Baseball from KC - I am sorry that the vocal minority have affected your experience here in Steamboat. Unfortunately, the few speak very loudly and the rest of us who are busy taking care of our special guests here in Steamboat - in the winter AND the summer, don't necessarily have time to get on line and defend tourism. We are the ones who make your reservations, check you in, take your dinner orders, check you out at the grocery store and wait on you when you spend your hard earned dollars in ours stores. We love you and want you to keep coming back. All the whining about the crowded streets and restaurants and grocery stores are just the disgruntled ones who hate to be inconvenienced in any way - whether it is by a tourist or a local. Because of you, the majority of people who live in Steamboat and Routt County have jobs and/or own businesses. Thank you and we hope you come back to our beautiful town in the future!
I am all for a diverse group of visitors. Please, let's bring them here. Any ideas? We cannot have the following: anyone who goes to a concert that is not at the Strings building, anyone who races a vintage automobile or motorcycle, anyone who rides a cutting horse. Let's have a wine festival in the middle of a triple crown week. Not one week later when there are no events going on in town. Everyone complains when the town is busy about the clientele, but no one comes up with any other options. And I have seen extreme traffic jams many many times in this town that have nothing to do with triple crown. Winter Carnival fireworks anyone? No one complains when the winter tourists are crowding the roads. How about the 129 & 40 stop light at 5:15 on a weekday every month of the yearl? Don't even try to make a left turn around there!
Why is it always Triple Crown's fault that our streets are overcrowded? Where does the huge amount of traffic come from the other 11 months of the year (triple crown is here about 4 weeks, not 10 weeks) ? Remember when we had Triple Crown fast pitch girls teams here? Park City built beautiful fields for them and took them away. Don't think that other towns are not ready to spend money and take the boys baseball teams away - our main and pretty much only source of tourist taxes in the summer. Wait till after the 9th of August - the town will be vacant. Oh, but there will still be traffic jams through town and out on 129 and all the way to Craig.
As an officer of the law, Sheriff Wall should know, as anyone who has lived in the Steamboat area for more than one day does, if you have a drink and you get in your car, you have an extremely high chance of getting pulled over for some reason and getting accused of drinking and driving. Whether it is one drink or 20 drinks or even no drinks, if you give them a reason to pull you over - failing to dim your headlights being the biggest reason of all, they will be suspicious of your sobriety. Gary Wall knows this. His employees do this. He must have thought he was above this rule and above the law. Whether he thinks someone is "out to get him" it doesn't matter. He had a drink. He didn't dim his headlights. He got pulled over. Join the club of the many, many people in Steamboat and Routt County who go to dinner, have a glass of wine and then drive home. Maybe they have a cracked windshield. Maybe they don't 100% stop at a stop sign. They get pulled over. With the BAC of .08% it does not take much to get charged with a DUI or DWAI. It is all illegal. So Gary, stop passing the buck and being so paranoid that people are out to get you - you are a public official and must stand up to scrutiny. You got busted for doing something illegal and even though you are the sheriff, you have to pay the price. DON'T DRINK AND DRIVE! You would think that would be common sense for everyone, certainly the SHERIFF.
It is so funny to me that according to many who have been contributing to this debate that it is the Triple Crowners that are speeding down Lincoln Avenue and throwing their garbage out their windows. I have not seen a Triple Crown player in the Steamboat area since August 2007. Is all this trash that is popping up out of the snow banks as they melt left over from then? And what about all the people I saw today speeding down Lincoln Avenue and running red lights and not yielding to pedestrians who have the walk sign? Are they Triple Crowners, coming in a little early to "take over our town"? We can't even blame the ski tourists now for the crowded streets and aggressive driving, can we?
All the fun activities that Steamboat use to have did not go away because of Triple Crown. They went away because the growing population pushed them out. 17 years ago when I moved here, Triple Crown was all adult softball teams and were loud, obnoxious and drunken. Due to the demands from Steamboat to change this atmosphere, Triple Crown adjusted the line up and started bringing in boys baseball and girls fastpitch teams - which meant Mom, Dad, sister and brother were travelling here as well as the player. The families turned these week-end tournaments into week long vacations. Then there was more complaining about over crowding, and Triple Crown made adjustments again. They moved the girls fast pitch tournaments to Park City - who was begging Triple Crown to go there, and built great ball parks to entice them. So now we have 3 weeks of tournaments, as well as 3 week-ends in June for Colorado teams. There are many towns who would love to have the business Triple Crown brings to Steamboat, and would be ecstatic to have crowded restaurants and ringing tills at stores as their biggest problem for 3 weeks in the summer. I believe we need Triple Crown's business and we would do well to show these visitors, as we should show every visitor in the winter or the summer, what a great town Steamboat is and what nice people live here. Who knows? The Triple Crown people may ski and come back for a winter vacation.
