Bill Moyers Journal: Moguls Steal Home While Companies Strike Out
By Nicole Belle Saturday Sep 20, 2008 12:00pm
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Download | play (h/t Heather)
Today marks a sad milestone, one for which I'm sure Yankee fan Amato is wearing black (with pinstripes, natch) in mourning. Today is the final game at the famed Yankee Stadium, the House that Ruth Built. And in this transition from tradition over generations (even I speak in awe of my first trip to see a game at Yankee Stadium) to a taxpayer-funded corporate behemoth, Bill Moyers finds parallels to our current financial crisis.
But when it came to paying for the new, $1.3 billion pleasure dome, the millionaires on the field and King Midas in his skybox came up with some razzle-dazzle plays to finance their new wealth machine - tax-free bonds, requiring ordinary citizens to subsidize the construction, and hundreds of millions more for new parking garages, a train station and parks that supposedly will replace the ones seized by the city to make room for the new stadium. The Little League games that used to flourish on sandlots just outside the old ballpark have been moved miles away, sent down to the minors on a long road trip.[..]
Meanwhile there will be more luxury suites and party rooms where fat cats can gather, safely removed from the sweaty masses. Corporations and wealthy individuals will be able to rent the luxury suites for anywhere from $600,000-$850,000 a year - tax deductible - assuming they haven't filed for bankruptcy this week.
Why aren't the fans and taxpayers giving the Yankees a Bronx cheer? They did, but city officials rolled over them while making sure local politicians stay in the lineup. The pols are getting their own luxury suite at the new stadium for free - and first shot at buying the best available seats.
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Actually, I'm told that the field of the old Yankee stadium will be preserved and those Little Leaguers that used to play at the park where the new stadium stands will play on the field of Ruth, Gehrig, Mantle, DiMaggio, etc. Not a bad home field for a 10 year old. There are a number of bad thing about the new Yankee Stadium and how it was built, no need to pile on with false accusations that can only hurt credibility.
This is business as usual in NYC. For another splendid example,
check out the LIRR -
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/21/nyregion/21lirr.html
It's happening all over America: taxpayers pay for these stadiums with luxury boxes or new airport terminals or other developments. Sometimes, though, teams and companies move out, leaving the middle-class taxpayers to continue to shoulder the burden, while jobs go down the tubes to oblivion and buildings sit empty.
Back in the old days, when team and business owners still had some kind of integrity, they paid for these things themselves. When will the middle class finally get fed up and rise up in protest?
FSM bless Bill Moyers and his program. He neatly encapsulates every reason I observe professional sports from a great distance. Anything beyond water cooler level talk is too much for me these days.
I basically gave up on professional sports when two things happened:
1) I caught myself cheering - cheering - when Emmit Smith received a vicious cheap-shot, out-of-bounds hit by a member of the Miami Dolphins back in '96. I suddenly realized that I was rooting for a man I had never met to be injured or worse. WTF is up with that?!
2) I finally realized what was meant by all those "Property of (team)" t-shirts people were wearing - read between the lines...
Millionaires fighting millionaires on green fields, all being watched and condoned by billionaires. And usually in the name of "patriotism" The hell with all of them.
FSM bless Bill Moyers...
So when does the new season of American Idol start?
It's happening in Minneapolis too. Taxpayers are subsidizing the new stadium with no vote on the tax increase. Needless to say I am not a Twins fan anymore. I hope they lose every game.
Ironically, it was a New York Senator (Daniel Patrick Moynihan) who tried 12 years ago to make it impossible to do exactly what the Yankees are doing today. The Stop Tax-Exempt Arena Debt Issuance Act would have made it illegal to use tax-exempt bonds to finance stadiums used by professional sports teams.
It, of course, died a silent death at the adjournment of Congress that year.
It seems to me, that at some point the citizenry may wise up to the continual Fat Cat larceny that goes on in this country and decide to cut their heads off.
Or they may just change the channel on their TVs. The complete story of the larceny is not televised and Bill Moyers cannot do it alone.
Pssh. This is why I root for the Mets.
Go Cubs!
The pride before the fall, people. History is repeating itself.
I posted this last night but not enough people saw it, so I'm re-positing it now.
John- please highlight this!
Bush's economic bailout bill is another scam- another money grab. Think Patriot Act! This time our hapless Dems can't say they didn't have time to read the bill- we need to be all over this faxing our outrage over this bill. Please read this now and share with everyone you know- post it on all the blogs you frequent and get the word out. Then write your Senators and Congresscritters PRONTO!
