Latest Brodie Brazil: Gushes over Portland project, negative about Las Vegas

[LVfan]

As irrelevant Brodie Brazil has become, it still is amusing to watch a few of his videos. In his latest he gushes over a potential stadium project in Portland. He says without any justification that their renderings are better than those in Las Vegas. A few points:
He gushed over the location, scenic but certainly not specular. He never said anything positive about the Las Vegas location on the Strip. Of course, it’s a matter of opinion.

Their proposed stadium has a capacity of 33,000, comparable to that in Las Vegas. He never mentions that as an issue, as compared to his constant criticism of the Las Vegas stadium size.

Portland metro has a population of 2.5M, only slightly larger than that of Las Vegas metro of 2.33M. He never mentioned that as an issue, but constantly complained about the Las Vegas, ignoring the impact of tourism in Las Vegas.

And to top off his jewell of a video, he said a few times that the A’s final destination is “unknown” and nothing is certain until shovels are in the ground. He suggested expansion is a long ways off, so maybe the Portland backers know something about the A’s or Rays being a potential. I will bet after the shovels are in the ground, he will move the goalposts to justify his continued uncertainty.

When he demonstrates such an obvious personal bias, can anything he says on any subject be trusted?

 

[florioderio]

Broseph Brazilian, like his buddy Cassie Prattle, has been running interference for his true patrons in the Oakland/Alameda governments for years. It used to annoy me... until I realized that was the whole point. From that point onwards, I've ignored Brazilian and Prattle (and Jason "Carter" Burke of S.I.) as they need whatever piddly engagement they can get.

BTW, I appreciated your back-and-forth with the S.F. Chronicle's Suzie Slusser on Twitter. Ol' Suzie tried weaseling her way outta what she said on that goofy Foul Territory podcast ("I was just joking. LOL!"), but she said the Bally's Ballpark had about a 33% chance of happening. She clearly said this to curry favor with the Stay In Oakland (S.I.O.) Crowd. Period; end of story. And it's just another example of the S.F. Bay Area media being entirely biased and unreliable.

 

[LVfan]

Broseph Brazilian, like his buddy Cassie Prattle, has been running interference for his true patrons in the Oakland/Alameda governments for years. It used to annoy me... until I realized that was the whole point. From that point onwards, I've ignored Brazilian and Prattle (and Jason "Carter" Burke of S.I.) as they need whatever piddly engagement they can get.

BTW, I appreciated your back-and-forth with the S.F. Chronicle's Suzie Slusser on Twitter. Ol' Suzie tried weaseling her way outta what she said on that goofy Foul Territory podcast ("I was just joking. LOL!"), but she said the Bally's Ballpark had about a 33% chance of happening. She clearly said this to curry favor with the Stay In Oakland (S.I.O.) Crowd. Period; end of story. And it's just another example of the S.F. Bay Area media being entirely biased and unreliable.

Thanks much. As irrelevant as BB has become with respect to Las Vegas, it's still amusing to see his antics. Susan Slusser is one of the better sports writers there. She came to Big League Weekend a year ago and did a fair report. But none in the Bay Area can write or say anything that could support John Fisher or give a balanced view.

 

[florioderio]

If any of these Jur-no-lysts said anything the least bit positive about John Fisher and/or the least bit negative about any East Bay politico, they may run the risk of someone slashing their tires. Perhaps that's why they behave as they do.

For a place that prides itself on being very chic and cosmopolitan, a lot of these S.F. Bay Area people sure act highly freakin' provincial.

 

[florioderio]

Something else I had meant to mention in my prior comment is as follows. Brazilian and the Fool Territory podcast crew (along with others, like the anti-Vegas bozo who runs a Vox Media-related blog about the Cubs) love to promote Portland, while taking potshots at Sin City. In fact, some of these guys have said that, if the Athletics have to move outta NorCal, they'd prefer that the team end up in Portland rather than Las Vegas.

Why?

So far as I can tell, it's a combination of anti-Vegas bias AND the idea that Portland is "owed" an MLB team because... they've been trying a really long time to get one. Or something.

With all due respect to Portland, the last time they had a Triple-A club was back in the early 1980s, and that team got moved to Las Vegas and became the Aviators. Moreover, their corporate footprint is not as varied or impressive as LV's, and their crime stats are surprisingly high for a city of their size. (Rumor has it that when John Fisher was first considering relocation, he took a long look at Portland, before being talked into focusing on Sin City instead -- by none other than Rob Manfred. Again, allegedly.)

For whatever it's worth, my money is on MLB expansion ultimately happening in S.L.C. and Nashville. (And if St. Pete doesn't get it's act together, the Devil Rays could end up in Charlotte or elsewhere.)

 

[LVfan]

From what I read, Portland could not hold onto a minor league team, I think the Beavers, that left. Also, declining city.

 

[florioderio]

Bingo!

The Portland Beavers became the Las Vegas Stars/51s/Aviators. Certain folks like to mention the Portland Pickles, but that's a semi-pro team. Hardly anyone mentions the Portland Sea Dogs, even though that's a Double-A club. The lack of love that the Sea Dogs seem to get is just weird.

And, yes, 4NT1F4 is a constant presence in downtown Portland, always causing trouble, as the local cops are ordered to stand-down. The days of major sportsball commissioners finding this kind of foolishness to be kitschy or cute appears to be at an end. Thankfully.