Mark Woods: NBA at arena is too long of a jump shot

[Coolyfett]

Word. The mayor needs to drop this pipe dream.

Mayor Brown is crazy! Jax dont need NBA. NBA only has like 8 teams that draw outside of their metro. Nba sucks anyway.

[ubben]

Dear Mayor Brown. Please put your energy and efforts elsewhere. This idea is a dog. Thank you.

[duvaldude08]

Dear Mayor Brown. Please put your energy and efforts elsewhere. This idea is a dog. Thank you.

And He already has. Thanks

[buckethead]

If his priority is to build up a community with an economic environment capable of winning and supporting a NBA franchise, in the future, then I'm all on board.

I think the main gist of the Woods article was more a "Cart before the horse" arguement. NBA would fit nicely IMO, provided we had a vibrant downtown (economically and environmentally speaking) to begin with.

The current state of the NBA does not bode well for thoughts of expansion, however.

[Tacachale]

My problem with Brown's little NBA kick isn't just that it's a dream, it's that it's a dream that's not attainable anytime soon. The worry is that it's misplaced energy and a distraction from pursuing dreams that are actually achievable, which isn't something I want in my mayor.

In terms of sports, first and foremost, our dream should be to make the Jaguars a strongly supported NFL team with no attendance problems. That's attainable.

Beyond the Jags there's plenty more we could accomplish here that we haven't yet. We could get AAA baseball basically tomorrow. We already have an excellent stadium, a well supported AA team, and a long history of supporting minor league ball. We could also easily get high level minor league hockey in the arena, if not the AHL then at least ECHL. We would be a good market for pro soccer, perhaps not MLS yet but at least one of the upper tier leagues, the NASL or USL Pro.

Then there's college sports. If Brown likes basketball he could drum up support for JU and UNF, who are now full members of NCAA Division I as of the 2009-2010 season.

And it wouldn't take much more than some good planning and deal-making to get major league spring training back in Jax.

There are plenty of dreams that have a chance of happening; these would be a better use of energy.

[KenFSU]

We could also easily get high level minor league hockey in the arena, if not the AHL then at least ECHL.

I absolutely love the idea of minor league hockey at the arena. I'd be there in a second.

[duvaldude08]

Its atleast refershing to know that he very passionate about sports in Jacksonville. Hopefully the sports and entertainment department he trying to create can leverage something and maybe come up with new and innovative ways  too attractive and/ or retain current teams and sporting events. I just read on the daily record there is a communication that was sent out by the mayor urging businesses and citizens to go out and buy Jag tickets. So far almost 80 business has purchased/subsidized Jags tickets for their company. And I'm sure if push comes to shove, the Mayor will do more as needed.

[cityimrov]

What exactly are you guys arguing for?  I get the part where nobody really wants the NBA here but the rest of the arguments is confusing me.  The arguments for other sports - soccer, hockey, etc - I can see but the point but rest of the argument 75% of this thread, I can't figure it out.  What exactly do you guys want? 

It seems like you guys are arguing against the NBA yet at the same time arguing for the NBA since no matter what, bringing an NBA team to Jacksonville means we're going to need to ramp up the city and bring things like a better downtown, a stronger sports presence, higher wages, and more.  Even the Jaguar issue must be solved.  If he's going to convince the NBA to bring a team here, he's going to need to give good evidence to them that the Jaguars are successful here.   I don't see why it matters if he thinks long term vs short term to bring the same results to Jacksonville?  If the end results are the same, what's wrong unless you guys are auguring against the end results. 

If that's the way he thinks about solving problems, that's the way he thinks about solving problems.  Trying to change that thinking means micromanaging the mayor and I'm not sure that's a good thing to do. 

Can someone clear this up for me?

[duvaldude08]

If that's the way he thinks about solving problems, that's the way he thinks about solving problems.  Trying to change that thinking means micromanaging the mayor and I'm not sure that's a good thing to do. 

Can someone clear this up for me?