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/9/20/153952/...
A commentor gave this sample letter he sent that you can use- faxing it seems to get more attention:
Dear Senator XXXXXX:
I am writing in very deep concern over the Wall Street Bailout Act, currently entitled as "LEGISLATIVE PROPOSAL FOR TREASURY AUTHORITY TO PURCHASE MORTGAGE-RELATED ASSETS".
This is, to say the least, a deeply troubling bill. Specifically:
There is little to no oversight. Furthermore, section 8 ensures that any oversight is crippled from the start, as it states, and I quote from the text of the act: "Decisions by the Secretary pursuant to the authority of this Act are non-reviewable and committed to agency discretion, and may not be reviewed by any court of law or any administrative agency."
The floating amount controlled by the Secretary of the Treasury is $700B is effectively a blank check as there is no hard limit.
It appears that the power of the Secretary extends to no-bid contracts.
It provides no restoration of the provisions of the Glass-Steagall Act, modernized or otherwise, that were stripped away by the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act. It does absolutely nothing to change the fundamental problems that led us to this situation.
I strongly urge you to vote against this bill. I know that we need to prevent the complete disintegration of our economy, but this is not the solution. This is a blank check to the executive; it is the abdication of the financial powers granted to the legislative branch in Article 1, Section 8 of the constitution.
Sincerely,
We have seen this happening all over the U.S. Here at home the local universities have completely redone their football stadiums, adding expensive boxes for the well-to-do. The hell with the local middle class fans who have supported the teams through the years. Now we the middle class are being asked to pay more, give more, and sit in the left over seats. The well-to-do and big companies scrambled to buy the boxes for their families and employees. The universities say they have to do this to keep up with the "Joneses" (other universities in the conference) and so the loyalty of the long faithful are of no consequence.
Prices of tickets are going out of sight, as are all of the major league baseball, football, basketball, etc. It is no longer affordable for a family to enjoy a game together. What the powers-that-be forget is it was the loyal fans that built the base for these teams and now you are shunning them and making it impossible for them to continue to attend the sporting events. Once again the middle class is screwed in favor of the upper class. When we, the middle class, are gone who will pay all the bills, who will attend the events? The rich soon tire of supporting the teams, especially when they are not winning regularly. Then they are dropped like the proverbial hot potato in favor of a winning team some place else. The well-to-do stop attending, the middle class cannot afford to attend, so the expensive stadiums and arenas sit empty. So much for loyalty.
Socialize the Cost
Privatize the Profits
But the Sucker fans keep showing up wearing the latest
"Made in China by Slave Labor"
Home Team Tshirt, Hats, Jersey, etc.
This reminds me of H. G. Wells' "Time Machine" where the dominating Morlocks feasted on the submissive Eloi.
Amerika DOA. Get used to it. The country is like the spirit of someone that has died, lingering around, not aware it is dead. In time it will realize it's dead, sooner than later if McCain is elected, but be assured it is DEAD.
This is all a distraction. The American economy is now a bona-fide Ponzi scam, a pyramid scam, a chain letter and now founded on bullshit (not gold, not GDP). The fundamental unit is not the dollar but debt. The game is how to pass it on. Good luck with that one.
Michael Chossodovsky calls it pretty much as it is.
Bank of America is slated to purchase Merrill Lynch, leading to the formation of the world's largest financial institution, clashing with Citigroup and JP Morgan Chase. It should be noted that while Citigroup and JP Morgan Chase are competing institutions, they are nonetheless entwined through intermarriage between the Rockefeller and Stillman families.
Bank of America in the last two decades has developed into a financial giant through a series of mergers and acquisitions. In 2004, Bank of America acquired FleetBoston Financial, in 2005 it purchases credit card giant MBNA and in 2007 it acquires LaSalle Bank Corporation and Corporate Finance from the Dutch bank ABN AMRO. And on September 14, 2008, Bank of America announced its intention to acquire Merrill Lynch for $50 billion.
What we are dealing with is a clash between a handful of major financial institutions, which have developed through mergers and acquisitions into Worldwide financial giants.
The financial meltdown on Wall Street largely benefits Bank of America and JP Morgan Chase, which is part of the Rockefeller empire, at the expense of Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. Lehman Brothers filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Bloody Monday, September 15. Lehman's assets are of the order of $639 billion.
Robert Rubin, the former Goldman-Sachs and Citibank ceo, now Obama's major financial crisis adviser, seems to have some clouded loyalties, doncha think?
