Hearing that Nashville may be a MLS expansion city next season. They set a record of over 47,000 for a gold cup game today.

So as things sit we have the Tigers, Grizzlies, Fed Ex St Jude, minor league Baseball, Minor league Hockey, Tennis, Memphis international raceway and Riverside.

Nashville has SEC Football, NFL, NHL, minor league baseball, minor league soccer soon to be MLS. Nashville Golf Open, Nashville Speedway, Nashville Raceway.

Seems as if we have allowed Nashville to surpass us as top sports city in the state. After we lost out on NFL we looked as if we just faded into the background and except for Grizzlies have not done much of anything when it comes to adding sports to the Memphis market.

Has our leadership fallen asleep or have they allowed other things get in the way of any progress in professional sports area.

Remember when the Redbirds and Sacramento were battling it out for attendance title in minor league baseball. Now crowds are sparse.

Remember when you could hardly find a seat on Saturday night at the track and that was before a tornado tore down a portion of the grand stands. Now they get barely 1,000 a week.

When did Memphis begin to lose it's spot as top sports city in Tennessee?

JFC, you do realize the growth Nashville and its metro have had, right?

Nashville is also much more conveniently located to other population bases. Memphis is a freaking island in every direction.

There's no need to compare to Nashville.

Pro sports are not the answer. I'm glad Nashville has its ugly erector set stadium and a sh*tty NFL team nearly no one cares about.

We are grateful for the Grizz and have an incredible multi-use facility for them.

(07-08-2017 06:06 PM)AlonsoWDC Wrote:  I'm glad Nashville has its ugly erector set stadium

Adelphia/LP Field is really not that bad. It was built a bit on the cheap though and requires millions of direct subsidy tax dollars annually to keep it up. It'll soon be 20 years old plus the Houston based Adams family still owns the team. Not a good combination. Better reach for your wallets now Davidson County. It's coming.

(07-08-2017 06:04 PM)AlonsoWDC Wrote:  JFC, you do realize the growth Nashville and its metro have had, right?

Nashville is also much more conveniently located to other population bases. Memphis is a freaking island in every direction.

There's no need to compare to Nashville.

You kind of hit the nail on the head. Why is it that Nashville's government is able to focus on what the metro area needs while the Memphis City government is too obsessed with details that are not important to do what is needed to grow the city.

While Nashville is raking in industries and jobs. Memphis is too concerned with what the color is the skin of the company's leadership and how much money is going to be given to each group. Memphis just puts up too many hoops for companies to jump through.

Since you never attend the sporting events, you are not qualified to have an opinion. I have been to 6 or 7 Redbirds games this year. The crowds have somewhat returned. 3 or 4 Saturday nights ago, the place was about 90% full. The other games had good crowds as well. The Tiger football team is setting ticket sales records and parking lots are sold out. Clayton has just not kept the support equipement in running order and Riverside has suffered as a result. Memphis Motorsports has been POORLY ran since O W opened it and the drag strip needs to be totally rebuilt. The suites building should be condemned because it is ready to fall down. I was amazed how good the asphalt track held up after being shut down for 9 years. I believe the golf tournament had another strong crowd this year. There is plenty of support for area sporting events if the event is properly ran and the fans feel like they are getting their money's worth. Instead of sitting on the couch 24/7, You should venture out and enjoy the events the area has to offer. Or, you can sit at home and complain about anything and everything.

It's sad because Memphis could easily be booming right now. Could be baby Atlanta

Part of the problem I feel with Memphis is that the Nashville region is all Tennessee, whereas a big portion of Memphis metro is Mississippi and to a lesser degree Arkansas. Tennessee gets all the tax money generated around Nashville, so there is incentive for Tennessee to steer industry to middle Tennessee. There may be a little county vs. county competition, but the taxes and labor are within Tennessee. With Memphis, you have businesses poaching from another state, employees from other states taking from Tennessee to MS and AR. The movie/TV tax credit thing was one of the most egregious examples of Nashville favoritism. It is somewhat understandable, but detrimental to Memphis nevertheless.

