Ailene Voisin: It's time for arena parties to shape up
By Ailene Voisin - Bee Sports Columnist
Published 12:00 am PDT Wednesday, September 20, 2006
Story appeared in SPORTS section, Page C1
Link to story on Sacbee --- http://www.sacbee.com/100/story/26167.html
[FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Rome wasn't built in a day, and more to the point, neither was the Colosseum. Construction costs and weather delays had to be overcome. Public/private squabbles had to be resolved. Political foes had to be arm-wrestled and defeated. Yet centuries later, the old arena continues to pack 'em in.
Peer into the bowels of the most spectacular of the ancient sports venues, and you can almost see the lions devouring the Christians. You can envision Russell Crowe brandishing his sword and shield. You can even hear the roar of the bloodthirsty spectators, consumed as they are by their era's own version of Monday Night Football.
None of the competitors, of course, leaves the forum with all fingers and toes intact. Not then and not now.
So here is it is, these modern times when men are presumed to be more civilized and considerably more enlightened than their predecessors, and the tentative deal on a downtown Sacramento arena has snagged on the number and location of parking spaces -- a crucial issue, to be sure, but not an unresolvable one. No one is eating anyone alive. But no one is doing much communicating, either.
The city/county officials are in their offices. The Atlanta developer is en route to Sacramento. The Maloofs are in Los Angeles.
The Maloofs are in Los Angeles.
Hmmmm.
"These are very hard deals to do because you are involving multiple parties," Assistant City Manager John Dangberg acknowledged, "and also from a physical perspective with underground parking, elevated roads that have to tie together. There was a signed term sheet, but not every issue fully dealt with -- some we recognized needed further negotiations. But it took a lot of work in a very short period of time to get the stars to align. We need to get everyone back to the table."
Might Cicero be available to intervene? How about Darrell Steinberg? Joe and Gavin Maloof should seriously consider asking the state Senate candidate to resume his role on their negotiating team, as someone to counter the intractable, chronically disliked John Thomas.
The Maloofs fired Rick Adelman for failing to close the deal. Why should Thomas -- who was dumped by Rockets owner Les Alexander a decade ago for his inability to facilitate an arena agreement in Houston -- be allowed to launch another series of airballs?
This is Lakers-Kings fourth quarter. Each passing hour subtracts yes votes on the November ballot measures designed to help fund a new sports/entertainment complex and provide equal sums for city/county municipalities to spend at their discretion. If something dramatic doesn't transpire and an aggressive campaign kick off shortly, it will be time to start plotting. For 2008.
The compressed four-month time frame all along has been rather audacious. Conception to birth -- from initial arena ruminating to final construction -- routinely lasts from five to 10 years.
Ultimately, the Kings, the city, the developer and the league are inextricably bound, for all the obvious reasons.
Sacramento needs a new arena to replace outdated Arco, which was built on the cheap in 1988 and is the second-oldest NBA facility (behind New Jersey's Continental Airlines Arena) that has not had a massive renovation. A state-of-the-art structure also enhances development in the railyard and is cheaper to build with an anchor tenant (Maloofs) present and paying part of the bill.
The Maloofs need Sacramento because, for all the community's corporate limitations, it offers prospects for population and business growth, along with a captive sports/entertainment audience. Additionally, alternative locations present their own varied and assorted issues, among them San Jose (Sharks owners looking to buy an NBA team), Las Vegas (mayor wants casinos to fund any arena endeavor), Anaheim (already has entity to operate facility) and Kansas City (too much competition).
Besides, the Maloofs say they're staying, so you have to take them at their word. Reputations are at stake. Abandoning the league's most loyal fan base would cripple their image, trailing along for decades like so many attention-starved groupies.
And David Stern needs the Maloofs and Kings to stay together because he doesn't want to foster an NBA shuttle system. He wants players who move fast, not owners. Consider: only one club in Major League Baseball (Montreal Expos) has moved within the past 34 years, and following a flurry of activity in the mid-1990s, no NFL team has relocated since the Houston Oilers departed for Tennessee in 1997. By comparison, the NBA has become increasingly fluid, with the Vancouver Grizzlies (Memphis) and Charlotte Hornets (to New Orleans, then to Oklahoma City) changing cities in the last five years, and arena problems, fan apathy or basic economics threatening the long-term viability of organizations in Seattle, Portland, Orlando, Milwaukee, Charlotte, Memphis and, surely, New Orleans.
No, no more nonsense. Back to the future, and if necessary, back to the past. Cicero. Steinberg. Is there a Maloof in the neighborhood? There should be.