Neo-classical secular humanist @ 16:
This has been my view for a while now....a great big pyramid scheme, where those on top make money and those below keep supporting it in the hope they will get their big payout (which never comes). How stupid we have become, all in striving to be rich.
Look into the Texas Rangers/Bush history. Same sort of 'game plan'.
why is there no "email" option at the "share this" link?
or is there, somewhere?
Good Point. All I can say is
YANKEES SUCK!!!
YANKEES SUCK!!!
YANKEES SUCK!!!
God bless Bill Moyers,
even Roman dictators knew the importance of making the average folk happy by allowing them to attend the games (in the bleechers) for free + bread.
In the 80s, my dad could afford to take me out to the ball game and to the hockey game. But now in 2008, fathers can't afford to bring the children to watch the game because the privlege of watching the games has gotten more expensive in the past 20 years.
I do not attend sporting events because I cannot afford it, and this creates a disconnect between me and pro-sports. I do not care about pro-sports anymore.
this is off topic a little but i wanted to pass it around. i
got it off the open thread last night. it's an npr broadcast
that explains what has been going on in the financials.
it's interesting and easy to listen to. it's about the
'shadow financial system' essentially...betting. phil gramm behind it.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89338743
Aside from yet another upward transfer of wealth (which happens every second of every day in this country) why precisely would anyone give a shit? Baseball was only available to 'the masses' in a guilded age when the aristocracy had other , usually high-culture, interests. Now that we've transitioned to an era of fake populism, where our rulers like to pretend they are actually just regular guys you'd like to have a beer with (remember in this country if you make less than $5 million a year you're just 'upper middle class') they've embraced the styles and interests of the plebes.
No depression era fat cat would have been caught dead anywhere near a baseball stadium, but now it's considered hip among the rich to be into stuff like baseball. Stands to reason they'd strive to price it out of our reach while sticking us with the bill. You don't really think they want any 'real Americans' stinking up the place, do you?
Sara,
Call me Joe Biden because I just copied and pasted your letter and faxed them to Nelson and Martinez, my senators, and Robert Wexler, my Congressman. I urge all of you reading this to do the same.
liberAL @ 13:
The University of New Mexico--NOT an established football power--is charging upwards of $50 for a non-student ticket. This is a team that couldn't beat Texas A&M the week AFTER the Aggies LOST to Arkansas State-Jonesboro...FIFTY farouking dollars!?!?!?!?!
Bill Lee on Baseball
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oILZ2mZbE4g
Bill "The Spaceman" Lee in '08 (talkin political)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cq2on77kGAU
"If I couldn't pitch I'd be a helluva undertaker." Bill "The Spaceman" Lee
woody, tokin librul @ 26:
College sports- especially football, but, to a lesser extent, basketball, too- have gotten way out of hand. Rick Telander wrote a great book back in the late '80's titled "The Hundred Yard Lie" that details the problems and offers a few unique solutions (such as making the NFL foot the bill for what is, essentially, their farm system).
HELP! Do you know what is going on with this bailout? Senator Shuman says it is to prevent a catastrophe. Senator Reid to save us from doomsday. Those are conclusions. They don't tell us what is going on! Rather than giving us conclusions and giving our money away, we should be told what is happening. Isn't that the essence of a Democracy? DEMAND to know what is happening. Write your Congressmen and every blog and ask them to join us in a drive to find out WHAT IS HAPPENING.
Bitter Bud Hussein @ 4:
George W. Bush gave us tax cuts and a war, which lead to a larger deficit, which lead to lower value of currency, which lead to inflation, which lead to higher commodity prices, which lead to job cuts, which lead to people defaulting on loans, which lead to banks being unable to produce liquid money, which lead to currency having no backing, which lead to larger deficit,
which McCain wants to fix by giving more tax cuts and increased war. Don't vote for McCain
John Doheny @ 24:
An exception to the rule is Detroit Tigers (and Red Wings) owner Mike Ilitch, who played shortstop in the Tigers' farm system before hanging up the cleats to make pizzas.
Give Ilitch credit for funding Comerica Park in Detroit out of his own pocket- minus the cost of the infrastucture (streets, electric and plumbing), footed by the city, county and state. But, honestly, the infrastucture in the D needs improving, and Ilitch employs a lot of people in the city/county/state, so, imo, it's a good trade-off.
I need to get to bed, but I have to say this. I have never understood the big deal about sports or why everybody gets so hyped up about a sport other people are doing. It makes no sense. I've know a few people in my days on the Planet who for the life of them couldn't figure how to get and hold a good job or figure out what they were doing wrong to make their spouses mad.
