Field of Schemes: Whither Youppi?: The sequel

December 16, 2004

Whither Youppi?: The sequel

More fallout from Tuesday night's ambiguous stadium vote in D.C.:

The timeline leading up to Linda Cropp's introduction of the "private financing" provision that's so ticked off MLB is becoming clearer. Apparently MLB's letter responding to Cropp's request for modifications to the original stadium deal only made it into the council chair's hands in the middle of Tuesday's daylong hearing. When she determined that MLB had essentially refused to make significant concessions, Cropp spent time madly scribbling at the dais - at one point turning over the hearing to councilmember Jack Evans to run while she consulted with her staff - and finally emerged with the last-minute requirement for $140 million in private financing, stunning Mayor Anthony Williams, who thought Cropp was an assured "yes" vote.
While it's still not entirely clear what Cropp meant by "private financing" - according to council staffers, the final bill language still hasn't been officially submitted - it's looking more and more like she just meant "some private entity needs to be involved," not "a private entity needs to pay." One idea being kicked around would have the District lease out a pay-parking concession for the streets around the proposed stadium, which some have projected could bring in as much as $100 million; while it may be worth a shot, leasing out a public asset would hardly be "private money."
Today's ad hominem attack on Cropp comes from the Washington Times' Tom Knott, who dubs her "the Grinch who stole baseball" and asks, "Does the W in your middle initial stand for Weasel?" The Post's Tom Boswell, not to be outdone, decries the D.C. council as "bush league" and accuses Cropp of "sabotaging" the deal to bring the Expos to Washington, adding: "Suppose that, over the last few weeks, it was baseball, not Washington, that was constantly trying to renegotiate. What if Selig had changed his demands at least a half-dozen times, always upping the ante and using brinksmanship to get his way?" Yeah, because surely that could never happen.
As to where the Expos will play next season if the impasse continues, unattributed speculation is running rampant. The losing bidders in the Expos sweepstakes - Portland, Las Vegas, Norfolk, and Northern Virginia - all say they're ready to jump back in if the D.C. deal falls through, but then, none of them have anything close to a stadium finance plan in place, and all are lacking a major-league-ready stadium where a team could play in 2005. Boswell quotes a "highly placed source" as saying of moving the Expos to D.C.'s RFK Stadium for next year, "It's fair to assume that's out of the question"; an unnamed Expos source tells the Post of a possible return to Montreal: "Is it doable? Yes. Is it realistic? Not really." If everyone's right, that would leave only one option: road team!

I've heard at least one (second-hand) report that MLB has contacted D.C. officials looking to broker a deal that will both satisfy Cropp and ensure Bud Selig that he'll get his "'$581 million off one stadium' coupon," as councilmember Adrian Fenty called it on Tuesday. Given Selig's lack of viable alternatives, it certainly makes sense for him to look for a way to salvage what would still be an incredibly lucrative deal for MLB - but then, calm thinking in the heat of battle has never exactly been the watchword of the Selig administration.

Besides, as sports economist Robert Baade noted to the Post, while putting up even $140 million in private money would be "in the middle of the road" as far as recent baseball stadium deals go, agreeing to grant concessions to D.C. now "wouldn't set a good precedent for them. Major League Baseball has a tough decision to make here."

COMMENTS

Bravo for Cropp for standing up to these baseball cronies!!!!
Posted by: Mike at December 16, 2004 12:34 PM

Go Linda, Go.
Posted by: Jeff at December 16, 2004 09:22 PM

I don't live in DC, but I have this feeling Cropp is not getting a fair deal in the press, especially the sports press. I have no idea what her real agenda is, but the only thing I read makes her out to be a ditz at best, and a crazed lunatic at worst. Independant of the criticism and invective, what has she stood for on DC council over the years?
Posted by: Joel at December 17, 2004 11:14 AM

I personally don't care what Cropp's "agenda" might be, I just hope she stands pat. I remember reading how bad the public hospitals that serve D.C.'s poor are, but the mayor and council just couldn't seem to find the money to build or staff new ones--and I'm sure public hospitals aren't the only needs the city has. How much do you want to bet that social services would be cut due to a "bad economy" while the mayor hands public money over to MLB? In my own county (Pima, AZ), our board of supervisors gave the Diamondbacks a sweetheart deal on a spring training facility that also houses the club's AAA team. Of course, the cost was supposed to be recouped through concessions and new tourist taxes passed at the time. Funniest thing, but the county still in the red on the deal. Meanwhile, they just had to sell off our county hospital, which is the place of last resort for the indigent in need of healthcare. The entire issue disgusts me. On another note, the coverage of this issue is a prime reason I don't consider sports writers to be "journalists": they're cheerleaders for the millionaires who play sports and the billionaires who own sports. Of course, they're not much worse than the political cheerleaders in the White House press corps, I guess. (And, yes, I'm a sports fan. I'm just not a corporate welfare fan.)
Posted by: Kim at December 20, 2004 11:34 PM