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Am I the only one who thinks this is a totally fucked up demonstration of warped priorities? Does it really make sense to gouge the taxpayers for $260 million in the hopes of possibly luring an NFL team?St. Louis' original NFL franchise, the Cardinals, had left for Arizona in 1988. After the city failed to land an expansion team, civic leaders built a $260 million, taxpayer-financed domed stadium anyway, in hopes of luring another team.
No, I don't think you're the only one, just like I wasn't the only one who was saying good riddance to the Rams when so many of us were convinced that Frontiere was running the franchise into the ground so that she could move it when she realized that she wasn't going to milk the public for the funds to build a new palace for her team to play in. The guy over at ruthless reviews wrote a pretty entertaining rant about it.Darth Wong wrote:Am I the only one who thinks this is a totally fucked up demonstration of warped priorities? Does it really make sense to gouge the taxpayers for $260 million in the hopes of possibly luring an NFL team?St. Louis' original NFL franchise, the Cardinals, had left for Arizona in 1988. After the city failed to land an expansion team, civic leaders built a $260 million, taxpayer-financed domed stadium anyway, in hopes of luring another team.
Shame!Elfdart wrote:I'll take the Chargers and Giants. The prospect of seeing Peter King and the other hacks crying like little bitches when their mancrushes (Brady and Favre) lose is just too good to pass up.
Yeah, it's fucked up, but it's not like the city's population didn't have any say in it. They let themselves be gouged.Darth Wong wrote:Am I the only one who thinks this is a totally fucked up demonstration of warped priorities? Does it really make sense to gouge the taxpayers for $260 million in the hopes of possibly luring an NFL team?St. Louis' original NFL franchise, the Cardinals, had left for Arizona in 1988. After the city failed to land an expansion team, civic leaders built a $260 million, taxpayer-financed domed stadium anyway, in hopes of luring another team.
I thought you were better than that ED. You don't want to see two of the best QBs ever, square off in the SB?Elfdart wrote:I'll take the Chargers and Giants. The prospect of seeing Peter King and the other hacks crying like little bitches when their mancrushes (Brady and Favre) lose is just too good to pass up.
Sometimes it's not that simple.Yeah, it's fucked up, but it's not like the city's population didn't have any say in it. They let themselves be gouged.
Which is why I pointed out SF's situation. Enough people were against a new stadium, or at least not supportive enough, that it actually made a difference, despite the "power elite" trying to get it done.Glocksman wrote:Sometimes it's not that simple.Yeah, it's fucked up, but it's not like the city's population didn't have any say in it. They let themselves be gouged.
Here in Evansville, Indiana for example, we voted out a mayor who pushed a $20 million plan for a new downtown baseball stadium for a minor league team affiliated with the LA Dodgers.
The former Mayor (a Republican) even lost the heavily Republican First Ward because of the unpopularity of the plan.
His successor is now talking about pushing through a 'multi use' Downtown stadium despite what happened to the previous Mayor.
My point is that once the 'power elite' in an area get their hearts set on a boondoggle, its awfully hard for the citizenry at large to shoot it down.
If that happens, then for the next two weeks you'll see nothing but their repressed fanwhores gushing all over them, like a multitude of neocons holding a wank-in at Victor Davis Hanson's while watching 300 and Top Gun with their pants around their ankles -only multiplied by thousands. Wouldn't it be better if Peter King and his ilk were so upset that they collectively fucked off in a fit of depression for the next two weeks? The only thing that would be half as good is if the Hall of Fame voters selected a class of only defensive players for a change.havokeff wrote:I thought you were better than that ED. You don't want to see two of the best QBs ever, square off in the SB?Elfdart wrote:I'll take the Chargers and Giants. The prospect of seeing Peter King and the other hacks crying like little bitches when their mancrushes (Brady and Favre) lose is just too good to pass up.
Funny you should bring that up. Last night on Bill Moyers' Journal there was an interview with David Cay Johnston about his new book, Free Lunch. A number of corporations and billionaires owe their profits to welfare handouts:Darth Wong wrote: Am I the only one who thinks this is a totally fucked up demonstration of warped priorities? Does it really make sense to gouge the taxpayers for $260 million in the hopes of possibly luring an NFL team?
