Quoting JIM GRAHAM <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>:
[snip] >For that reason I believe we should do what is necessary to keep the Twins. [BV] I don't think we ought to do ANYTHING necessary and I appreciated that word being omitted whether on purpose or not. I think that very few people WANT the Twins to go. It is an issue of wants and needs in these days of budget woes. [snip] > I still have a problem subsidizing multi-millionaires, so I suggest the > Twins be bought by the City of Minneapolis, or the State of Minnesota, or by > some group of multi-millionaires and then immediately incorporated and sold > as a publicly held corporation whose by-laws and charter do not allow the > team to be moved from the area. The homebound person, the outstate senior; > as well as all the other fans could take some vicarious thrill of being part > of the ownership of the team. If you have about 100,000 small owners of a > team that could not be moved, and that team were truly the "MINNESOTA" > Twins, I would not be adverse to a publicly owned stadium. > > Such a team ownership might negate the need for a new stadium, and it is > certainly cheaper to buy the team than to build a stadium. In fact, it is > less than half the cost of building a stadium. Such ownership would generate > a lot more interest in going to see the team play in regular season. Look > at Green Bay, people like going to see a team play that they personally > "own". It is the Rich ownership that is demanding a new stadium and > blackmailing the State to build such a stadium with threats of moving or > killing the team, not fans. [snip] [BV] A courageous idea! I wonder if it is even in the realm of possibility with Selig at the helm of MLB, however. [snip] > > Fans absolutely love the Dome. The Dome experience is almost as important > to an attending fan as the game being played. At this time fans have a > vicarious ownership of the team and get so excited, but I can only imagine > the excitement if you had a hundred thousand "owners". Only half of who > would be able to get into the game at any one time. > [snip] [BV] I wouldn't say that everyone LOVES the dome; it is certainly quite practical for our climate, but the new stadium hawks would say "that's why we need to drop the extra $100 - 200 mill on the retractible roof!" I attended a Twins game this year with my youngest daughter and it struck me for the first time: There's no BULLPEN! Bummer... What a wonderful year for Twins baseball, eh? I would caution us, however, to not be seduced by those eager to compensate the Twins for an excellent season with a new ballpark. The danger lies not only in placing future generations in hock for a new ballpark, but also setting a precedent that sports teams will hold us to in the future. Bob Velez Shingle Creek Ward 4-1 _______________________________________ 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