But they knew every Damn player in the leagues.
The rest of the show was just as good as this. Everyone should watch this weeks program. Thanks for putting this up.
John Doheny @ 24:
One other thought, John.
You're right about the upper classes not intermingling with the plebes in the Gilded Age, or in the Depression Era, but it's not as if the upper classes didn't fund/fill the seats at the Yale Bowl, or the horse tracks or create the modern Olympic games (which, btw, showcased amateur, upper class athletes as opposed to the probably-more-gifted-working-class-rooted-PROFESSIONAL-athletes).
Earl Weaver gets pissed
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kl-4FSRYagc&feature=related
Gossage Tirade (Contains Bad Language!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r75KU9reHAs&feature=related
Sparky Anderson Rips The Press (Bad Language!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgJ2jFVp1bc&NR=1
tommy lasorda drops some F bombs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRhu9jUal2Q&feature=related
tommy lasorda part II.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZMDsE7t_EE&feature=related
well, there's your fucking problem
Public money should never be used for private enterprise. If you can point to someplace it should, please inform me. Also, I have not been to a baseball, football, or basketball game since I was 25 years old, and will never attend as long as this sort of thing goes on.
Anyone know if the new Yankee Stadium will have the authentic urine stench of the old one?
The Packers are currently the only non-profit, community-owned major league professional sports team in the United States.
The Green Bay Packers Board of Directors is the organization that serves as the owner for the Green Bay Packers football club. The Packers have been a publicly owned, non-profit corporation since August 18, 1923. The corporation currently has 111,921 stockholders, who collectively own 4,749,925 shares of stock. There have been four stock sales, in 1923, 1935, 1950 and 1997. Shares in 1923 sold for $5 apiece, while in 1997 the shares were issued at $200 each.
Based on the original "Articles of Incorporation for the (then) Green Bay Football Corporation" put into place in 1923, if the Packers franchise were to have been sold, after the payment of all expenses, any remaining money would go to the Sullivan Post of the American Legion in order to build "a proper soldier's memorial." This stipulation was enacted to ensure the club remained in Green Bay and that there could never be any financial enhancement for the shareholders. At the November 1997 annual meeting, shareholders voted to change the beneficiary from the Sullivan-Wallen Post to the Green Bay Packers Foundation, which makes donations to many charities and institutions throughout Wisconsin.
I'm a New Yorker, and I haven't met anyone, anyone, who approves of this stadium. It was forced on us by Giuliani and Li'l Giuliani (Bloomberg). I hope that the destruction of the House That Ruth Built means a permanent curse on the Yankees. It may be one, too. Price the little people out of the game and watch it wither and die. Kinda like TV news, when you think about it... .
lame........
Bitter Bud Hussein @ 4:
Wasn't that Michael Irvin that got injured?
Hey now, scamming people is hard work. And hard workers are supposed to get ahead in a conservative economy amirite?
Scy @ 15:
I'm afraid you're correct.
A slow, agonizing (and once preventable) death.
Anais @ 3:
ZWBush @ 6:
liberAL @ 13:
Ditto for Milwaukee years back, where Bud Selig arose to his dominating position. Even after the barely literate governor Tommy Thompson was caught stating publicly that he & Selig were going to "stick it to them" (taxpayers) to fund the project, the state legislature was intimidated into exempting the luxury boxes from taxation. The only good result was the successful recall of state Sen. George Petak (R-Racine) for voting yes on the "stadium tax", which was imposed on a wide area of southeast Wisconsin. The recall tipped the Senate majority to Democrats.
I considered it one of my finest moments when, at a meeting of all employees involved in the broadcast of Brewers games from the flagship station where I worked as an engineer, I interrupted the station's general manager after he stated that everybody there certainly must support the efforts of finding taxpayer funding for Miller Field. My statement that Selig was committing extortion against the taxpayers of the community was met with a long, cold silence. But I have never had any regrets for saying it.
one would expect that obama would have been influenced by his mother's life choices.
this is obama's mother:
i encourage people to go read the whole post.
let's see ...
one candidate's family background is military and places a high value on the virtue of killing other people.
one candidate's family background is academic and places a high value on helping people effectively (the old "teach a man to fish" routine).
any rational person would agree that on this basis alone, obama is a superior candidate. unfortunately, there seems to be a serious shortage of rational persons.
Go Red Sox....
This year market the official death and dismemberment of my beloved Tiger Stadium. RIP, old girl. You were the best.
