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Chargers departure could hit U-T where it hurts
Reportedly, the Chargers don't own the Carson land, but will allegedly control the right to develop it. Maybe the maneuvering was done in part to keep the Spanos and Chargers names out of the public records. Or maybe the Chargers' "right to develop" the land is just a hedge/bluff that exists only as long as the stadium mirage is useful, and after that the true owner can go ahead and build a shopping center on the property.— February 21, 2015 11:32 p.m.
Chargers departure could hit U-T where it hurts
Los Angeles already has a fine soccer stadium -- and it's in Carson. http://www.stubhubcenter.com/about/venues/soccer-…— February 21, 2015 11:26 p.m.
What about that Spanos money?
This raises an interesting point. (Thanks for the data, Don.) If the Spanos family is that cash poor (by NFL standards), can we even trust them if they say they will pay $200 million cash toward a stadium? That might be about as reliable as you or I promising to pay $200 million cash toward a stadium. Also, $200 million is not nearly enough to ask of the Chargers. The Vikings' ownership is contributing over $500 million of its own money toward the new Minnesota stadium. So, it looks like we have a situation where the Chargers' pledge is both far short of what the city should expect AND an unreliable pledge given the Spanos family finances.— January 18, 2015 10:06 p.m.
What about that Spanos money?
I think the NFL would waive a relocation fee for the Rams given that their owner would be building a new stadium in LA (Inglewood) with his own cash. The league might not waive the hefty fee for the Raiders or Chargers, who would only be tenants in the Rams' new stadium. But, I could see a scenario where the NFL is so eager to get new ownership for a team (especially the Raiders) that they would offer a new owner a no-fee relocation to LA provided that the new ownership is satisfactory and sufficiently wealthy.— January 18, 2015 10 p.m.
Mark Fabiani's San Diego takedown
It's not smart politics. When Don Corleone threatened people, he did so with a purpose. Fabiani is just attacking everyone. He goes after the incumbent Republican mayor AND the Democratic councilman who will likely run against the mayor in the next election. Fabiani has also attacked both old-line San Diego establishment types (e.g., Cushman) and outsider figures often opposed to the establishment (Aguirre).— January 18, 2015 9:52 p.m.
Mark Fabiani's San Diego takedown
Yes, a common thread in the many stadium proposals floated in various places in San Diego County "over the years" is that the local governments, and/or real estate shell game magic, or whatever, was supposed to finance such a large percentage of the stadium cost relative to the Chargers' own percentage. Minnesota is building a new football stadium for the Vikings. While the "public contribution" is still extremely large, at least the Vikings' ownership is paying over $500 million toward the cost, which is over half of the total cost. I am not aware of any serious stadium proposal ever made in San Diego County that involved the Chargers' ownership paying more than half of the total cost.— January 18, 2015 9:45 p.m.
Why, Y?
For those who don't know: Mr. Stocks and Ms. Barth are both former Encinitas city council members. I don't know either personally, but I gather they don't like each other, and this article should be read in that context. The article also misses one very important point: People using the ball fields at the Ecke YMCA park in the YMCA's parking lot. The city of Encinitas should have provided parking for the ball fields long ago, but has never done that. The YMCA parking lot is large enough to accommodate the YMCA's uses. It is not large enough to accommodate both the YMCA's uses and the city's heavy usage of the ball fields. YMCA members are often squeezed out of parking when the fields are in heavy use. At times, the Y has even gone so far as to have its employees park off-site just to free up a few additional spaces at the Y. The 30-day notice provision, in my opinion, provides a useful incentive for the city to find a way to stop field users from overburdening the Y's parking lot. The YMCA provides a lot of benefits for residents of Encinitas and the rest of north county; the city of Encinitas ought to be smart enough to appreciate that and do what is necessary to find additional parking for the city programs that use the Y's fields.— December 21, 2014 9:12 a.m.
Post-coital knife attack
I bet the 4" knife was the longest tool he had.— December 5, 2014 9:48 p.m.
Ryan Leaf released from Montana prison
I won't laugh at Leaf. Addiction can be a brutal thing. He was probably fed painkillers like candy from the time he started college, or even before, and could never kick the habit. There are probably many other former football players in similar situations.— December 5, 2014 9:46 p.m.
Manchester golf-course deal collapses
With Faulconer as mayor, a Manchester project can easily get around any and all City of San Diego regulations. So, presumably the deal didn't make financial sense for Manchester even with the giveaway, errr, "lease concession" he would have received from the city.— November 15, 2014 11:03 a.m.