I have been involved in the hotel/condo business in Steamboat for the past 17 years, and also was involved in the ownership of a downtown restaurant for 15 years. I can tell you that Triple Crown is the single most important source of business and revenue in the summer. They keep many people employed throughout the off season and summer making their reservations, and the front desk staffs, housekeepers and maintenance men are employed all summer because of the business they generate in June, July and August. I do not know of one downtown restaurant that can survive without them. The exception may be the pricy, high end restaurants that most average people can't afford to go to (I know I can't!) I disagree that these teams "hole up" in their condos and eat PB&J's. If they do that, why are so many people complaining that they crowd the restaurants so much that locals can't get in there to eat? (Why any local would consider going out to dinner during Triple Crown - as well as during Christmas, Presidents' Week and Spring Break - is beyond me.) I loved Doug's article - it truly says what many people in Steamboat are thinking but are not vocalizing.
Triple Crown is a very important part of our summer tourism. Actually, it is one of the only parts of summer tourism in Steamboat. I find it hard to believe that anyone thinks the only summer activity in Steamboat is baseball and softball and Triple Crown takes that away from the locals. I myself do not play softball, and seem to be able to find many, many outdoor activities to occupy my time. No one thinks the winter tourists are taking away access to the ski mountain, but I choose not to ski on the mountain over Christmas, Presidents's Week and Spring Break due to the huge crowds, and I choose not to go the Hot Springs or even to a restaurant during these weeks also. Because I know they will be over crowded and way too busy. It's the same in the summer - I know the weeks that Triple Crown is in town - I simply use the same logic that I use the winter - it will be way too busy and I can wait to go to that restaurant when it is not so busy in town. Not that big of a deal. I think everyone could show a little flexibility on the ball field use - they are simply using them for a few weeks and then they go home.
And the comment about Dave King needing Steamboat more than we need him is wrong. Steamboat complained so much a few years back about the crowds - when we had boys baseball and girls fastpitch softball tournaments - that Dave King took all the girls fastpitch tournaments to Park City - who was begging him to go there and they built great ball fields to get him to move. There are many places that would love this business and are willing to do alot to get it. People are saying, get rid of them! Bring in some other event to replace them! Well, let's hear some ideas. So far, nothing has been able to replace the Vintage Car Races and Motorcycle Week. Rainbow Week-end wil soon be a thing of the past. We have had music festivals, but there was so much complaining about those, that they got cancelled also. Steamboat does not begin to compete with other mountain towns for summer business. So let's stop complaining incessantly about everything in Steamboat and start coming up with some good alternatives that bring in revenue and provide jobs and keep the registers ringing.
I have to agree with sportzmama. What is the difference between tourists who come out during ski season and tourists who come out in the summer for triple crown? They both are travelling with their families, spending their hard earned money in Steamboat and staying for about a week for a vacation. Just because their kids play baseball instead of ski does not make them worse. Some kids are ill mannered in the winter as well as the summer, and sometimes parents are rude and demanding too, summer or winter, rich or not. And the comment about moving here for the "small town feel" - is it really the 3 weeks of triple crown that is ruining that feel? I think it is the people who are moving here just for that reason and then complain, complain, complain about everything in Steamboat that supports that small town feel. I think it is these people who are ruining the small town feel with their rudeness and sense of entitlement now that they are "locals" and not the tourists who visit for a short time and then leave.
One would think anyone who moves into an urban area with bars and restaurants would expect there to be noise, just like if you move into a home on or near the railroad tracks that you would expect to hear the train at all times of the day and night. That should not be news to anyone. The city law banning smoking indoors certainly contributes to the noise outside - especially when smoking is not allowed in the backyard of Sunpies so all smokers have to go out front and then are standing directly across the street from the Residences. I applaud the smoking ban, but find it strange that you can't smoke in a backyard of an establishment - which would sure cut down on the noise out front. The people on Ski Time Square don't have to worry for long though, soon it will be a nice quiet ghost town - until the construction starts. Then there will be plenty more to complain about!