(07-09-2017 03:37 AM)Dynamos Wrote:  It's sad because Memphis could easily be booming right now. Could be baby Atlanta

So true. Just look at the opportunities which were missed throughout the years.

What if the city had built the larger airport that would have made it a hub when the decision was made to build Memphis International.

Or if Clarence Saunders had accepted the invitation to join the young NFL.

Or if the owner of Memphis Arkansas Speedway had of paved the 1.5 mile dirt oval in Lehi and stayed on the NASCAR Cup Schedule.

Or if the City would have committed up front to build a new stadium in the 70s NFL expansion.

Or if the State did not outlaw betting on speed competition and Montgomery Park remained open

So many branches in the road of history where if we went the other way things would have been much different.

(07-08-2017 07:19 PM)ncrdbl1 Wrote:  

(07-08-2017 06:04 PM)AlonsoWDC Wrote:  JFC, you do realize the growth Nashville and its metro have had, right?

Nashville is also much more conveniently located to other population bases. Memphis is a freaking island in every direction.

There's no need to compare to Nashville.

You kind of hit the nail on the head. Why is it that Nashville's government is able to focus on what the metro area needs while the Memphis City government is too obsessed with details that are not important to do what is needed to grow the city.

While Nashville is raking in industries and jobs. Memphis is too concerned with what the color is the skin of the company's leadership and how much money is going to be given to each group. Memphis just puts up too many hoops for companies to jump through.

When you are the state capital it has it advantages.

And you probably shouldn't show your true colors on the non political board.

(07-08-2017 06:06 PM)AlonsoWDC Wrote:  Pro sports are not the answer. I'm glad Nashville has its ugly erector set stadium and a sh*tty NFL team nearly no one cares about.

We are grateful for the Grizz and have an incredible multi-use facility for them.

funny

yea, it's a set of blue and red LEGOs posing as a real stadium

(07-09-2017 12:20 PM)ncrdbl1 Wrote:  

(07-09-2017 03:37 AM)Dynamos Wrote:  It's sad because Memphis could easily be booming right now. Could be baby Atlanta

So true. Just look at the opportunities which were missed throughout the years.

What if the city had built the larger airport that would have made it a hub when the decision was made to build Memphis International.

Or if Clarence Saunders had accepted the invitation to join the young NFL.

Or if the owner of Memphis Arkansas Speedway had of paved the 1.5 mile dirt oval in Lehi and stayed on the NASCAR Cup Schedule.

Or if the City would have committed up front to build a new stadium in the 70s NFL expansion.

Or if the State did not outlaw betting on speed competition and Montgomery Park remained open

So many branches in the road of history where if we went the other way things would have been much different.

Or if you lived in Memphis...

(07-08-2017 06:04 PM)AlonsoWDC Wrote:  JFC, you do realize the growth Nashville and its metro have had, right?

Nashville is also much more conveniently located to other population bases. Memphis is a freaking island in every direction.

There's no need to compare to Nashville.

Nashville's growth was built on Major State Subsides and corporate welfare. The insane amount of money that has been put into 840, Sports Stadiums, Convention Centers, and corporate tax breaks is insane.

And when Davidson County files for bankruptcy we are going to foot the bill.

Yep.

(07-10-2017 10:39 AM)JerryJeff Wrote:  

(07-09-2017 12:20 PM)ncrdbl1 Wrote:  

(07-09-2017 03:37 AM)Dynamos Wrote:  It's sad because Memphis could easily be booming right now. Could be baby Atlanta

So true. Just look at the opportunities which were missed throughout the years.

What if the city had built the larger airport that would have made it a hub when the decision was made to build Memphis International.

Or if Clarence Saunders had accepted the invitation to join the young NFL.

Or if the owner of Memphis Arkansas Speedway had of paved the 1.5 mile dirt oval in Lehi and stayed on the NASCAR Cup Schedule.

Or if the City would have committed up front to build a new stadium in the 70s NFL expansion.

Or if the State did not outlaw betting on speed competition and Montgomery Park remained open

So many branches in the road of history where if we went the other way things would have been much different.