Sorry if I am having a senior moment but - I think it was MTP k where Mayor Bloomberg appeared this morning. Why did Brokaw not ask about the Yankee Stadium funding. Bloomberg is so swift with the explanations, it would have been enlightening to see him field this issue raised by Bill Moyers.
Paul in Boca @ 26:
Letter to your "representatives" are a waste of time at this point. They don't freakin' care about you, what you think, how you're doing financially, - nada. They don't even care if you vote, because the way the system is rigged, the candidates who are bought by the corporations (i.e., sell their souls to the company man) always win. Repugs, Dems, doesn't matter. People who even hint that they're going to buck the system get booted out, or even worse.
Regarding baseball stadiums: who cares?? Professional sports and all manner of glitzy entertainment and products (TV, movies, gambling casinos, cars, Ipods, etc.) is all just ways for the big boys to separate you from your hard earned cash, by convincing you that you'll be "somebody" if only you've seen the latest movie, drive the biggest SUV or have the latest game system attached to your LCD big-screen. Look at how many fools stand in line for days, to have the chance to throw away their money to but a new phone, for bob's sake!
That's how we've ended up in the mess we're in now - we got sold a bill of goods, got totally distracted, scared and manipulated, and now everybody's concerned about the fact that they're scamming us again for a stinking baseball field?! They've been doing this to us for decades, sending our sons and daughters to die in their wars, and now sucking our homes, our fortunes and even our lives from us (that's what happens to people who don't have access to or can't pay for health care - they die).
As a person who spent some of my time marching in the 60's, I can tell you for sure that writing letters ain't gonna' cut it this time either.
We should look in the companys incorporation documents and find out who took the money then find them wherever they are and take the money back. By force if necessary!
all the crap that is going on with the corporate bailouts
and that is just what they are, remind me of the movie
"ROLLERBALL" the one with james caan. it's fuck
the people, let them pay for the wealthy's indulgence.
this country is rapidly heading to a social civil war.
katrina and now ike are two examples of intelligent
dissidence.
I'm one of those damn "liberals" we've all heard so much about over the last decade. I consistently vote Democrat, and I make it a point to be outspoken about my political views - among family, friends, and acquaintances - even when those views invite the most harsh accusations and insults.
So, I just want to go on the record.
Using any of the following talking points to encourage the conservative movement is (NOW and FOR EVER) entirely off limits to any Republican.
redistribution of wealth
big government
fiscal responsibility
evils of socialism
self-regulating markets
evil taxes
nanny state
interventionist
deficits don't matter
deregulation
free market capitalism
government inefficiency
liberals
end of communism
Ronald Regan
free lunch
welfare queen
Democratically held congress
ownership society
failing public schools
innovation of the private sector
healthy competition
individual responsibility
accountability
George Bush
The Republican Party, the party that wrecked America!!!
We have two of those "monstrosities" the we`re paying for in Cincinnati. We have Paul Brown Stadium,a mass of concrete and uncomfortable seats with drink holders for the $5 beers and $2.50 for watered down soda.And the most horrible thing, having to watch a great quarterback,Carson Palmer get creamed time after time, week after week on a field with chemical turf because they`re too cheap to pay the cost of real grass.
Then we have "The Great American Ball Park," which I have to admit is better than the stadium,but still a mass of concrete with a lousy baseball team. Total cost--about a billion.What fans get--nada.
Anais @ 3:
The only way to protest is to not go.Don`t pay to watch these bums.Then we`ll see who`s boss.I haven`t been to a pro ball game since Mike Brown screwed Boomer Esiason in 1998.
dont blame steinbrenner or the other owners for milking the taxpayers....this lays firmly on the mib hierarchy, who frown upon private funding for stadiums
the sf giants privately funded their stadium...they are the only ones to do so, and suffered the consequences, having selig and the good ole boys shutting them out for an as game until bonds was in the final year of his contract
not only did the giants privately fund their new park, but the park itself has reinvigorated the area in which it was built...there were new restaraunts, office and apt buildings, etc...all which added jobs and tax monies for the city
sure, the city did kick in, basically giving the land for free, but it was worth it
there is no doubt that the belle (now att park) is the most beautiful modern day park in all of baseball, with not one bad siteline and a great view of the bay
it can be done...but taxpayers, the voters and the owners have to put their collective feet down...and selig needs to go
Paul @ 1:
He forgot to mention paying MLB players the salaries that would be equal to the GDPs of most countries (and A-Rod is getting taken to the cleaners for half of that by his soon-to-be-ex-wife).
