I was happy to see Mr. Watkin's response to the recent front page articles in the Strib on yesterday's op-ed page.
The articles have made me queasy. Someone somewhere suggested that nobody wrote stories in a similar vein when a certain fast talking Texan came to town to buy the Vikings. If I am not mistaken, these stories in the Strib have come after MLB has vetted Mr.Watkins and given him the go ahead to talk to Carl Pohlad. Unless MLB thinks it would be good to have a public relations fiasco(not out of the realm of possibility given the reign of Bud Selig) when it is revealed Mr. Watkins does not have the do-re-mi to buy the Twins and move on building a stadium, it seems out of place to write such stories. It has almost seemed like there is incredulity that a black man can have so much money. And that if he does have it, at least part of it came to him questionably by association with the similarly black former Mayor of Birmingham and other sources the Strib found to be questionable. I am not suggesting that the Strib is not justified, indeed it is almost required as part of its civic duty, in doing due diligence on Mr. Watkins. If Mr.Watkins response is accurate it appears they may not have been as diligent as they could have been. One could argue that in a time when we witness the collapse of the 7th largest U.S. corporation which each day looks more and more like a giant ponzi scheme that we ought to scrutinize Mr.Watkins. I don't think the two cases are similar. Mr.Watkins is not asking for money at this point nor is he offering stock and all we as a municipality have to lose should this deal not pan out is some emotional investment. Given the prevailing mood in Minneapolis I don't see the emotional investment as being very great. At this point we are talking about a purely private business transaction between two people on opposite sides of a deal. Mr.Watkins will be the big loser if he turns out to be a poseur as some seem to think he is already. My best guess is that this deal will not come down. It won't be because Donald Watkins doesn't have the cash or the desire. It will be that Carl Pohlad's price will be too high. There is a world of difference between the $99 million Forbes magazine values the team at, a logical point from which Mr. Watkins would start negotiating, and the $150 million or up that Mr.Pohlad hopes to get from a buyer or the reported number he will receive from MLB in proposed contraction plans. I hope I'm wrong. I hope Donald Watkins buys the Twins. And if I were Mr. Watkins I would be looking to build my stadium east of the river where the Mayor says he's inclined to take the man at face value and explore the possibilities. He might also look to St.Paul where the Mayor wants to rename a major street after Martin Luther King instead of Minneapolis where the Mayor chooses to cut office expense by letting go of the only black on his staff. Play ball! Tim Connolly Downtown Minneapolis __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Send FREE Valentine eCards with Yahoo! Greetings! http://greetings.yahoo.com _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