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By Ailene Voisin - Bee Sports Columnist
Published 12:00 am PDT Wednesday, September 20, 2006
Story appeared in SPORTS section, Page C1
Link to story on Sacbee --- http://www.sacbee.com/100/story/26167.html
[FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Rome wasn't built in a day, and more to the point, neither was the Colosseum. Construction costs and weather delays had to be overcome. Public/private squabbles had to be resolved. Political foes had to be arm-wrestled and defeated. Yet centuries later, the old arena continues to pack 'em in.
Peer into the bowels of the most spectacular of the ancient sports venues, and you can almost see the lions devouring the Christians. You can envision Russell Crowe brandishing his sword and shield. You can even hear the roar of the bloodthirsty spectators, consumed as they are by their era's own version of Monday Night Football.
None of the competitors, of course, leaves the forum with all fingers and toes intact. Not then and not now.
So here is it is, these modern times when men are presumed to be more civilized and considerably more enlightened than their predecessors, and the tentative deal on a downtown Sacramento arena has snagged on the number and location of parking spaces -- a crucial issue, to be sure, but not an unresolvable one. No one is eating anyone alive. But no one is doing much communicating, either.
The city/county officials are in their offices. The Atlanta developer is en route to Sacramento. The Maloofs are in Los Angeles.
The Maloofs are in Los Angeles.
Hmmmm.
"These are very hard deals to do because you are involving multiple parties," Assistant City Manager John Dangberg acknowledged, "and also from a physical perspective with underground parking, elevated roads that have to tie together. There was a signed term sheet, but not every issue fully dealt with -- some we recognized needed further negotiations. But it took a lot of work in a very short period of time to get the stars to align. We need to get everyone back to the table."
Might Cicero be available to intervene? How about Darrell Steinberg? Joe and Gavin Maloof should seriously consider asking the state Senate candidate to resume his role on their negotiating team, as someone to counter the intractable, chronically disliked John Thomas.
The Maloofs fired Rick Adelman for failing to close the deal. Why should Thomas -- who was dumped by Rockets owner Les Alexander a decade ago for his inability to facilitate an arena agreement in Houston -- be allowed to launch another series of airballs?
This is Lakers-Kings fourth quarter. Each passing hour subtracts yes votes on the November ballot measures designed to help fund a new sports/entertainment complex and provide equal sums for city/county municipalities to spend at their discretion. If something dramatic doesn't transpire and an aggressive campaign kick off shortly, it will be time to start plotting. For 2008.
The compressed four-month time frame all along has been rather audacious. Conception to birth -- from initial arena ruminating to final construction -- routinely lasts from five to 10 years.
Ultimately, the Kings, the city, the developer and the league are inextricably bound, for all the obvious reasons.
Sacramento needs a new arena to replace outdated Arco, which was built on the cheap in 1988 and is the second-oldest NBA facility (behind New Jersey's Continental Airlines Arena) that has not had a massive renovation. A state-of-the-art structure also enhances development in the railyard and is cheaper to build with an anchor tenant (Maloofs) present and paying part of the bill.
The Maloofs need Sacramento because, for all the community's corporate limitations, it offers prospects for population and business growth, along with a captive sports/entertainment audience. Additionally, alternative locations present their own varied and assorted issues, among them San Jose (Sharks owners looking to buy an NBA team), Las Vegas (mayor wants casinos to fund any arena endeavor), Anaheim (already has entity to operate facility) and Kansas City (too much competition).
Besides, the Maloofs say they're staying, so you have to take them at their word. Reputations are at stake. Abandoning the league's most loyal fan base would cripple their image, trailing along for decades like so many attention-starved groupies.
And David Stern needs the Maloofs and Kings to stay together because he doesn't want to foster an NBA shuttle system. He wants players who move fast, not owners. Consider: only one club in Major League Baseball (Montreal Expos) has moved within the past 34 years, and following a flurry of activity in the mid-1990s, no NFL team has relocated since the Houston Oilers departed for Tennessee in 1997. By comparison, the NBA has become increasingly fluid, with the Vancouver Grizzlies (Memphis) and Charlotte Hornets (to New Orleans, then to Oklahoma City) changing cities in the last five years, and arena problems, fan apathy or basic economics threatening the long-term viability of organizations in Seattle, Portland, Orlando, Milwaukee, Charlotte, Memphis and, surely, New Orleans.
No, no more nonsense. Back to the future, and if necessary, back to the past. Cicero. Steinberg. Is there a Maloof in the neighborhood? There should be.
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