Thursday, March 26, 2009

The Reasons I'm Still Not 100% Thrilled About MLS In Portland

  1. They're not all that honest about abosolutely, positively having to ZOMG remodel Piggy Park.
  2. I know they're saying that this is all guaranteed 'n' stuff and that the taxpayer exposure on this is at a minimum, but people on that stratum of society have been lying to me for so long they've forgotten how to tell the truth. It's probably gone so far that when they lie to us that actually think they are telling the truth. So they say there's going to be a deal in place that'll prevent taxpayers from being harmed. Well, maybe. I'll believe it when it doesn't happen.
  3. New sports stadia don't really help the local economy. It's always used as a reason and it's been debunked time and again (and it the situation I've linked it was disproved by actual smart people with actual degrees and stuff) but this zombie bullet point just Will. Not. Die.
  4. One less just-affordable entertainment opportunity for me and mine. Major league sports = major league ticket prices, it doesn't matter what sport it is (fortunately, we've recently reconnected with the Winter Hawks, which is a hell of a team). We're poor. In 2011 we'll probably have no chance to see a Timbers game live, because we're no longer able to afford it
  5. No more Beavers at the Piggy? I suppose I can accept this in concept but on a gut level, it just doesn't make sense.
  6. The NASL Timbers drew 20,000 fans a game. The NASL folded anyway.
  7. The whole quest for some sort of triumph on this issue distracted the mayors office and the Student Council from taking care of essential things. Now the city's going to be spending an extra megabuck a month while they work out some issue they should have already taken care of.
I'm sure Mom Always Said something about this, but I can't quite figure out what it might have been.
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3 comments:

  1. carlaMarch 26, 2009 at 3:56 PM

    1. BIG mistake to rely on Bojack for factual information, much less one of his readers. There was never stated that it had to be soccer only, rather soccer-SPECIFIC. PGE is configured for baseball, which was the problem. If it were just football, American and otherwise, it wouldn't--and won't be, since PSU will still play there in the falls--an issue.

    2. By Aug 1, you'll have your proof, or not.

    3. The studies cited refer to new, privately owned stadia in the suburbs--at least that's the vast majority of cases reviewed in those studies. This is a publicly held stadium in the city core, right on mass transit.

    4. I believe the bottom level seat will be something on the order of $10-15. That's pretty affordable, as sports events go.

    5. A AAA-specific park will actually be much better; the place won't always seem like a ghost town even when they're drawing 8,000 fans.

    6. The NASL was 30 years ago, with a much different league structure. Not comparable.

    7. is a total red herring. The Council wouldn't ever have involved itself in day to day contract work installing the systems, MLS or no MLS. Nobody "dropped the ball;" although they continue to underestimate the complexity of the City's payroll systems.

    Any other concerns? :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. carlaMarch 26, 2009 at 3:56 PM

    whoops, wrong login, sorry. This is TJ of loadedorygun, not Carla (late of LO, now at BlueOregon).

    ReplyDelete
  3. The ChinukMarch 26, 2009 at 7:40 PM

    Well, you made some good answers, TJ-who-isn't-Carla. Seriously, and thank you for that. It's appreciated.

    Much good food for thought.

    That was pretty much the concerns I did have. This will go forward regardless of what I think or feel (actually, now that I think about it, that's the doubt from which all others sprout) but your answers do clarify quite a bit.

    Thanks.

    ReplyDelete

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