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Post by bfoley82 on Jun 7, 2023 21:48:55 GMT -5
Did anyone in Worcester even know who he is? It has been 29 years since he coached at HC.
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Post by longsuffering on Jun 7, 2023 23:51:07 GMT -5
My brother was at the game. He definitely knows who George is. I'll have to ask him what the reception was. The positive as opposed to cynical point is anyone attending who didn't know of George now does and has been exposed to the link between the WooSox, who they paid to see, and Holy Cross Sports, which is helpful. Even though the connection was brief and subtle, it was a positive celebratory one of throwing out the first pitch.
Between PVR, Coach Chesney, the EBW children and Larry Lucchino the warm connection between paying customers to Worcester minor league sports and Holy Cross Sports is being nurtured. HC loses one home game at Fitton by playing the annual EBW Classic at Polar but becoming more closely tied to area sports fans is a benefit.
A few past posts on Crossports indicated that the ECHL Worcester Railers minor league hockey team viewed HC hockey as a potential competitor when they negotiated their DCU lease but haven't heard any mention of that in a while, which is also positive. I think Coach Riga can also serve as an Ambassador for HC sports in the community like Coach Chesney, and Dave Paulsen seems eager to embrace the community so things are looking up for town/gown relations on the Sports side.
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Post by alum on Jun 8, 2023 5:46:53 GMT -5
Did anyone in Worcester even know who he is? It has been 29 years since he coached at HC. How many people can identify the average first pitch thrower outer (I made up a term there)? They are usually local folks who do good or heads of groups having an outing at the ballpark. Minor league baseball is fun. Don’t ruin it. I went to a NECBL game last night. They had someone with the nonprofit hosting an outing throw it out which made sense since that group was 25% of the crowd.
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Post by sader1970 on Jun 8, 2023 6:40:57 GMT -5
alum is correct. Personal example which at least I think is equivalent: honorary flipping the coin at a football game. I did it once at Fitton before the Georgetown game and outside of my Classmates, no one in the stands knew who I was from Adam.(well, maybe a couple of Crossporters here)
So what? Those who knew George before the ball toss, still know him, and pleased to see him get the honor. Those who didn't - who cares? Or maybe they asked someone who knew him.
Having him do this reinforces the town-gown connection.
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Post by rgs318 on Jun 8, 2023 7:12:46 GMT -5
An honor is an honor...period. Why should it matter if anyone knows who the first one was to recieve that honor? Answer...for most people, it does not metter at all.
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Post by Tom on Jun 8, 2023 7:40:48 GMT -5
I expect to know the ceremonial first pitch person less than half the time. I have been to way more games at Fenway than Pawtucket and Worcester combined so maybe things are different in the minors. Sometimes you get a person representing a charity. You never know them. Sometimes it's local celebrities. Usually you're generally aware of them. Normally the video board and PA announcer let you know who the person is. I was at Fenway and they announced a guy who won the Boston Marathon sixty years prior. Out of towners might not have known who he was, but the introduction gave it away.
I was not at the Polar Park game. My guess is the PA guy did not say "Throwing out tonight's first pitch. . . George Blaney"
I'll bet it was closer to "Throwing out tonight's first pitch. . . Long time and winningest coach in Holy Cross basketball history and also a part of [insert number] national championships at UConn, let's give a warm welcome to Crusader legend George Blaney" Even if I was too young or disinterested in college basketball to know who Coach Blaney was, I could probably figure it out from the introduction
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Post by rf1 on Jun 8, 2023 8:41:23 GMT -5
Another year where the new tax revenue is not enough to pay the bonds. This when the bond payments are extremely small as the payment schedule rises dramatically in later years. The city has been fortunate to have been able to make up the early shortfalls with the sale of property. What however happens in future years when payments rise and there are no longer any land sales to bail them out?
Meanwhile back in Pawtucket, the final swan song for McCoy Stadium is soon to happen. The annual fireworks show that is held at the stadium on July 3rd will be the city's farewell event for the facility. Residents will be allowed back one last time to say goodbye before it is demolished to make way for a new high school. Perhaps Worcester should send someone down to observe the event for research purposes as it will face the same eventuality some day down the road. Pawtucket did well having a team for nearly 50 years. Runs like that won't happen as much in the future.
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Post by bfoley82 on Jun 8, 2023 9:25:14 GMT -5
Another year where the new tax revenue is not enough to pay the bonds. This when the bond payments are extremely small as the payment schedule rises dramatically in later years. The city has been fortunate to have been able to make up the early shortfalls with the sale of property. What however happens in future years when payments rise and there are no longer any land sales to bail them out?
Meanwhile back in Pawtucket, the final swan song for McCoy Stadium is soon to happen. The annual fireworks show that is held at the stadium on July 3rd will be the city's farewell event for the facility. Residents will be allowed back one last time to say goodbye before it is demolished to make way for a new high school. Perhaps Worcester should send someone down to observe the event for research purposes as it will face the same eventuality some day down the road. Pawtucket did well having a team for nearly 50 years. Runs like that won't happen as much in the future.