Where's Daniel Shays when we need him?David Cay Johnston wrote:I tell in detail the story of a little merchant [Jim Weaknecht] with lower prices than his bigger competitors, like Cabela’s, in the business of selling fishing and outdoor gear, who was run out of business in his little town [of Hamburg, Pennsylvania] because of $32 million in subsidies [provided by local government] to Cabela’s. That’s $8,000 for every man, woman, and child in town, equal to the entire budget of the little town for a decade. Imagine that you are that competitor, with some big outside competitor getting a huge leg up, one that’s essentially worth doubling their profits as a practical matter, so they can run you out of business.
On the brighter side, I do tell a story about Gander Mountain [another big company in the hunting/camping/fishing business] that actually employs a lobbying firm to fight against & for [their competitors] Cabela’s and Bass Pro. Cabela’s was actually praised by Bush and Cheney as models of enterprise.
It’s not surprising Bush would praise a company like Cabela’s though. His own fortune, as I show from the public record and from interviewing his friends and from his own tax returns, derives from a subsidy that was derived from a tax increase! There’s an irony—George Bush got rich from a tax increase [a sales tax passed by voters in Arlington, Texas] that was funneled into his pocket inefficiently. The people who had to pay the tax got no benefit—most of them were not baseball fans—from this subsidy to build a stadium for the Texas Rangers [baseball team Bush owned].
You might think that companies that get subsidies would make bigger profits than normal. But Adam Smith told us that subsidies bring in brash adventurers who often end up making no profit, and the evidence is that Cabela’s doesn’t appear to be particularly profitable. Cabela’s in fact, in its first three years as a publicly traded company, had $223 million in profit, and subsidy deals worth $293 million. I argue that they are not in the business of selling sporting goods; they are in the business of reeling in subsidies. ;
Or you could just unglue yourself from Sports Center and NFL Network, like I do, between the Championships and the SB.Elfdart wrote:If that happens, then for the next two weeks you'll see nothing but their repressed fanwhores gushing all over them, like a multitude of neocons holding a wank-in at Victor Davis Hanson's while watching 300 and Top Gun with their pants around their ankles -only multiplied by thousands. Wouldn't it be better if Peter King and his ilk were so upset that they collectively fucked off in a fit of depression for the next two weeks? The only thing that would be half as good is if the Hall of Fame voters selected a class of only defensive players for a change.havokeff wrote:I thought you were better than that ED. You don't want to see two of the best QBs ever, square off in the SB?Elfdart wrote:I'll take the Chargers and Giants. The prospect of seeing Peter King and the other hacks crying like little bitches when their mancrushes (Brady and Favre) lose is just too good to pass up.
You sicken me.Fleet Admiral JD wrote:One more, Pats! Let's go!
At least tell me you're from New England and not a bandwagoner. A proud New Englander indeed, sir! Massachusetts, no less.SPC Brungardt wrote:You sicken me.Fleet Admiral JD wrote:One more, Pats! Let's go!
Cause people not from Town A when they're the top dog (Yankees, Lakers, Red Wings, Patriots, what have you) = lame. I went down with the home team, which even in a 1-15 season is more noble than bandwagoning.
I'm a Steelers fan foremost, a Colts fan after that, and a fan of any team that makes the 1972 Dolphins choke on their fucking champagne after that.SPC Brungardt wrote:You sicken me.Fleet Admiral JD wrote:One more, Pats! Let's go!
Cause people not from Town A when they're the top dog (Yankees, Lakers, Red Wings, Patriots, what have you) = lame. I went down with the home team, which even in a 1-15 season is more noble than bandwagoning.
Anyone against the Pats. Yeah, and he was going to be looking for another ride home if he missed again.NomAnor15 wrote:What's really depressing about it is that Tynes (sp?) missed the 43 and 36 yard goals, and hit the 47. Ah well, Packers had a decent run.