The Great San Antonio Football Mystery

[Bullaholic]

Some of you San Antonio folks may have to correct my information, so I will apologize in advance. How come there is not a greater football "presence" in San Antonio? There is no NFL franchise, no major collegiate team, and no "dominant" High School teams in any classification. This is in no way a "slam" directed at the San Antonio community, but I find it extremely odd that one of the larger metro areas in the U.S. is without more football activity.

[mrescape43]

Converse Judson High School was pretty successful for years.
Other than that it is odd to have such a large city without much football presence.

[VWG]

Boerne has had some good football teams these past few years.
What about Wimberley? Comfort or Blanco?
Ever heard of Smithson Valley?
Come on guys... there is some good football teams in the SA area.

[Old Green]

San Antonio never had a facility big enough for a NFL Franchise.

Mayor Henry Cisneros during his terms in office finally got a bond passed for the Construction of the AlamoDome.

S.A. had a lot of taxpayer rights groups at the time that fought it tooth and nail.

They had several minor league teams over the years before the AlamoDome was built that played their games at the SAISD's Alamo stadium.

[mrescape43]

Didn't San Antonio have a WFL team? Maybe the Gunslingers?

[Bullaholic]

I can see why there is an absence of an NFL franchise right now, but why is there no college with a 20,000+ enrollment nor a consistently successful high school program in the SA metro area? (The definition of "metro" may be somewhat blurred---I know there are good HS athletic programs in the proximity of SA).

[Old Green]

Originally posted by mrescape43
Didn't San Antonio have a WFL team? Maybe the Gunslingers? Yeah. They had the WFL team Called the GunSlingers.

The USFL team they I belief was the Wranglers. Correct me I'm wrong on the USFL team:confused:

[VAMike]

San Antonio has had a variety of these "lesser level" pro football teams over the years, with varying degrees of support. The NFL claims the San Antonio area TV market will not support a NFL team (and I happen to agree with that). There are decades old loyalties to the Cowboys and even to the Oilers/Texans. People are not going to switch just because they get a NFL team. San Antonio also does not have the corporate industry base required to help pay for these mega stadiums funded by luxury boxes.

As for college teams, Trinity Univ has been a Division III powerhouse for years. St Mary's and UT- San Antonio have never had football teams in modern times because both have determined that sport just does not fit into their situations. There has been talk recently about UTSA starting a football program but it has not been serious.

The HS issue was already answered (Judson) but there are some private schools that have had pretty good success over the years also (Holy Cross and Central Catholic).

One thing I know for sure..thank goodness the Saints are leaving town. They were a distraction and gave the idiot politicos in the town false hopes about reeling them in permanently. More importantly, that now opens up the Alamodome for late-Nov and Dec HS football.

[Old Green]

Originally posted by VAMike
San Antonio has had a variety of these "lesser level" pro football teams over the years, with varying degrees of support. The NFL claims the San Antonio area TV market will not support a NFL team (and I happen to agree with that). There are decades old loyalties to the Cowboys and even to the Oilers/Texans. People are not going to switch just because they get a NFL team. San Antonio also does not have the corporate industry base required to help pay for these mega stadiums funded by luxury boxes.

As for college teams, Trinity Univ has been a Division III powerhouse for years. St Mary's and UT- San Antonio have never had football teams in modern times because both have determined that sport just does not fit into their situations. There has been talk recently about UTSA starting a football program but it has not been serious.

The HS issue was already answered (Judson) but there are some private schools that have had pretty good success over the years also (Holy Cross and Central Catholic).

One thing I know for sure..thank goodness the Saints are leaving town. They were a distraction and gave the idiot politicos in the town false hopes about reeling them in permanently. More importantly, that now opens up the Alamodome for late-Nov and Dec HS football. You're right on all points VAMike. The TV market and lack of Large Corporate sponsor's hurts S.A. 's chances of getting a NFL team.

[Bullaholic]

Given SA's large Hispanic population, do any of you guys think that SA could support a pro soccer team in the International league and perhaps even shoot for hosting the World Cup in SA, if a suitable facillity could be built? This may be a natural alternative for SA in lieu of an NFL franchise.

[Old Green]

Originally posted by Bullaholic
Given SA's large Hispanic population, do any of you guys think that SA could support a pro soccer team in the International league and perhaps even shoot for hosting the World Cup in SA, if a suitable facillity could be built? This may be a natural alternative for SA in lieu of an NFL franchise. SA could possibly support pro soccer team if they had the facilites. But once again it would have to be Taxpayer supported because of a lack of large corporations for it's construction.