I would be stunned if the WooSox are in Polar Park by 2045. They will force the city to build a new stadium or move.
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Post by longsuffering on Jun 8, 2023 10:18:22 GMT -5
You are thinking Buffalo Bills level leverage. Triple A baseball is not NFL Football.
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Post by bfoley82 on Jun 8, 2023 11:54:00 GMT -5
You are thinking Buffalo Bills level leverage. Triple A baseball is not NFL Football. They only leveraged Pawtucket with Worcester into building the most expensive minor league baseball stadium in history.
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Post by Wormtown Railers Fan on Jun 8, 2023 12:31:36 GMT -5
If you have eyes you can see the construction all around the ballpark, most of which isn’t even near completion. I don’t care what the professor says at Holy Cross says, nothing would have happened on those properties without the stadium. We would still be looking at an empty, polluted wasteland in the heart of the city. This project is and will continue to be a great success. The effort that the Worcester Red Sox have put in to reengaging Holy Cross with the city of Worcester should be celebrated by everyone in this board. Worcester took a chance and made a bold decision to bring the Worcester Red Sox here. Glad they did instead of lamenting 40 years down the road on what could have been.
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Post by gks on Jun 8, 2023 12:50:24 GMT -5
How's the McCoy Stadium area and site looking these days?
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Post by bfoley82 on Jun 8, 2023 13:27:20 GMT -5
How's the McCoy Stadium area and site looking these days? Brand New High School going up there for the community.
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Post by alum on Jun 8, 2023 13:49:41 GMT -5
If you have eyes you can see the construction all around the ballpark, most of which isn’t even near completion. I don’t care what the professor says at Holy Cross says, nothing would have happened on those properties without the stadium. We would still be looking at an empty, polluted wasteland in the heart of the city. This project is and will continue to be a great success. The effort that the Worcester Red Sox have put in to reengaging Holy Cross with the city of Worcester should be celebrated by everyone in this board. Worcester took a chance and made a bold decision to bring the Worcester Red Sox here. Glad they did instead of lamenting 40 years down the road on what could have been. All true, but we should want city officials to tell the truth about these projects--that they never generate enough income by themselves or even with the attendant development around the stadium, to pay for the debt that is incurred.
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Post by rf1 on Jun 8, 2023 14:19:18 GMT -5
How's the McCoy Stadium area and site looking these days? These are renderings of the high school that will be built upon the McCoy Stadium site. Keep in mind there is little undeveloped land in Pawtucket. The densely populated city of 75,000 is less than 9 square miles in size and nearly completely all built up.
Despite the loss of the Pawsox, some positive developments are happening in the city. Apart from a new high school, the most important is probably the recent opening of an entirely new MBTA Commuter Rail Station in the downtown in January. This has already spurred mill conversions and new construction of residential space with other new projects projected. The city had not had a stop within its limits for several decades having to rely on the nearby S Attleboro Station just tens of feet from its border. The new station is already meeting passenger projections with its parking lot completely filled every weekday. 200 additional spaces are expected to be added by the fall. Boston's Back and South Station are about an hour ride making it commutable.
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Post by Tom on Jun 8, 2023 14:25:32 GMT -5
IIRC, there was a Chinese place on the opposite side of the parking field where we pre-game scorpion bowled back in the day, I hope the new school isn't taking that out. Assuming the city needs a new school (I don't always share the definition of "need" when it comes to cities and new schools) the McCoy site is a great spot for it. I can't see that being a municipal stadium like Foley
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Post by rf1 on Jun 8, 2023 14:37:18 GMT -5
IIRC, there was a Chinese place on the opposite side of the parking field where we pre-game scorpion bowled back in the day, I hope the new school isn't taking that out. Assuming the city needs a new school (I don't always share the definition of "need" when it comes to cities and new schools) the McCoy site is a great spot for it. I can't see that being a municipal stadium like Foley
The Chinese restaurant, diner, Irish pub, and fire house are currently not part of the high school site plans.
Pawtucket presently has two main public high schools that are quite old and need work. Tolman High School opened in 1926 and Shea High in 1938. The city had proposed rehabbing them both. Its plan to have one closed for renovation while using the other in an alternating week in class/week at home hybrid learning model was denied by the state. Given there is no facility in the city which can accommodate 1,000+ students, a new combined facility was the only option left.
The two old high schools are grand buildings with Tolman downtown right on the Blackstone River. Hopefully both survive with conversion to other uses.
Tolman
Shea
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Post by longsuffering on Jun 8, 2023 15:44:59 GMT -5
Proposed new Bills stadium costs $1.4 Billion. Now that's leverage.
