Newark Bears Stadium is soon to be condos

Yes fans of really off the radar baseball, the Newark Bears Stadium, home to no team now for three years has been purchased by a New York developer and will be torn down. Check out the article for more on the condos set to be built there but you know the usual stuff:
*High end
*Affordable
*Mixed use
*First floor retail
*Near everything

Too bad the last owners were not more business-inclined and a whole lot less grating and perhaps something baseball could have come of all of this. Ah well, Johnny still has his Newark Bears hat and saw around 5-10 games there a season. Memories.

Sadly, the Newark Bears are no more

Johnny barely made mention of the sad fact the Newark Bears sold off everything but the pitchers mound yesterday in his article earlier this week on the idea to bring a minor league baseball team to Jersey City. You can read all about the sad state of affairs and their relatively new $30 million stadium closing up shop here.

It's too bad when a great idea like this fails. We've long been of the mind here at the Jersey City Desk the wrong people were running the Bears. In the end however it doesn't seem like it would have much mattered, people for whatever reason just were not going to Newark to watch baseball. The train stopped right outside the stadium, it was right off the 280. It couldn't have been put in a better area and yet, here we are today.

So long Newark bears, may you one day be reincarnated as the Jersey City Space Punks.

This botched Bieber show sure raises questions about the Newark Bears ownership

And yes Danielle Dronet, we mean you (well since you're the owner). So far when questioned about this supposed pie-in-the-sky concert, you hung up on a reporter. Do you know who you really need to contact? Did you contact the right person? Bieber's people all say no and that no deal EVER existed.

You can go on and on about fraudulent representation by saying things like:

"The Newark Bears and The Newark Bears That Care Foundation are investigating a situation regarding fraudulent representation of Justin Bieber, who has no part of any potential related fraudulent activity."

Again, did you know the right person to contact before posting on your website he'd be there? Was it simply to drum up interest in the event itself? Ms. Dronet a lot of questions need to be answered here. When things like this happen people wonder about the management team actually running the Newark Bears. Do promotions and events get cancelled during the baseball season? Is there a long term plan in place to make the Bears successful? The Bears have a magnificent ballpark that is in a safe area that's easy to get to. Yet it's just not working attendance-wise. When very public snafu's like this Bieber thing rear their ugly head questions do get asked of management.  Mixed messages much Ms. Dronet?

YOUR post in the comments section of the The Star-Ledger:

1st... Justin Bieber WILL honor his agreement. Additional evidence and verification will be released tomorrow.

Will he? Sounds like you then said he wouldn't because of fraudulent management. And about that, unless the article is wrong you said you wired money to Luna Bay Productions to land Bieber. A 5 minute Google search shows Luna Bay and Rene Lujan to be a Mission Hill California company, home-based, that sells magnets and types of postcards.

So, which is it? Did you send money to the right people? Did you ever really talk to Bieber's people? Did you do it to scare up interest in the event? 

Well, we're waiting...

Is the talentless human scream machine Justin Bieber coming to Bears Stadium in Newark?

Johnny was reading an article in the Star-Ledger and was truly amazed at how badly Columbus Day can screw up communications, as supposedly concert promoters and the like observe Columbus Day like they are a goddamned bank or the post office, but we digress.

As part of a Halloween event, Bieber would sing at the Stadium of Screams event at Bears & Eagles Riverfront Stadium on Oct. 28 — the Sunday before Halloween.

Here's where things get confused:

Bears owner Danielle Dronet had signed a contract with SkyIsland Productions, a California management company that offered to deliver Justin Bieber to the banks of the Passaic. 

However, those close to Bieber say no such event is planned:

Reached through e-mail, Bieber’s longtime publicist Melissa Victor called the show announcement "pure fiction."

Tickets have not yet been made available but in their press release the Bears have offered chances to win seats to the event.

In comments left on the Star-Ledger website Dronet guaranteed Bieber would appear:

"Justin Bieber WILL honor his agreement. Additional evidence and verification will be released tomorrow." -- Danielle Dronet  Newark Bears Owner/CEO/GM

So folks we'll see today who is right and maybe find out why concert promoting doesn't work well on Columbus Day. Til then all the pre-teen girls in Essex County will have to hope against hope that their talentless little talisman keeps their spooky date.

Did Newark bet on the wrong sport when they built the Bears Stadium?

The New York Times has a wonderful look at how Newark may have well bet on the wrong sport a few years ago when they were approached by both representatives from the Newark Bears and New York Red Bulls to build new stadiums in Newark. At the time the Newark Mayor, Sharpe James was all for a baseball stadium (in trade for a jail built in Newark) and both James and the residents of Newark were opposed to another stadium, a soccer stadium. Yes, the residents helped bring this void on as well.

The Bears? They average a couple hundred a night, if that. The Red Bulls? They average close to 18,000 a night and often top 20K in attendance. Both have gorgeous stadiums. Both are right along public transportation. So what gives?

Johnny has a couple quick out of the box ideas. In order to save the Bears they will need to become SOMEBODY'S farm team. This indy gig is not working out. Former Yankee catcher Rick Cerone, a former Bears owner, tried to get George Steinbrenneer interested in making Newark a farm team but the bombastic owner refused. Hey, the Mets, the Phillies, the Orioles et al. It doesn't even have to be AAA, AA would be fine and improve attendance. People who live in Newark, if they want this team to continue will have to start supporting it themselves. If Newark residents refuse to go what chance does the home team have?

A lot yet to read on this kids, a very thoughtful article to start your Monday with...

Lions and tigers and Newark Bears...

Amy Brittain of The Star Ledger has a very well written piece on the past, present and future of the beleaguered franchise today on NJ.com. She looks at how the franchise, not truly successful since FDR was President she points out, is trying hard to revive interest.

Could a reality show about the Newark Bears be far behind? No, really, they're planning a reality show about the Bears. Now go read.

Bears win! Bears win!

Yes baseball fans, the Newark Bears took it to the York Revolution today at Bears and Eagles Stadium in downtown Newark 7-2. The Revolution began their top of the first inning with a leadoff home run by Keoni DeRenne. After that, it was all Bears all the time. While the Bears had no home runs of their own, they did show great skill at the plate going the other way with several key hits. Shawn Chacon leveled his record at 1-1 with six strong innings. No doubt the York ballclub will be awakened by the manager tomorrow to get to the yard at 8 am for fielding practice as the Revolution helped out the Bears attack with THREE errors. The Bears took extra bases twice on wild pitches, twice on errors.

On a side note, what ARE you people waiting for to go see the Bears? Attendance, on an picture perfect Saturday afternoon wasn't all that great. Look, gang, the PATH train runs right out to Newark, you go downstairs and grab the light rail and it drops you off right in front of the stadium. It can't get any easier than that. They have a great between innings show, a beautiful field and some seriously affordable baseball. Maybe you prefer the overpriced Yankee and Mets tickets. If you're a true baseball lover, give the Bears a go, it's a good time and you may still have enough left over for dinner out.