, that title".

Goodness.

[flamarlins3]

What you have there is about all there has been if you are a Marlins fan. With some of the talent they have had, there should been 4 or 5 times that many highlights.

All there's been?!?! 10 teams have won the World Series since '94. 18 years. Marlins have two of those. Don't you think fans on the other 20 teams would trade places with that in a second for just one. I mean, fuck, 95% of cubs fans have lived their lives and died without seeing one. loria sucks. Everyone agrees. The organization is a joke. It could have been more championships but to be like that's all we've had. Come on. We've been screwed by ownership time after time but let's not pretend like we aren't lucky fans at the same time.

[lou]

5% of Cubs fans are 104 years old?

[oakelmpine]

This is really funny because of how dumb it is. You realize what the Blue Jays did in those two years before the 19 year drought? Even funnier since the general justification for the down years is "but yeah, that title".

Goodness.

I thought the same thing. But if I had said that it would have been ridiculed.

[Fish Tank Frenzy]

What I don't get is how anyone can 'like' or want Loria to be the owner of this team or acknowledge that if Loria is not owner of this team, it instantly becomes a better franchise. I LOVE this team and it hurts me to know that the people in charge can give two shits about its fan base or the product on the field. I am not opposed to the trade this off season, the team was terrible and most likely not going to improve but like Swift says, this ownership has not earned the cache for the fan base to say 'hey, they had to do scrap it and get better' because in all reality this team will be full of young non arbitration eligible guys for the next 3-4 years with no legit veterans. Sure, these young guys can turn out to be the Rays or the As but most likely will be like the Royals or the Astros. I will root for this team, I will support them the best I can but I cannot sit here and blindly support Loria and crew. Their number 1 priority is to maximize their profits not the product on the field or appeasing their fan base. The best part is they maximize their profits through avenues such as a subsidized ballpark and revenue sharing, not through ticket sales, advertising or tv contracts. He is a shrewd businessman not an owner that we should all embrace. The only thing that Loria has done that I absolutely love is that he got the politicos to build us a ballpark but unfortunately he was the recipient not a legit owner that would take this franchise to the next level. Look at the Dolphins and the Heat. Two franchises run completely different than this baseball team. Sure the Dolphins have not had the on field success but it is not lack of money, with the Marlins, if they had spent the dollars over the last ten years, Miguel Cabrera is still on this team and the team would have built off of 2003 instead of doing things like a cheap skate.

[Namaste]

uh-oh

[HUGG]

What I don't get is how anyone can 'like' or want Loria to be the owner of this team

no one does

or acknowledge that if Loria is not owner of this team, it instantly becomes a better franchise.

we all know this

I will root for this team, I will support them the best I can but I cannot sit here and blindly support Loria and crew.

sounds about right, I'm not sure who is blindly supporting Loria and crew
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I don't get you, Daft. You seem to have gone off the deep end. I like you, I hate Loria, but come on dude. I'm hoping you'll listen to me because I support you a lot and I'm not going to accuse you of making a straw man argument in every post.

I KNOW you were on board with trading Hanley and Anibal. At that point the writing is on the wall. You know what's going to happen. Maybe we didn't realize the scale on which it was going to happen, but we knew. I think Loria is a miserable piece of shit and I share just about every sentiment about him that you do. To answer previous questions, yes, I'd trade the next 50 birthday presents even if they included an Aston Martin and a lap dance from Kate Upton in order to get Loria out. That's how much I care about Marlins baseball.

For me though, the caring has kind of stopped with the recent shit that's gone on. The team was such a circus last year I could barely watch, and this offseason solidified it. The Marlins, for now, are going to be like reruns of Roseanne. I'm not going to seek them out on TV, but if they're on while I'm home, I'll watch them. I'm not buying any apparel or buying any tickets direct from them. This has a lot to do with how shitty the team is going to be, but it does have more to do with Loria for me. I can't fathom giving him my money even if the team is making a miracle run. I'll tune in on TV, because the team itself will be more interesting, but I'm not going to the games, because fuck that guy and his stadium.

I imagine you feel something along those lines. If the Marlins were suddenly a contender we'd both still be cursing Loria's existance but we'd be tuning in to watch.