[Manck]

There's no international league, and there are plenty of quality venues that precede anything in San Antonio, should the US ever get the World Cup in the future (that'll be a while.)

San Antonio WAS the front-runner to get a Major League Soccer franchise, provided they build a complex similar to that of Pizza Hut Park in Frisco.

The city took too long to figure out a financing deal, and MLS gave up on them, and now Toronto is getting a franchise in 2007.

If SA had gotten it's sh!& together, we could have a GREAT three-way rivalry between Dallas, Houston and San Antonio, but it looks like it will be a loooong time till that happens.

Blame the city on that one.

[Gobbla2001]

Converse-Judson, Shertz-Clemens and Smithson Valley, they're pretty much all San Antonio, Shertz and Converse are suburbs, Smithson Valley is a tad separated, but still pretty much SA...

[SWMustang]

Originally posted by VAMike
San Antonio has had a variety of these "lesser level" pro football teams over the years, with varying degrees of support. The NFL claims the San Antonio area TV market will not support a NFL team (and I happen to agree with that). There are decades old loyalties to the Cowboys and even to the Oilers/Texans. People are not going to switch just because they get a NFL team. San Antonio also does not have the corporate industry base required to help pay for these mega stadiums funded by luxury boxes.

You nailed it. San Antonio is a large city, but it is not a large media market. It ranks 37th in the country. With that being said New Orleans is 43rd, Buffalo 49th and Green Bay a whooping 69th. The Saints don't want to be in New Orleans but I think the NFL strong armed them into playing there next year. New Orleans is a duplicate of San Antonio - a unique location that thrives on tourism.

[Stretch04]

Originally posted by Bullaholic
Given SA's large Hispanic population, do any of you guys think that SA could support a pro soccer team in the International league and perhaps even shoot for hosting the World Cup in SA, if a suitable facillity could be built? This may be a natural alternative for SA in lieu of an NFL franchise.


WHO CARES? No one likes socccer

[Manck]

Originally posted by Stretch04
WHO CARES? No one likes socccer

Obviously someone cares since MLS uprooted MLS' regular season champs and moved them to Houston for next season.....

Believe me in that the entirety of the Bay Area's pretty pissed off about that one, and they're trying to bring an expansion team to the Bay Area as early as '07. And the team's only officially been gone for about 2 weeks.

[SintonFan]

Originally posted by mrescape43
Didn't San Antonio have a WFL team? Maybe the Gunslingers?
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Actually the Gunslingers were in the WLAF(League of American Football). We went to a couple of the games. We always called it the W Laugh league. Even though there was some decent football played the W Laugh kinda stuck.

[SintonFan]

Originally posted by Manck

San Antonio WAS the front-runner to get a Major League Soccer franchise, provided they build a complex similar to that of Pizza Hut Park in Frisco.

The city took too long to figure out a financing deal, and MLS gave up on them, and now Toronto is getting a franchise in 2007.

If SA had gotten it's sh!& together, we could have a GREAT three-way rivalry between Dallas, Houston and San Antonio, but it looks like it will be a loooong time till that happens.

Blame the city on that one.
.
Not quite true on the city taking too long. MLS was making huge demands that turned off plenty of folks like me. They put the nail in their own coffin as far as I was concerned. SA wasn't exactly giddy over the prospect of having a profesional soccer team. Mayor Castro and Nelson Wolf were the main proponents of bringing MLS to SA. It would have been successful for sure but not because tons of SA folks would have supported it. SA has a large middle to upper-middle class Mexican(from Mexico) population and is a huge Mexican travel destination who spends booku bucks here everyday. The new Shops at La Cantera is proof with, it seems, half the shoppers there speaking little or no Ingles.

[Manck]

Originally posted by SintonFan
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Not quite true on the city taking too long. MLS was making huge demands that turned off plenty of folks like me. They put the nail in their own coffin as far as I was concerned. SA wasn't exactly giddy over the prospect of having a profesional soccer team. Mayor Castro and Nelson Wolf were the main proponents of bringing MLS to SA. It would have been successful for sure but not because tons of SA folks would have supported it. SA has a large middle to upper-middle class Mexican(from Mexico) population and is a huge Mexican travel destination who spends booku bucks here everyday. The new Shops at La Cantera is proof with, it seems, half the shoppers there speaking little or no Ingles.