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Post by timholycross on Jun 8, 2023 15:56:14 GMT -5
IIRC, there was a Chinese place on the opposite side of the parking field where we pre-game scorpion bowled back in the day, I hope the new school isn't taking that out. Assuming the city needs a new school (I don't always share the definition of "need" when it comes to cities and new schools) the McCoy site is a great spot for it. I can't see that being a municipal stadium like Foley Hope they preserve the wall mural w/the 33 innings of mostly zeros somehow. Tolman looks like the old and new Norwood High School (by "old and new", I mean they tore down the old one around 15 years ago and built a replica next to it). Classy building. Shea, not so much.
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Post by longsuffering on Jun 8, 2023 16:00:59 GMT -5
I talked to my brother who attended yesterday's WooSox game. Unlike the impression left by the HC video, both George Blaney and Bill Gibbons threw pitches from the mound and both throws were wounded ducks. Jim Calhoun was present also and saluted on the video board although he did not throw (Smart, Cooz didn't throw on opening day of the ballpark either).
My brother was surprised to see Bill saying "I thought Gibbons was a pariah." 🙂 Of course this was not an HC event. He said the crowd was mostly kids who did not offer much reaction to the former coaches.
Here's a tip for people attending future HC FB or WooSox games at Fitton. My brother attended with our buddy who has MS and they had seats in the handicapped section on the first base side. He said the large seat size, spacious leg room and adjustability of the seats was phenomenal. So if anyone has a handicapped person in their party, you can request that section.
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Post by gks on Jun 8, 2023 19:35:55 GMT -5
How's the McCoy Stadium area and site looking these days? These are renderings of the high school that will be built upon the McCoy Stadium site. Keep in mind there is little undeveloped land in Pawtucket. The densely populated city of 75,000 is less than 9 square miles in size and nearly completely all built up.
Despite the loss of the Pawsox, some positive developments are happening in the city. Apart from a new high school, the most important is probably the recent opening of an entirely new MBTA Commuter Rail Station in the downtown in January. This has already spurred mill conversions and new construction of residential space with other new projects projected. The city had not had a stop within its limits for several decades having to rely on the nearby S Attleboro Station just tens of feet from its border. The new station is already meeting passenger projections with its parking lot completely filled every weekday. 200 additional spaces are expected to be added by the fall. Boston's Back and South Station are about an hour ride making it commutable.
Large parcel taken off the tax rolls. Great move for a city already a mess.
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Post by longsuffering on Jun 8, 2023 19:48:44 GMT -5
I talked to my brother who attended yesterday's WooSox game. Unlike the impression left by the HC video, both George Blaney and Bill Gibbons threw pitches from the mound and both throws were wounded ducks. Jim Calhoun was present also and saluted on the video board although he did not throw (Smart, Cooz didn't throw on opening day of the ballpark either). My brother was surprised to see Bill, saying "I thought Gibbons was a pariah." 🙂 Of course this was not an HC event. He said the crowd was mostly kids who did not offer much reaction to the former coaches. Here's a tip for people attending future HC FB or WooSox games at Fitton. My brother attended with our buddy who has MS and they had seats in the handicapped section on the first base side. He said the large seat size, spacious leg room and adjustability of the seats was phenomenal. So if anyone has a handicapped person in their party, you can request that section.
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Post by rf1 on Jun 8, 2023 20:26:37 GMT -5
Large parcel taken off the tax rolls. Great move for a city already a mess. The stadium and the land around it that would be used for a new high school has been public land and off the tax rolls for some 80+ years. As for an argument that the land could be made private and taxable, this same logic could be applied to the two former high schools under new use.
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Post by bfoley82 on Jun 8, 2023 22:35:20 GMT -5
IIRC, there was a Chinese place on the opposite side of the parking field where we pre-game scorpion bowled back in the day, I hope the new school isn't taking that out. Assuming the city needs a new school (I don't always share the definition of "need" when it comes to cities and new schools) the McCoy site is a great spot for it. I can't see that being a municipal stadium like Foley Where did I say anything about a municipal stadium??? A private business should build their own building.
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Post by Tom on Jun 9, 2023 8:13:50 GMT -5
IIRC, there was a Chinese place on the opposite side of the parking field where we pre-game scorpion bowled back in the day, I hope the new school isn't taking that out. Assuming the city needs a new school (I don't always share the definition of "need" when it comes to cities and new schools) the McCoy site is a great spot for it. I can't see that being a municipal stadium like Foley Where did I say anything about a municipal stadium??? A private business should build their own building. I don't recall that you did. There are two basic options for McCoy. Tear it down or leave it standing. They are tearing it down. My comment was that if you leave it standing, you have a municipal stadium (it is owned by the city) like a huge Foley Stadium, and I didn't think that would happen. I also think there aren't a lot of private businesses that would want McCoy as it stands, so keeping McCoy and selling it to a private business isn't rally a viable option - unless they just wanted the land and they were going to tear it down
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