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June 21, 2009
San Jose on A's vote: Wait till next year
Surprising absolutely no one, San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed has announced that he won't be seeking a ballot referendum this November on building a stadium for the Oakland A's, as he'd earlier hinted at. Reed's statement was apparently prompted by A's owner Lew Wolff declaring that a November vote was "premature," though you'd have thought that the fact that there's still no financing plan or approval from MLB of an A's move to San Jose might have been enough to tip the mayor off.
A vote could now come in March, or June, or November, depending on when Reed thinks it's best politically (he's up for re-election next fall) and when the Gang of Three issues its territorial rights ruling. Holding your breath is definitely contraindicated on that one.
Neil,
You're a funny guy. Trust me; no need to "hold your breath" on the "Gang of Three"s territorial rights ruling; just like there's no need to hold your breath on the Sun rising tomorrow. If they're smart (and I'm sure they are), the T-Rights will be history because of the following: The city of Oakland is finished in the sports business, Lew Wolff wants SJ, 87% of Silicon Valley company's recently polled by the Silicon Valley Leadership Group (very powerful politically) don't do business with the SF Giants (the G's won't be hurt financially with the A's in SJ; it's a big lie!), MLB will not allow a city of over 1 million people to continue to be held hostage by some selfish ballclub 50 miles to the north, A's made over $30 million in revenue sharing; which the other MLB owners will certainly want to rectify (hmmm, continue paying the A's money out of our pockets or prevent the A's from moving farther from the Giants?). I think I've made my point. Peace.