MLS wanted to tap into the Mexican/Hispanic market, and figured since it's dong alright with Chivas USA in LA, SA might work too. However, they wanted a multi-field complex (a la Pizza Hut Park), and set a pretty strict timeline for completion in order for SA to stay on the top of the expansion list.

I'm not bagging on SA or MLS, I just wish it had happened. As is, at least we got Houston. Hopefully, they'll announce a name for the franchise soon so that we can get the rivalry trophy created.

ALSO, thanks for expressing a little interest/knowledge. I thought I might be living on an island with PhilC for the rest of my DownLow life....

[SintonFan]

Originally posted by Bullaholic
Some of you San Antonio folks may have to correct my information, so I will apologize in advance. How come there is not a greater football "presence" in San Antonio? There is no NFL franchise, no major collegiate team, and no "dominant" High School teams in any classification. This is in no way a "slam" directed at the San Antonio community, but I find it extremely odd that one of the larger metro areas in the U.S. is without more football activity.
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I agree with VWG. Converse Judson and the meteoric rise of Smithson Valley are two great counter-points to anyone would would make the claim that SA hasn't had a dominant High School football team.
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Why SA gets the short end of the stick on the NFL topic has always baffled me. Small TV market is a shaky argument and about the only one that could be made. SA is home to HEB, AT&T, Clarke American, USAA and many other large companies with pretty deep pockets so the corporate argument is pretty weak imo. I think that because SA is considered a "Cowboys" fan town hurts them more than anything else. The Alamodome was estimated to need only $5 million worth of upgrades to make it viable for a NFL team. But until LA gets another franchise SA has a slim to none chance to land the NFL.:(

[Gobbla2001]

I myself can't get into soccer, but I'm not your anti-soccer guy, though it is fun to joke about it...

Soccer keeps kids active while they're younger, it's good conditioning and just keeps 'em from getting fat... After I stopped playing soccer after the 2nd grade I started putting on the pounds...

I just can't watch it...

[SintonFan]

Originally posted by Manck
I thought I might be living on an island with PhilC for the rest of my DownLow life....
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LOL!
:D
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About the MLS demands it was all over the news on all media outlets. The feedback from letters to the editor were 4-1 anti-MLS and the reasons varied; but the no.1 theme was that folks felt the demands placed and how the leaders handled it led to it's demise.

[Manck]

Originally posted by Gobbla2001
I myself can't get into soccer, but I'm not your anti-soccer guy, though it is fun to joke about it...

Soccer keeps kids active while they're younger, it's good conditioning and just keeps 'em from getting fat... After I stopped playing soccer after the 2nd grade I started putting on the pounds...

I just can't watch it...

If you get a chance to catch a live MLS match in Houston or Dallas this summer, I would like to challenge to to take it.

Tickets are cheap, and you're guaranteed that the game will be over in two hours.

The supporters' group for FC Dallas, The Inferno (I'm a proud member), is very active in both the sport and the community, raising over $3,500 for charity in 2005. Find me a fan club in any other sport that does that.

Any games between FC Dallas and the Houston franchise will be outstanding matches, with a great atmosphere. They'll play each other twice in Frisco and twice in Houston.

Try a live game if you get the chance. Yeah.
[end conversion attempt]

[SintonFan]

Originally posted by Gobbla2001

I just can't watch it...
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I noticed that members of the Professional Paint Watchers League(PPWL) have a brighter gleam in their eyes than soccer fans do.;)

[GreenMonster]

Originally posted by SintonFan
.
Actually the Gunslingers were in the WLAF(League of American Football). We went to a couple of the games. We always called it the W Laugh league. Even though there was some decent football played the W Laugh kinda stuck.

Correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't former Cowboy and Giant back-up QB Jason Garrett the starter for the WLAF Gunslingers, and his brother a starting WR??? Seems like I remember something like that.

[SintonFan]

Originally posted by GreenMonster
Correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't former Cowboy and Giant back-up QB Jason Garrett the starter for the WLAF Gunslingers, and his brother a starting WR??? Seems like I remember something like that.
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If you're talking about those brothers that looked like the Archie comic twins, you are correct sir. Garret sounds right but I forget their first names.:doh: