Morning Coffee
Noticed a pattern around this blog the last few months? Yeah, it's true, the first post of the day is typically the "links to stories I find interesting, and maybe a quick reaction" post, and the later posts are more analysis when I have time to really think them out and hopefully correct most of the embarrassing errors from the first draft. It works for me. Hopefully for you to.
STADIUM FINANCING AN ISSUE: David Nakamura in the Post has a must-read article for those trying to track Poplar Point's Progress towards a Soccer Specific Stadium (PPP2SSS?).
City leaders would, however, face tough choices if they sought additional large projects. Examples include a proposed soccer stadium for D.C. United in Southeast and a much-debated central library proposed for downtown at the site of the old convention center.The problem here is that while I doubt that Council leaders would stop voting for capital improvements, the opening for people to demagogue this into "Library vs. Stadium: Which is better for the good of the people?" is there. That's a tough battle, and one that United could lose even before a plan is presented. Hell, even I'm not sure I could come out for a stadium over a library, even though I imagine the stadium would have more positive economic effects for the city than the library. I like books. I like people having access to books. That's a tough one. Of course, this could also be a negotiating tactic to get more of the infrastructure improvement costs for the stadium picked up by the Ownership/Development group. Thing is, I find it a damned effective one.
UNITED GET SARACHAN FIRED: Look, there are times when I will celebrate a coach getting fired, and times I'll just note it and pass on. This is the latter. Dave never struck me as a coach I could hate. To be honest, he never struck me as much of anything. He was simply the guy on the opposite bench. Robert Wagman says that Dave might have needed to go, but John Guppy should have gone. Over at Climbing the Ladder, ScaryIce disagrees:
I also noticed how he was defended by Stephen Goff on his blog, who immediately posted quotes from a call between the two. It really does remind me of how certain pundits, journalists, and politicians in Washington defend each other regardless of their beliefs. Chris Armas jumped to his defense as well.I have to say, if I were a Fire fan, I think Dave and John should both be gone, but I don't think this is simply a case of the media protecting someone who was available. I think Dave was actually, from what I can tell, a guy whose players liked him. And the problem certainly in the last game was that he had nothing to work with. Sure, great coaches can still be competitive even missing half their starters, but it's problematic even for them. The fact is I think Dave Sarachan was an average coach, facing above average problems, and was found wanting. The fact that he had so little to work with is an indictment of AEG more than Dave. Which, by the way, is why it's a good thing we have new ownership. At least we know who's really running the ship here, so we can properly direct our outrage. If we had to.
SALT LAKE MEDIA LOWERS EXPECTATIONS FOR RSL: Man, this is just setting us up for disappointment, isn't it? I mean, if I believed in karma and all that. Which I don't. But man...
Labels: Chicago Fire, Links, Poplar Point, Real Salt Lake, Stadium
posted by D @ 10:48 AM
4 Comments:
Correct me if I'm wrong here, but the only public financing Poplar Point would entail would be infrastructure costs. It's not as if United are/would be getting the same sweet deal as the Nats.
Whatever the monetary value of the land itself, that's essentially an arbritary, imaginary figure with which no Wall Streeter need concern himself. No money will ever change hands.
And unless the infrastructure at Poplar Point is seriously degraded or nonexistent, the costs shouldn't be that high and a good chunk of them ought to be borne by MacFarlane and company anyway. The potential new central library is an order of magnitude or two more compex and expensive. Linking the two, as whoever was feeding Nakamura this info seems to be doing, is a bit of a red herring.
You're not wrong, but even the issue of infrastructure costs is contentious. There are those that feel that private money should be used to fund infrastructure improvements when those improvements aren't clearly for the "public" good. I don't agree, but I know there are those that make those arguments. In some cases, I can see the city asking DC United's ownership to chip in for the road improvements, water system upgrades, environmental cleanup and precautions, etc...
Okay, I just think it's sloppy reporting by Nakamura and sloppy editing by the Post. A reader who didn't know anything about Poplar Point could come away thinking the District was possibly on the hook for stadium construction costs, when to my knowledge that's never even been a possibility.
Roads, sewers, fat wireless intertubes so we can instablog tailgates and games, yeah, the club should pay for whatever any private developer would be obliged to pay for. I know those costs aren't negligible, but they shouldn't be enough to be a dealbreaker. Not even if Marion Barry is involved.
From the RSL article:
"Three points could possibly catapult the blazing United into second place"
The blazing United? I don't care if we're blazing or not, I just hope we can beat the Real.
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