But as far as I can tell, no one, but no one, covers the travails of bullshit Stadium issues better than Field of Schemes. It should be the required reading of any fan, any mayor of a city with a team of any size, and certainly any legislator that is seriously thinking about raising funds for their local sports franchise. (Helpful reminder--just because a team has your city's name in it, does not make it a public trust. It is often (even, usually) a private endeavor.
I have personally linked to Field of Schemes a few times, but I don't think I've ever explicitly stated how important I think the work being done there is. The blog has multiple authors, but you can go through days of posts and see one name: Neil deMause (which is Franco-German for Neil The Mouse, of course). Neil does yeoman's work--he will talk about the stadiums near his locality, but he'll also pop in with links about a stadium deal for the CFL's Hamilton Tiger-Cats, or what towns are paying for Spring Training fields (you didn't know the owners were squeezing deals in Arizona and Florida, did you? Neil did!)
Every legislator thinking about approving a regressive, generational tax for that new arena/stadium for their local team should read through the Field of Schemes Archives. Whether it is proving David Stern changes his tune in Seattle, or Mario Lemieux admitting to lying to the city of Pittsburgh, Neil and his crew have stories aplenty that should make every city representative/citizen/journalist think twice before blindly trusting the people who run their beloved franchises (and for some reason, I'm compelled to yell "Sid Hartman!" right now).
I'd go read that blog, if I were you.
1 comment:
America's Bloated Snackhole? Lay off Wade Phillips, he just got fired.
Post a Comment