July 11, 2006 County Council Meeting

[Burninator]

Originally Posted by I_Believe_In_Kreis

Larry Miller = Microsoft
Dave Checketts = Netscape

Nothing like intimidating/maneuvering/bribing away the competition. Anti-trust lawsuit anyone?

How about a boycott?

[rabble-rabble]

Probably going to be sort of long………

I passionately love the game of soccer and having suffered most of my life with no local teams to cheer for (other than a few brief years when the Golden Spikers and Sting were in town) I have been fortunate to be able to cheer for the Blitzz from 2000-2004, and then for RSL the last 2 years. I sincerely hope that RSL will somehow survive, but having watched the Blitzz try unsuccessfully to get a stadium going, and with little cooperation, end up settling for renting RES, and now watching RSL go through similar challenges and setbacks, I fear that yesterday’s vote may end up costing our community our team. The Blitzz were able to survive renting RES with devoted but small crowds as they had a fairly smaller payroll, but RSL simply cannot make a profit there in the long term, and the MLS simply will not permit it.

I’m dissappointed with the decision, but upon reflection, have to admit that it would have been difficult for the committee to vote in favor of a proposal when public opinion polls show the public firmly against funding the stadium. These polls may be based upon asking misleading questions to an uninformed public, but nevertheless, I think that if they had voted for the proposal, a lot of them would be out of a position come the next November elections. They represented their constituents and made decisions accordingly. Like it or not, most people in our community favor yesterday’s decision.

If there is any chance of a new stadium, I think a few things have to happen. One is the team needs to focus on simply building a stadium. A year ago, the proposal was a stadium on a block of land in Salt Lake. When the RDA fundings was blocked by the state legislature, the plan became a “soccer city” with a few practice fields, TV studios, offices, etc., and then recently ballooned into Tom Dolan’s proposal of Sandy being the central core of the whole valley with a price tag of over a half a BILLION dollars. The public cost hasn’t gone up as much as the private dollar figure, but has gone up. The whole thing sort of got out of control.

I think the team and some fans have to lower their ambitions a bit here. The team needs a stadium. They don’t need an adjoining TV studio or office complex. Practice fields would be a nice touch, but there are a lot of soccer pitches in parks out there that 1000s of amateur and youth players in our community already enjoy. The team needs to focus on planning a stadium and no more. They can have all the advantages of a SSS (grass pitch, no football lines, improved sight lines, better control of home dates, revenue from concessions and merchandise) without having all that other stuff.

I also know a lot of fans out there dream of a downtown location where they can get off at the TRAX stop, walk over to Port of Call or Red Rocks and enjoy a pint or two (or possibly take in a nice meal at a nearby eating establishment), attend the match, have another pint or a meal after the match, then have a safe TRAX ride home. But downtown land is kind of pricey and it simply would be more cost effective to put a stadium in the fairgrounds area as the land is already pretty much available. TRAX will be out there on the airport line in a few years for those that like to ride to the matches and avoid parking hassles. A lot of fans are kind of down on this idea, but if the money isn’t available to put the stadium downtown, then anywhere else in our community is a hell of a lot better than St. Louis, Cleveland, or Phoenix.

If another proposal surfaces (and I am hopeful it will) instead of condemming the decision because it is Sandy, or on the ‘bad side’ of town, we as fans need to be supportive and rally behind the team. It’s bad enough when the non-soccer crowd is loudly voicing their anti-stadium opinions (which the local media is more than happy to give their attention to) without the soccer fans also joining in. I’ve noted before that if a fan says they will not support a stadium in Sandy (or Fairpark or other venue) then they are in effect saying they do not support RSL. I for one will go to the matches anywhere on the Wasatch Front. I’m admittedly a bit more supportive than the casual fan. When the Blitzz were in town, I regularly made the trip to Provo when they played at “South Field” and was at their ‘home’ match in Wendover when there were about as many fans on the sidelines as there were players on the pitch. I don’t think driving or riding TRAX to Sandy or the Fairground is all that unpleasant a prospect.

Time for all of us to rally behind the team. We need to attend the games we can the coming weeks (admittedly tough as there are lots of games in the coming weeks including an Open Cup game that isn’t on the season ticket holder package) and it wouldn’t hurt to do a little recruitment and treat a few friends and family members to a match.

I really think that we’ve got a good soccer community here. I remember when RSL had their first home match televised last season and the ESPN announcers were impressed because the crowd “knew when to cheer”. We’ve got a lot of great fans here who have been patient through the stuggles on and off the field. I hope this all works out somehow because if we lose the team, I doubt we’ll ever see the MLS here again.

Well I’m off my soapbox. Flame away.

[Deuce]

Originally Posted by the Bardguy

Dave Checketts on the Doug Wright show today:



http://real.ksl.com/audio/2006_07_12_doug2.mp3 about 2/3 the way through.

I don't know if anyone, noticed or cares but Checketts says RM has signed Christian Ronaldo

[Deuce]

Good post Rabble... A reality check is never a bad thing...
Especially since alot of fans are taking the chicken little approach... justified or not... It never hurts to have a perspective adjustment..
Thanks.

[luvmyboys]

Originally Posted by Deuce

I don't know if anyone, noticed or cares but Checketts says RM has signed Christian Ronaldo

As of this morning on the Man U website, it says that his contract is until 2010 and they fully expect him to honor it. "the club will not listen to any offers for Cristiano".....

[Jose Luis Luviano]

La Opinion says that Real Madrid says that Cannavaro is almost a done deal. But they did not mention anything about Cristiano Ronaldo.

[Jose Luis Luviano]

Originally Posted by rabble-rabble

Time for all of us to rally behind the team.
I.

Over? Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? It's not over until we say it's over.

[prk166]

Originally Posted by rabble-rabble

TRAX will be out there on the airport line in a few years

Great post but unless they've finalized financing for that line already, it's going to be a lot longer than a few years. I thought that line was part of the plan but without anything contrete in plans I would say 10 years from now. Afterall it seems like both midvale and west valley city lines are in the works and ahead of them in the que. So if/when the airport line plans would be put in place and secure financing and then on top of that built, I'd say a decade would be more like it.

But that's just a very minor point. And it should in no way shape or form take away from the point that there are still plenty of possibilities. Face it, the politicians are nervous with November around the corner. Let them get through that and they'll be ready to open the check book and give RSL a nice Christmas present. 🙂

[Deuce]

Originally Posted by luvmyboys

As of this morning on the Man U website, it says that his contract is until 2010 and they fully expect him to honor it. "the club will not listen to any offers for Cristiano".....

I am just telling you what Checketts said...

Bardguy provided a great link... it is quite an interesting interview w/ Checketts. After hearing that I am not so bummed about the deal... but I am sure that is how i am supposed to feel ... I feel so exploited! 🙄

Uncle Dave said he will try to do a deal that does not involve all the politics which seems to hint at the possibility of all private funding although he does not come out and say that specifically.

I think this is not anywhere near over though...

[Jose Luis Luviano]

Originally Posted by rabble-rabble

I for one will go to the matches anywhere on the Wasatch Front. .

"Please don't make us spend extra time in Provo."

Remember this?

I think that a warehouse or 2 may have gone in since this was written; but there's still a whole bunch of room out there.

-No NIMBY neighbors (like the ones that tried to kill Victoria Street)

-The closest residents would be ones who would appreciate a job at the stadium

-No traffic problems

-Certain supporters' groups could moon the visiting team's bus; then moon the visiting team's plane when they take off from the airport next door.

-I can ride my bike to weekday games and get all buffed out. (hee, hee! Now THAT'S a joke.)