Opening Day Stadium Leftovers

Didn't have enough time or room in Monday's significant post to squeeze in all of the comments and takeaways from Opening Day, but my WTSP colleague Eric Glasser covered some good ones.  Like this from St. Pete Mayor Rick Kriseman, calling again on Tampa fans to help the Stadium Saga, not hurt it:

"If there's not support from that side of the Bay it's pretty tough for Major League Baseball to think that just moving across the Bay is gonna change anything," he says.

Also, Rays owner Matt Silverman struck a nice tone (maybe he read this post?) on all his local television appearances.  He basically avoided the scare tactics and reminded fans that basically, "we're all in this together."

Glasser continues:

"Our home is Tampa Bay and we're gonna make it work here," says Silverman, "and we appreciate every single fan who comes out and enjoys the game."

Silverman hopes moves the team is making will be enough to draw new fans to buy tickets, but he also wants those who've already shown loyalty to show just a little bit more if they can swing it.

"If each fan came to one more game per year it would make a big difference and we wouldn't be having these conversations," he says. 

The more the region discusses productive solutions and the less people mention boogeymen like Charlotte, Vegas, and Montreal, the better off we all are.