Triple Crown could stay
Baseball from KC - I am sorry that the vocal minority have affected your experience here in Steamboat. Unfortunately, the few speak very loudly and the rest of us who are busy taking care of our special guests here in Steamboat - in the winter AND the summer, don't necessarily have time to get on line and defend tourism. We are the ones who make your reservations, check you in, take your dinner orders, check you out at the grocery store and wait on you when you spend your hard earned dollars in ours stores. We love you and want you to keep coming back. All the whining about the crowded streets and restaurants and grocery stores are just the disgruntled ones who hate to be inconvenienced in any way - whether it is by a tourist or a local. Because of you, the majority of people who live in Steamboat and Routt County have jobs and/or own businesses. Thank you and we hope you come back to our beautiful town in the future!
July 29, 2008 at 4:52 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Triple Crown could stay
I am all for a diverse group of visitors. Please, let's bring them here. Any ideas? We cannot have the following: anyone who goes to a concert that is not at the Strings building, anyone who races a vintage automobile or motorcycle, anyone who rides a cutting horse. Let's have a wine festival in the middle of a triple crown week. Not one week later when there are no events going on in town. Everyone complains when the town is busy about the clientele, but no one comes up with any other options. And I have seen extreme traffic jams many many times in this town that have nothing to do with triple crown. Winter Carnival fireworks anyone? No one complains when the winter tourists are crowding the roads. How about the 129 & 40 stop light at 5:15 on a weekday every month of the yearl? Don't even try to make a left turn around there!
July 22, 2008 at 4:18 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Triple Crown could stay
Why is it always Triple Crown's fault that our streets are overcrowded? Where does the huge amount of traffic come from the other 11 months of the year (triple crown is here about 4 weeks, not 10 weeks) ? Remember when we had Triple Crown fast pitch girls teams here? Park City built beautiful fields for them and took them away. Don't think that other towns are not ready to spend money and take the boys baseball teams away - our main and pretty much only source of tourist taxes in the summer. Wait till after the 9th of August - the town will be vacant. Oh, but there will still be traffic jams through town and out on 129 and all the way to Craig.
July 22, 2008 at 9:17 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Rob Douglas: Does one box trump the other?
As an officer of the law, Sheriff Wall should know, as anyone who has lived in the Steamboat area for more than one day does, if you have a drink and you get in your car, you have an extremely high chance of getting pulled over for some reason and getting accused of drinking and driving. Whether it is one drink or 20 drinks or even no drinks, if you give them a reason to pull you over - failing to dim your headlights being the biggest reason of all, they will be suspicious of your sobriety. Gary Wall knows this. His employees do this. He must have thought he was above this rule and above the law. Whether he thinks someone is "out to get him" it doesn't matter. He had a drink. He didn't dim his headlights. He got pulled over. Join the club of the many, many people in Steamboat and Routt County who go to dinner, have a glass of wine and then drive home. Maybe they have a cracked windshield. Maybe they don't 100% stop at a stop sign. They get pulled over. With the BAC of .08% it does not take much to get charged with a DUI or DWAI. It is all illegal. So Gary, stop passing the buck and being so paranoid that people are out to get you - you are a public official and must stand up to scrutiny. You got busted for doing something illegal and even though you are the sheriff, you have to pay the price. DON'T DRINK AND DRIVE! You would think that would be common sense for everyone, certainly the SHERIFF.
July 18, 2008 at 7:43 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Rob Douglas: Put an Emerald on this Crown
It is so funny to me that according to many who have been contributing to this debate that it is the Triple Crowners that are speeding down Lincoln Avenue and throwing their garbage out their windows. I have not seen a Triple Crown player in the Steamboat area since August 2007. Is all this trash that is popping up out of the snow banks as they melt left over from then? And what about all the people I saw today speeding down Lincoln Avenue and running red lights and not yielding to pedestrians who have the walk sign? Are they Triple Crowners, coming in a little early to "take over our town"? We can't even blame the ski tourists now for the crowded streets and aggressive driving, can we?
April 8, 2008 at 1:36 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Triple Crown tears council
All the fun activities that Steamboat use to have did not go away because of Triple Crown. They went away because the growing population pushed them out. 17 years ago when I moved here, Triple Crown was all adult softball teams and were loud, obnoxious and drunken. Due to the demands from Steamboat to change this atmosphere, Triple Crown adjusted the line up and started bringing in boys baseball and girls fastpitch teams - which meant Mom, Dad, sister and brother were travelling here as well as the player. The families turned these week-end tournaments into week long vacations. Then there was more complaining about over crowding, and Triple Crown made adjustments again. They moved the girls fast pitch tournaments to Park City - who was begging Triple Crown to go there, and built great ball parks to entice them. So now we have 3 weeks of tournaments, as well as 3 week-ends in June for Colorado teams. There are many towns who would love to have the business Triple Crown brings to Steamboat, and would be ecstatic to have crowded restaurants and ringing tills at stores as their biggest problem for 3 weeks in the summer. I believe we need Triple Crown's business and we would do well to show these visitors, as we should show every visitor in the winter or the summer, what a great town Steamboat is and what nice people live here. Who knows? The Triple Crown people may ski and come back for a winter vacation.
