August 05, 2004
Membership has its privileges
The city of Arlington, Texas - best known for increasing the net worth of a certain future U.S. president - continues to talk with the Dallas Cowboys about using tax dollars to pay as much as half the cost of a new $650 million stadium, with a voter referendum possible in November. As to whether billionaire Cowboys owner Jerry Jones shouldn't just be paying the whole cost himself, Fort Worth Star-Telegram columnist O.K. Carter explains:
Yes, Jones should pay totally for any stadium. But he doesn't have to, doesn't want to and, therefore, will not. As with most hard questions, there's a theoretical answer -- he should pay -- and a real answer -- he doesn't have to. Any of a half-dozen franchise-hungry cities in the country will happily cough up a big chunk of the tab for the Cowboys.
Of course, this is the same O.K. Carter who back in May wrote:
They simply can't use the old "give us a new stadium or we'll leave" threat. They've become one of the most valuable sports franchises on the planet because of that "Dallas" in front of their name. Even if they left, the thunder we'd hear would be the sound of air crashing into the empty space left by a half-dozen other franchises trying to be the first to fill the Cowboys' vacuum. No, the Cowboys are stuck here, no matter what.
Note to O.K.: You might want to read your own clippings every once in a while.
Posted by Neil deMause
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