Now, I think that some people on here (Erick, Mainge, bobbob, Hugg?) feel ALMOST the same as we (you, me, oakelmpine, Swift) do. Like, 95%. They feel swindled. They feel cheated. They don't like Loria, they'd love for him to sell to a competent owner. The difference is, their love of Marlins baseball manifests itself in supporting the team no matter what. In the dark days circa 1998-2002 I was in this crowd. I said it was the name on the front, not the name on the back. People cursed Huizenga and I didn't care or boycott games because I still got to see the Marlins, even if Oscar Henriquez was there in place of Kevin Brown.

So when the Ericks and Mainges of the world say they want a championship over Loria selling - which I said too, but I understand why you and oak might feel differently - it doesn't mean they're HAPPY being shit on by Loria year in and year out. It means that they don't want to give up on something they love, even though they hate the fuck out of Loria.

Essentially as Marlins fans, the anti-Loria crew and the pro-Marlins crew share 95% of the same DNA. The other 5% is how they support the team. You and I, we're wired to turn our backs on the team because we hate Loria that much and our hatred of Loria simply overrides our love of baseball. I honestly feel that way. Erick and Mainge, they're the other way around.

It's okay. It makes us different. It doesn't make them Loria lovers, and it doesn't mean that they like being shit on. Please understand this because you have gone bat shit insane on here lately, and I don't like it.

this post (minus the stuff directly at Daft) should be put at the top of the Marlins forum and left there for a while

[oakelmpine]

All there's been?!?! 10 teams have won the World Series since '94. 18 years. Marlins have two of those. Don't you think fans on the other 20 teams would trade places with that in a second for just one. I mean, fuck, 95% of cubs fans have lived their lives and died without seeing one. loria sucks. Everyone agrees. The organization is a joke. It could have been more championships but to be like that's all we've had. Come on. We've been screwed by ownership time after time but let's not pretend like we aren't lucky fans at the same time.

But it's the in between time that makes it almost impossible to remain a Marlins fan. And since 2003, other than Pittsburgh, every other franchise in the NL has made the playoffs. If Pittsburgh could have done it last year, and they were in a position to do it for much of the season, it would have been such egg on Loria's face.

Okay, I'm done with the Loria bashing. You guys know how I feel, and that is never changing. He is the only person I actually wish evil & harm will happen too.

I loathe Jeff Ireland too, but I don't wish harm to the man, as I think he is actually trying to win and make the Dolphins better. I just think he's completely incompetent. Underneath that I think he is actually a good person, as you can see with his charity work.

However Loria is on a completely different planet than most of the rest of us. He is ruthless, cunning, spiteful, arrogant, and a thief. He has no social skills, and acts with impudence and never seems to care about the consequences of his actions until its too late. I hate how he has cowardly handled this year so far. Not showing up to Mike Redmonds press conference was the 1st sign to me of his cowardice. He did the same thing to Gonzalez and in the end we saw how much they "loved" each other.

But this is the end. Loria bashing from me is done.

Let's talk baseball.

[Swifty]

Yeah, FTF, that's the big thing to me. Remember after '05 when everyone was justifying it with "well, at least there's money for Miggy and Dontrelle" and then Detroit happened. It's fine if it's a one off thing (look, the Yankees and Red Sox both have mounds of money and they screwed the pooch with Jeter and Ellsbury's arby years, and I think they'll both admit it) but it's a perpetual cycle of not reinvesting, of not spending anywhere (at least the perennial low payroll teams splurge on scouting / international FA's).

It's impossible to support this kind of organization. I said it before in this thread, but you don't buy season tickets and spend 5 nights a week watching Goldman Sachs do their thing. If the Marlins want to run it like a business, they can't then expect blind support.

I'd love to turn this into a thread about second guessing Loria's tenure here, but I think, even with a new/better owner bad things could have happened. For all the fun that keeping Miggy carries, we could have been hamstrung by a bad deal to several other players. That's not the reason I'm done with the franchise. Every franchise is going to have a mountain of missteps (though, I think everyone save Erick will probably concede the Marlins' missteps since 2003 ended are considerably greater than the other comparable franchises that need to get maximum value for every dollar spent especially relative to the in-organization talent). The reason I'm done is that, at no point will I ever believe this group to "do the right thing." I can't support that.

To use a real-life analogy. What makes you stick with a cheating girlfriend, especially if the sex is mediocre and she's kind of ugly and certainly brings little to the table to enhance your life? Out of fear you won't find something else? It's stupid.