April 4, 2008 at 3:16 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Rob Douglas: Put an Emerald on this Crown
I have been involved in the hotel/condo business in Steamboat for the past 17 years, and also was involved in the ownership of a downtown restaurant for 15 years. I can tell you that Triple Crown is the single most important source of business and revenue in the summer. They keep many people employed throughout the off season and summer making their reservations, and the front desk staffs, housekeepers and maintenance men are employed all summer because of the business they generate in June, July and August. I do not know of one downtown restaurant that can survive without them. The exception may be the pricy, high end restaurants that most average people can't afford to go to (I know I can't!) I disagree that these teams "hole up" in their condos and eat PB&J's. If they do that, why are so many people complaining that they crowd the restaurants so much that locals can't get in there to eat? (Why any local would consider going out to dinner during Triple Crown - as well as during Christmas, Presidents' Week and Spring Break - is beyond me.) I loved Doug's article - it truly says what many people in Steamboat are thinking but are not vocalizing.
April 4, 2008 at 2:14 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Triple Crown up to bat
Triple Crown is a very important part of our summer tourism. Actually, it is one of the only parts of summer tourism in Steamboat. I find it hard to believe that anyone thinks the only summer activity in Steamboat is baseball and softball and Triple Crown takes that away from the locals. I myself do not play softball, and seem to be able to find many, many outdoor activities to occupy my time. No one thinks the winter tourists are taking away access to the ski mountain, but I choose not to ski on the mountain over Christmas, Presidents's Week and Spring Break due to the huge crowds, and I choose not to go the Hot Springs or even to a restaurant during these weeks also. Because I know they will be over crowded and way too busy. It's the same in the summer - I know the weeks that Triple Crown is in town - I simply use the same logic that I use the winter - it will be way too busy and I can wait to go to that restaurant when it is not so busy in town. Not that big of a deal. I think everyone could show a little flexibility on the ball field use - they are simply using them for a few weeks and then they go home.
And the comment about Dave King needing Steamboat more than we need him is wrong. Steamboat complained so much a few years back about the crowds - when we had boys baseball and girls fastpitch softball tournaments - that Dave King took all the girls fastpitch tournaments to Park City - who was begging him to go there and they built great ball fields to get him to move. There are many places that would love this business and are willing to do alot to get it.
People are saying, get rid of them! Bring in some other event to replace them! Well, let's hear some ideas. So far, nothing has been able to replace the Vintage Car Races and Motorcycle Week. Rainbow Week-end wil soon be a thing of the past. We have had music festivals, but there was so much complaining about those, that they got cancelled also.
Steamboat does not begin to compete with other mountain towns for summer business. So let's stop complaining incessantly about everything in Steamboat and start coming up with some good alternatives that bring in revenue and provide jobs and keep the registers ringing.
April 3, 2008 at 1:30 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Triple Crown up to bat
I have to agree with sportzmama. What is the difference between tourists who come out during ski season and tourists who come out in the summer for triple crown? They both are travelling with their families, spending their hard earned money in Steamboat and staying for about a week for a vacation. Just because their kids play baseball instead of ski does not make them worse. Some kids are ill mannered in the winter as well as the summer, and sometimes parents are rude and demanding too, summer or winter, rich or not.
And the comment about moving here for the "small town feel" - is it really the 3 weeks of triple crown that is ruining that feel? I think it is the people who are moving here just for that reason and then complain, complain, complain about everything in Steamboat that supports that small town feel. I think it is these people who are ruining the small town feel with their rudeness and sense of entitlement now that they are "locals" and not the tourists who visit for a short time and then leave.
April 1, 2008 at 1:17 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Uniting downtown
One would think anyone who moves into an urban area with bars and restaurants would expect there to be noise, just like if you move into a home on or near the railroad tracks that you would expect to hear the train at all times of the day and night. That should not be news to anyone. The city law banning smoking indoors certainly contributes to the noise outside - especially when smoking is not allowed in the backyard of Sunpies so all smokers have to go out front and then are standing directly across the street from the Residences. I applaud the smoking ban, but find it strange that you can't smoke in a backyard of an establishment - which would sure cut down on the noise out front.
The people on Ski Time Square don't have to worry for long though, soon it will be a nice quiet ghost town - until the construction starts. Then there will be plenty more to complain about!
March 17, 2008 at 12:56 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )