blaze89
09-22-2005, 03:23 AM
Buck Harvey: Sleeping with the enemy: Ones against San Antonio
09/22/2005
San Antonio Express-News
Tom Benson's brother, Larry, sent a letter to Red McCombs in December 1991, and Benson made sure everyone saw it.
Benson mailed copies to at least 10 local business leaders. So many duplicates were passed around town that one San Antonian said he received three different copies in the mail.
The letter explains a lot about why San Antonio was eliminated so early then from the NFL expansion derby. It also explains now why Paul Tagliabue went out of his way to eliminate San Antonio from the current discussion.
It's about personal agenda.
The Bensons had one then, just as others do now.
Agendas don't have everything to do with this. Tagliabue wasn't completely wrong earlier this week, as painful as that is for South Texans to admit.
San Antonio's market size IS borderline right now. The NFL lives in smaller markets — from Jacksonville to Buffalo to Green Bay — but those cities also don't have an NBA franchise.
Besides, the NFL product already saturates South Texas, and then there's the alternative waiting in California. How can America's most successful professional league not be in the country's second-largest market?
Still, Tagliabue dismissed San Antonio when the Saints still have tickets and sponsorships to sell here. So why not simply announce the league has a commitment to New Orleans, as the NBA did with the Hornets, and let the carrot dangle?
It's as if Tagliabue wanted to snuff out hope before it could grow, and the same happened in the early '90s. Then, McCombs and Henry Cisneros lobbied for expansion with the prospect of a new dome that fit the facility models of the era.
South Texas always stood no better than fifth or sixth, behind Baltimore, St. Louis, Jacksonville, Carolina and perhaps Memphis. McCombs knew he had a few obstacles to overcome, but he was shocked when the first round of expansion cuts came. San Antonio was eliminated along with cities such as Honolulu, without even getting past the league staff.
Why? At the same time the NFL was trying to prop up the World League. And running the Riders then was Larry Benson, mostly because of his brother's support and money.
The Bensons wanted to cleanse San Antonio of expansion dreams to give the Riders a better chance, and the December 1991 letter was part of that. Written on Riders' stationery, Larry Benson chastised McCombs for not fully supporting the Riders.
It was never McCombs' job to sell the World League, but Benson threatened in the letter he would make McCombs' stance known to NFL owners. From the letter: "That will undoubtedly not be the message that they (NFL owners) expect to hear nor one which will aid your efforts in pursuit of an expansion team."
If NFL owners didn't block McCombs' expansion bid just for that, the letter said a lot about Tom Benson's stance as the then-chairman of the league's finance committee. How hard do you think he fought for San Antonio?
Tom Benson now likes San Antonio with a role reversal as dramatic as the turns of the hurricane season. But Tagliabue stands ever firm, sending the Saints a thousand miles away Monday night instead of allowing them to play here.
Why? Look to another agenda, one that was also in play in the '90s. Jerry Jones wants to keep Dallas South.
McCombs always has insisted Jones has been for a team in San Antonio. But others involved with San Antonio's expansion attempt in the '90s were never really sure, just as they weren't sure about Bud Adams.
It simply goes against the best interests of the Dallas and Houston franchises. The Baltimore Orioles fought against the arrival of the Washington Nationals for the same territorial power in baseball.
For Jones, this is as true then as it is now. Sunday flights in the fall from San Antonio to Dallas are flecked with blue and silver, and Cowboys merchandise sales are as bullish here as the TV ratings.
Then there's training camp. Jones' new stadium in Arlington won't come with an on-site practice facility, as the Texans have. When Bill Parcells leaves, Jones likely will want to return to South Texas.
So this week, when San Antonio heard something it once heard before, was the enemy in New York? Or far closer?
LINK (http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/columnists/bharvey/stories/MYSA092205.1C.COL.FBNharvey.saints.17d3a739.html)
09/22/2005
San Antonio Express-News
Tom Benson's brother, Larry, sent a letter to Red McCombs in December 1991, and Benson made sure everyone saw it.
Benson mailed copies to at least 10 local business leaders. So many duplicates were passed around town that one San Antonian said he received three different copies in the mail.
The letter explains a lot about why San Antonio was eliminated so early then from the NFL expansion derby. It also explains now why Paul Tagliabue went out of his way to eliminate San Antonio from the current discussion.
It's about personal agenda.
The Bensons had one then, just as others do now.
Agendas don't have everything to do with this. Tagliabue wasn't completely wrong earlier this week, as painful as that is for South Texans to admit.
San Antonio's market size IS borderline right now. The NFL lives in smaller markets — from Jacksonville to Buffalo to Green Bay — but those cities also don't have an NBA franchise.
Besides, the NFL product already saturates South Texas, and then there's the alternative waiting in California. How can America's most successful professional league not be in the country's second-largest market?
Still, Tagliabue dismissed San Antonio when the Saints still have tickets and sponsorships to sell here. So why not simply announce the league has a commitment to New Orleans, as the NBA did with the Hornets, and let the carrot dangle?
It's as if Tagliabue wanted to snuff out hope before it could grow, and the same happened in the early '90s. Then, McCombs and Henry Cisneros lobbied for expansion with the prospect of a new dome that fit the facility models of the era.
South Texas always stood no better than fifth or sixth, behind Baltimore, St. Louis, Jacksonville, Carolina and perhaps Memphis. McCombs knew he had a few obstacles to overcome, but he was shocked when the first round of expansion cuts came. San Antonio was eliminated along with cities such as Honolulu, without even getting past the league staff.
Why? At the same time the NFL was trying to prop up the World League. And running the Riders then was Larry Benson, mostly because of his brother's support and money.
The Bensons wanted to cleanse San Antonio of expansion dreams to give the Riders a better chance, and the December 1991 letter was part of that. Written on Riders' stationery, Larry Benson chastised McCombs for not fully supporting the Riders.
It was never McCombs' job to sell the World League, but Benson threatened in the letter he would make McCombs' stance known to NFL owners. From the letter: "That will undoubtedly not be the message that they (NFL owners) expect to hear nor one which will aid your efforts in pursuit of an expansion team."
If NFL owners didn't block McCombs' expansion bid just for that, the letter said a lot about Tom Benson's stance as the then-chairman of the league's finance committee. How hard do you think he fought for San Antonio?
Tom Benson now likes San Antonio with a role reversal as dramatic as the turns of the hurricane season. But Tagliabue stands ever firm, sending the Saints a thousand miles away Monday night instead of allowing them to play here.
Why? Look to another agenda, one that was also in play in the '90s. Jerry Jones wants to keep Dallas South.
McCombs always has insisted Jones has been for a team in San Antonio. But others involved with San Antonio's expansion attempt in the '90s were never really sure, just as they weren't sure about Bud Adams.
It simply goes against the best interests of the Dallas and Houston franchises. The Baltimore Orioles fought against the arrival of the Washington Nationals for the same territorial power in baseball.
For Jones, this is as true then as it is now. Sunday flights in the fall from San Antonio to Dallas are flecked with blue and silver, and Cowboys merchandise sales are as bullish here as the TV ratings.
Then there's training camp. Jones' new stadium in Arlington won't come with an on-site practice facility, as the Texans have. When Bill Parcells leaves, Jones likely will want to return to South Texas.
So this week, when San Antonio heard something it once heard before, was the enemy in New York? Or far closer?
LINK (http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/columnists/bharvey/stories/MYSA092205.1C.COL.FBNharvey.saints.17d3a739.html)