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March 29, 2009
Colts leaving good for Baltimore?
I've read a bunch of good reporting from Baltimore Sun writer Childs Walker, and even been interviewed by him, so I'm not happy to have to nominate him for dumbest observation of the day on the 25th anniversary of the Baltimore Colts moving to Indianapolis:
With 25 years of perspective, however, it's possible to argue that March 29, 1984, was actually a good day for Baltimore sports. It allowed the city to cut ties with a desperately flawed franchise and a deeply unpopular owner. It spurred elected officials to get serious about plans that would keep the Orioles in Baltimore and attract a new NFL team. Those plans bore fruit in Camden Yards and M&T Bank Stadium, beloved facilities that are now as intrinsic to downtown as the Inner Harbor. The Ravens arrived in 1996 and won a Super Bowl six years before the Colts brought Indianapolis its first Lombardi Trophy.
Uhhhh, so let me get this straight: It's good that the Colts moved and left the city without an NFL team for a decade because it ended up forcing the state to spend $330 million on two new stadiums? Isn't that a bit like saying the economic crash was good because it forced the government to increase unemployment insurance?
Also nowhere to be found in Walker's article: Any mention of the fact that the Ravens, after all, "arrived" from 50 years of being the Cleveland Browns, a move that forced that city to pony up $283 million for a new stadium to get football back. Though I guess when the thesis of your article is "Hey, it worked out okay, we ended up with a better team and all it cost us was $330 million!" there's no room to worry about how things worked out for the next guy.
Although it cost Baltimore 300 million for two stadiums since the Colt's exodus the city of Indianapolis built two stadiums for the Colts at a cost of 800 million; RCA Dome (1984, 73 million) and Lucas Oil Stadium (2008, 720 million). Worse yet our Capital Improvement Board (CIB) is basically bankrupt because of the increased maintenance costs of Lucas (20 million per year) maintenance isn't covered under the current funding for Lucas. The fact that two cities paid over a billion dollars for stadiums for pro sports teams isn't good it should be criminal.
Posted by Jon on March 30, 2009 12:42 AM
Here is the only good out of the article. The last 25 years bore Camden Yards, which is the model which all present ballparks are built except for Yankee Stadium (the new one), and any retro park with a dome on it. Those parks are based on Seattle's Safeco Field.
Posted by Jessy S. on March 31, 2009 03:25 AM