Or if you lived in Memphis...

You do not have to tell us your insane we know it already. With any of these events if things went the other way it would have made a large impact on the city's economy and sports.

We very well could be the Hub for Delta in this region if we had built an international level airport before Atlanta. Which would have caused more Corporations to choose Memphis as their headquarters.

The Tennessee Derby at Montgomery Park was as large and some years paid bigger purses and had bigger crowds than the Kentucky Derby.

Memphis/Arkansas Speedway was home to Cup races from the early to mid 50s before the owner fell into financial issues. The 1.5 mile dirt track was dangerous and was the site of a number of fatalities. If he were able to pave the track and remain on the schedule it would have had a dramatic impact on the local economy. Lowes motor speedway contributes over $1 billion directly into the economy yearly.

We have had at least two occasions if different decisions were made we could have ended up with NFL franchises. An NFL team would have made the contribution of LMS look like pocket change.

Just a few different choices would have made a major economic impact on Memphis as a whole.

We really need to stop comparing ourselves to Nashville. I have a pretty strong dislike for Nashville, but it's obvious that they have leapfrogged Memphis in a major way.

Memphis has certainly made some mistakes in the past when it comes to development. But, there are still some very positive aspects about Memphis and the sports within our community.

Memphis has never been a sports town. Memphis is an event town.

(07-11-2017 09:55 PM)Smith Wrote:  Memphis has never been a sports town. Memphis is an event town.

interesting POV

(07-11-2017 09:55 PM)Smith Wrote:  Memphis has never been a sports town. Memphis is an event town.

In a way you do make a good point.

A lot of people attend sport events because they are the "in" thing and they want to be seen there. Remember when myself, James and Radar were always eh first people to show up at MSC each game. We get in and get our seat and then some time later a handful of Greeks come in and block off a large part of student section. The sometimes after the tip off the remaining part of the group showed up. Then they left before the game ended.

Seems many cared more about people seeing them there instead of being there for the actual game.

(07-11-2017 04:33 AM)ncrdbl1 Wrote:  

(07-10-2017 10:39 AM)JerryJeff Wrote:  

(07-09-2017 12:20 PM)ncrdbl1 Wrote:  

(07-09-2017 03:37 AM)Dynamos Wrote:  It's sad because Memphis could easily be booming right now. Could be baby Atlanta

So true. Just look at the opportunities which were missed throughout the years.

What if the city had built the larger airport that would have made it a hub when the decision was made to build Memphis International.

Or if Clarence Saunders had accepted the invitation to join the young NFL.

Or if the owner of Memphis Arkansas Speedway had of paved the 1.5 mile dirt oval in Lehi and stayed on the NASCAR Cup Schedule.

Or if the City would have committed up front to build a new stadium in the 70s NFL expansion.

Or if the State did not outlaw betting on speed competition and Montgomery Park remained open

So many branches in the road of history where if we went the other way things would have been much different.

Or if you lived in Memphis...

You do not have to tell us your insane we know it already. With any of these events if things went the other way it would have made a large impact on the city's economy and sports.

We very well could be the Hub for Delta in this region if we had built an international level airport before Atlanta. Which would have caused more Corporations to choose Memphis as their headquarters.

The Tennessee Derby at Montgomery Park was as large and some years paid bigger purses and had bigger crowds than the Kentucky Derby.

Memphis/Arkansas Speedway was home to Cup races from the early to mid 50s before the owner fell into financial issues. The 1.5 mile dirt track was dangerous and was the site of a number of fatalities. If he were able to pave the track and remain on the schedule it would have had a dramatic impact on the local economy. Lowes motor speedway contributes over $1 billion directly into the economy yearly.

We have had at least two occasions if different decisions were made we could have ended up with NFL franchises. An NFL team would have made the contribution of LMS look like pocket change.

Just a few different choices would have made a major economic impact on Memphis as a whole.

I may very well be insane, but it grinds my gears when I see somebody, who doesn't even live in the city, do nothing but whine and complain about it.