That is EXACTLY what I am getting too. So far he presented a balanced budget, raised money to save the JROTC program for high schools this year, and been traveling in attempt to build partnerships, and lets not forget he's only been in office for....... a month. It seems as if everyone is stuck on his comments about a movie theather and NBA, and we are missing the important stuff. Get a Grip Duvalians

[comncense]

If that's the way he thinks about solving problems, that's the way he thinks about solving problems.  Trying to change that thinking means micromanaging the mayor and I'm not sure that's a good thing to do. 

Can someone clear this up for me?

That is EXACTLY what I am getting too. So far he presented a balanced budget, raised money to save the JROTC program for high schools this year, and been traveling in attempt to build partnerships, and lets not forget he's only been in office for....... a month. It seems as if everyone is stuck on his comments about a movie theather and NBA, and we are missing the important stuff. Get a Grip Duvalians

I agree

[Captain Zissou]

i would be willing to re-instate a 1 cent sales tax in order to fund the Hogan's Creek Masterplan, the Streetcar, the riverwalk extension to memorial park, the properly designed transit center, something new for the current courthouse lot, improvements to the shipyards and extending the grid to the river, the public pier, and some redevelopment of Commodore point.  I realize these are spread out across a pretty significant distance, but I think all of these projects are critical to Jax reaching the next level.  The riverwalk park one not so much, but that one is for personal reasons.

[fsujax]

I couldn't agree more with you Captain, except I would add commuter rail to the list!

[KenFSU]

I don't see why it matters if he thinks long term vs short term to bring the same results to Jacksonville?

The discussion, as far as I'm concerned, was never even directly about Brown or his other contributions thus far, but rather about the viability of the NBA in Jacksonville in 2011 and beyond. There's no need to blow a very specific argument out of proportion and assume it is the only thing anyone is focusing on. The subject has gotten a lot of attention, including in the TU, because it was an unexpected and intriguing statement.

In my opinion, it is a short term vs. long term argument.

The NBA is, hands down, my favorite professional sports league in the world. But I wouldn't want an NBA franchise in Jacksonville right now, even if it were somehow possible (which it absolutely isn't, for many, many reasons unrelated to our quality as a city). Short term, it would never work. Long term though, an NBA franchise is absolutely attainable, and would have the potential to be a huge success. There are a million other things that need to be done though to ensure long-term viability before we can even begin to think about bringing in an NBA team.  We need to attract a larger corporate presence. We need to improve quality of life in Jacksonville, especially downtown, in order to bring in more young professionals with disposable income to spend on things like NBA season tickets. We need to focus on making the Jags a genuine success. All of these things should be our immediate goals. An NBA franchise isn't a goal you strive for, but rather the byproduct of doing many other things correctly and consistently. When we're there, the NBA will be banging down our doors to put a team here.

[iMarvin]

i would be willing to re-instate a 1 cent sales tax in order to fund the Hogan's Creek Masterplan, the Streetcar, the riverwalk extension to memorial park, the properly designed transit center, something new for the current courthouse lot, improvements to the shipyards and extending the grid to the river, the public pier, and some redevelopment of Commodore point.  I realize these are spread out across a pretty significant distance, but I think all of these projects are critical to Jax reaching the next level.  The riverwalk park one not so much, but that one is for personal reasons.

I couldn't agree more with you Captain, except I would add commuter rail to the list!

I like all of it. All that can't be funded by a 1 cent sales tax though.

[Tacachale]

Brown has said - repeatedly - that he wants to attract an NBA team to Jacksonville within the next ten years. He's not saying, "let's build up the community and economic infrastructure so that we're at a level that we can support an NBA team as well as the Jaguars down the road". He's just going on with a big dream without any specifics about how to pull it off. That's the problem. It's just not a reasonable goal for that time frame, and it makes one hope he won't just keep dreaming this particular dream at the expense of others that have a better chance of coming true.

I'm not trying to rail on the guy or his other accomplishments. I just think he's on the wrong track on this issue.