Uncle Joe Mccarthy @ 58:
That's one reason why the Oakland A's may be moving south to San Jose, because the taxpayers in Oakland got burned by the Raiders on a similar stadium deal, and the City of Oakland took the hit to near bankruptcy. When the A's went begging, I believe Jerry Brown told them to take a hike, especially after the taxpayers got stuck with, and are still paying the bill Al Davis stuck them with.
That's also why the Raiders haven't fielded a playoff-worthy team since the last of the glory days in 2000-01. They can't afford anything but first round draft picks and broke down players released from contending teams.
NoOneYouKnow @ 42:
Ya mean like "87 years until another World Series appearance?"
They should be cursed for jacking up MLB salaries, by Whinespender's trying to purchase another World Series title, instead of building up his farm system. That priced out other teams from competition, and forced passing the cost of these salaries to the fan trying to attend ball games and just enjoy himself.
fil @ 23:
Dude, that's true in ALL sports now. College Football has become ridiculous in price. In me younger days it cost a buck to sit in the end zone of the Coliseum and watch Tommy Prothro coach UCLA to better efforts than they've put out these last 5 years. Its 10 bucks to park on the golf course north of the Rose Bowl in an unmarked spot where you are held prisoner for an hour or two after the game. The seats are 20 - 30 bucks a head. To go watch those arrogant jerks across town you'd better bring money. Parking alone near the Coliseum will set you back about 30 bucks now.
LA Dodger tickets were $3.50 to sit on the field level out by the bull pens, $1.50 and 75 cents for kids to sit in the Top Deck. That was less than 35 years ago - Ford was President. Nowadays, I take my kids to one Padre game a year. I tell them the cost of one of the tickets used to be enough to cover the whole trip for 4 people plus all the stuff and the trip there and back. They need to know that, even if they can't fully understand the disturbing and depressing implications.
As a rabid sports fan I am adamantly opposed to taxpayers funding playgrounds for billionaires under the guise of civic pride and false promises of economic growth or by ugly threat of moving the home town team. As a diehard Pittsburgh Steelers football fan whom absolutely loathes team owner Dan Rooney as he whined while voters overwhelmingly said 'NO' to his taxpayer funded stadium only to swindle a 'Plan B' public financed full boat handout for his team's new digs.
The City of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County are flat broke, the population fled years ago including, me, from economic depression and is now the second oldest by median age of any city/county in the nation. Yet, Mr. Rooney has delivered what is perhaps the ugliest eyesore on a what was a pleasant city skyline. A shit hole of a place that has the stench of the garbage dump over which it was built in lower section seating. Rooney refused to help finance the roads and bridges to his new mausoleum then, screamed bloody murder, when a new Casino offered same. Now he wants $10M in taxpayer money to build a 'Dave and Buster' like theme park next to his yellow turd. This in a neighborhood that requires a .40 and Kevlar vest to walk through after sunset. Rooney promised a revitalized, vibrant North Shore when he sold his failed finance plan for a venue that is used 20 times a year and the area around the stadium is now more blighted.
Tell these big shot, cheap ass owners to piss off. Who cares if you move your fucking team. I'd follow the Peoria Steelers for the love of football as easily as my Pittsburgh team.
Reminiscent of the decadent Roman Empire, the American Empire begin to crumble.
While those in power give the plebs bread and circus (New Yankee Stadium), the Empire rots beneath our feet.
I am so sick of this shit from sports franchises. We should start a "Day without sports" campaign. For one day, encourage Americans to go to NO professional sporting events or watch any sports on TV.
Instead, spend the day with your friends and family playing your own sports, or go to a high school game in your community or maybe just hang out.
NO sports! One day!
Send a message to the owners, the players, the networks that we fans are the reason they enjoy wealth and privilege and they had better not take us for granted.
Empty stadiums and arenas around to country would lead the news and owners would be scared because they'd know that if we could ever do it once, we could do it again.
Any takers?
then boycott?
Here in the medium sized city I live in there's been a lot of controversy over a "civic center". Residents complained about the sorry shape of the streets while city officials built a white elephant that has yet to make any money. All because we're so tolerant of 2 old, damned, good for nothing political parties.
ZWBush @ 6:
me too, they're playing my White Sox the next three games....
I'm down. I think it's a great idea. Let's see how they's cash their fat checks if they didn't have us fan supporting them!
The Rude Bellman @ 65:
liberAL @ 13:
Anais @ 3:
YANKEES SUCK AND SO DOES THEIR STADIUM. GOOD RIDDANCE!
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