C86
Century (over 100 posts)
Posts: 229
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Post by C86 on Nov 7, 2004 15:01:07 GMT -5
I have been hearing news reports that the supposed deal to build a Stadium by the Navy Yard is in jeopardy now that the head of the DC City Council has switched her position and proposed that the Stadium be built next to RFK. The Mayor is upset, baseball appears bemused, and the clock is ticking to get the deal done by the end of the year. Any thoughts on the likelihood of baseball actually landing permanently in the District?
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Post by Admin on Nov 7, 2004 16:07:54 GMT -5
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DanMcQ
Moderator
Posts: 30,302
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Post by DanMcQ on Nov 9, 2004 10:36:57 GMT -5
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Post by TrueHoyaBlue on Nov 9, 2004 11:49:25 GMT -5
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CAHoya07
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
Posts: 3,598
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Post by CAHoya07 on Dec 15, 2004 14:15:53 GMT -5
DC Baseball may be in trouble. Washington Post: www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A64979-2004Dec14.htmlOther related articles are also available in the Post today. I'm not one for reading through all that legal mumbo jumbo, but my basic understanding of the situation is that the City Council just voted 7-6 to require half of the stadium be privately financed. There was a bit of a hulabaloo that DC tax payers shouldn't have to pay for all of the new stadium, including the protester on the day of the unveiling. In the previous contract with MLB that Mayor Williams signed, it said that it wanted the stadium to be totally publicly financed. I really hope that this can get done so that baseball can come back to DC to stay. I'm already excited that my San Francisco Giants will be coming to RFK in September, I plan on attending at least one, if not all of those games. I will be very disappointed if the team decides to go elsewhere after this fiasco, it would be a bad reflection of the city. Whether MLB or the City Council would be to blame for this, I do not know. I'm staying tuned to this one.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Dec 15, 2004 14:29:50 GMT -5
As a DC resident and baseball fan who's been following this closely, this stinks. Basically, they passed a stadium bill, but they passed it with an amendment requiring 50% private financing for the stadium. MLB wants a stadium with full public financing - and that's what Mayor Williams promised and, per last night, didn't deliver. MLB doesn't want to set a precedent of private financing for stadiums, and is likely to respond this afternoon by basically re-opening the bidding to other cities. They'll most likely still play in DC next year, but could be gone in 2006.
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TBird41
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
"Roy! I Love All 7'2" of you Roy!"
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Post by TBird41 on Dec 15, 2004 17:26:47 GMT -5
Unless a miracle occurs (aka a buyer steps up for the Nats) DC baseball is pretty much going to be for a year only. MLB promised DC the team under the condition that DC would fund a stadium, which would allow MLB to sell the team. It's going to be really hard for MLB to find an owner who is willing to spend the extra $250 million or so necessary to pay for half the stadium-or for DC to find someone else (naming rights?) to give them the necessary money. Basically, Linda Cropp just stabbed Mayor Williams in the back. He didn't negotiate the deal for the Nats w/o her approval-she was in before this blatent attempt to gain enough support / approval to run for Mayor in the next election. Thomas Boswell wrote a good column on it in the Post(registration): www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A350-2004Dec14.html
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thebin
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
Posts: 3,836
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Post by thebin on Dec 15, 2004 18:46:07 GMT -5
Let me play devil's advocate for a minute. What right does the government of a banana republic have committing more than a half a billion taxpayer bucks to a facility for a privately-owned business? And don't tell me that stadiums bring tons of money to the local economy, there is just no evidence that the money they being is worth the outlay. And boy have people looked for such evidence.
I think this reflects as poorly on MLB as DC. The NFL would NEVER have been caught with their pants down like this, never would have let a Ms Cropp screw them over like this.
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nychoya3
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
Posts: 2,674
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Post by nychoya3 on Dec 15, 2004 20:03:35 GMT -5
It's a shame that your view qualifies as devil's advocate. No one who holds the position that cities should not be shaken down by major sports leagues for huge public outlays should find themselves apologizing for that view. The economic development benefits of stadiums are, as you say, illusory. I'm all for a professional baseball team in DC. But I know that there are more pressing things for DC to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on.
Now the traveling extortion show will move onto the next unfortunate burb, thrilled by the siren song of professional baseball.
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nychoya3
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
Posts: 2,674
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Post by nychoya3 on Dec 15, 2004 20:08:34 GMT -5
Oh, and yeah, Bud Selig is a jackass. You're absoultely right that Tagliabu and the NFL would never let something like this happen. Of course, the NFL commissioner represents the broad interests of the sport, whereas Selig represents a swath of mid-market owners trying to wring as much cash out of their host cities as they can.
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TBird41
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
"Roy! I Love All 7'2" of you Roy!"
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Post by TBird41 on Dec 16, 2004 0:18:25 GMT -5
Taglibue > Selig for one main reason.... That's right, his GEORGETOWN Education!! It didn't hurt that he played basketball for the Hoyas either.
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Cambridge
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
Canes Pugnaces
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Post by Cambridge on Dec 16, 2004 10:32:36 GMT -5
So true...so true. He's got the Heart of a Hoya!
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SFOHoya
Silver Hoya (over 500 posts)
Posts: 500
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Post by SFOHoya on Dec 20, 2004 14:44:10 GMT -5
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Post by showcase on Dec 21, 2004 9:18:39 GMT -5
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Post by TrueHoyaBlue on Dec 21, 2004 9:23:05 GMT -5
As Wilbon and others have said -- I'll believe it when the players take the field, in their second season in D.C.
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kchoya
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
Enter your message here...
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Post by kchoya on Dec 21, 2004 11:30:42 GMT -5
Aside from the fact that I almost always disagree with what she writes, does anyone else find it wrong that Sally Jenkins is a columnist for the Washington Post, yet lives in New York City (New York City!!! Get a rope). I would think that if you're going to be a sports columnist, you should at least live in/near the city where you're covering sports. This is like a metro columnist for the Post living in Philly. How are you supposed to connect with the topics you're writing about? www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A15006-2004Dec20.html
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