Kori Ellis
09-23-2005, 10:55 AM
San Antonio should be ashamed
By GIL LEBRETON
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/sports/football/12721597.htm
Looters should be shot.
And that includes you, too, San Antonio.
In the wake of the largest natural disaster in U.S. history, the citizens of hurricane-ravaged New Orleans often have had to rely upon the kindness of strangers.
But what sort of purported good Samaritan welcomes a city with one hand, while robbing it with the other?
Call San Antonio's coveting of the New Orleans Saints what you will. I call it looting - to take or carry off as plunder; to steal.
San Antonio doesn't deserve an NFL team. For preying upon one community's misfortunes, it deserves the disdain of every decent city in America.
The floodwaters were still rushing into New Orleans three weeks ago, when Saints owner Tom Benson made the decision to relocate his team's practices and offices to his second home of San Antonio. Saints fans, accustomed to distrusting the owner's motives, immediately saw the "evacuation" as the lowest in a long line of Benson low blows.
Benson had previously used threats of moving the team as leverage to extract more money and concessions from the state of Louisiana. The tactic has proven to be more than profitable for the Benson family. Since state funds were allocated to guarantee any Benson shortfalls, the Saints' reported revenues have ranked not at the bottom of the NFL, but in the middle, among some cities twice New Orleans' size.
But there is no honor among thieves. Benson -- always -- wants more money. And San Antonio is willing to sell its soul to give him some.
The Saints have been in New Orleans since their expansion season of 1967. The team is as much a part of the fabric of the city as, well, the Spurs are in San Antonio.
Thank heavens Thursday night that Hurricane Rita appeared to be veering toward the east.
Thank heavens, because what if a major disaster had befallen San Antonio? What if a tornado had killed hundreds and made much of the city uninhabitable?
And what if the mayor of, say, Las Vegas had called a press conference and invited San Antonio's beloved Spurs to come stay awhile, if not permanently? Las Vegas, most NBA watchers agree, looms as the next city on the list to get a league franchise. It has already been awarded the 2007 NBA All-Star Game.
Steal the Spurs? Why not? It would be no different than what San Antonio is trying to do to New Orleans.
At a breakfast meeting last week, the San Antonio Chamber of Commerce rallied its area corporate heads. Former mayor Henry Cisneros shamelessly preached to the congregation about stealing the Saints, calling it "a financial affirmation of economic momentum,"" according to the San Antonio Express-News.
One lowlife city councilman called Cisneros' speech "stirring -- something out of Braveheart."
Like I said, there is no honor among thieves.
In a lengthy question-and-answer session, however, that appeared Monday in The Times-Picayune of New Orleans, NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue reaffirmed the league's position.
"We're going to do everything possible to make sure there's a New Orleans Saints," Tagliabue said.
A lot will depend, Tagliabue properly added, on what sort of New Orleans emerges from the muddy rubble. The league has long been fond of New Orleans. It hosted the fourth Super Bowl, and nine in all. When Donald Trump throws his hat and hair into the ring and professes his interest in helping to rebuild the city, as he did this week, Tagliabue is inclined to listen.
Besides, the commissioner told The Times-Picayune, "We're not going to be moving any teams into small markets ...We're going to be moving up in market size, not down or flat."
In San Antonio, the mayor, among others, promptly bristled at the insinuation that his city was small-time.
Tagliabue never said exactly that. But if the commissioner had used the term "small-minded," he wouldn't have gotten an argument here.
Since Tagliabue brought it up, however, let's define the parameters.
First and foremost, consider the building that will be temporarily housing the Saints for part of this season. The Alamodome, built 12 years ago, has ample seating capacity, but lacks the amenities to which the NFL has become accustomed.
It has, for example, only 34 luxury suites. Houston's Reliant Stadium, home of the NFL Texans, has 188. Texas Stadium has 380.
The Spurs, despite their NBA championships, reportedly had trouble selling all of their 51 suites last season at the SBC Center.
According to the San Antonio paper, a study commissioned by the city five years ago estimated that it would cost $136 million to redo the Alamodome to NFL standards.
Good luck with that bond election, brave hearts. It was a district in San Antonio's Bexar County that led to the infamous Robin Hood school funding plan, "robbing" from the property-rich districts to fund the poor. Every school district in Bexar County receives Robin Hood funds.
How much will Tom Benson get?
Mayor Phil Hardberger noted that San Antonio is the nation's eighth-largest city in population. Maybe, but the metropolitan area ranks somewhere around 30th. As a TV market, San Antonio ranks No. 37.
Both of those, let me suggest, aren't real-life figures in NFL terms. The league already has two teams in Texas, and neither likely would be fond of relinquishing any share of the TV or merchandising market to a San Antonio franchise.
San Antonio, for the most part, is Cowboys country. The city has proven that.
If the Fox affiliate dares to show a Saints road game over a Cowboys one this season, expect San Antonio viewers to be livid.
Subtract all the Cowboys fans from the San Antonio metro population, therefore, and eliminate them from the TV audience, and where does "small market" San Antonio rank now?
The NFL, let me suggest, would make its mark better in Birmingham, Ala., or Portland, Ore.
It will be interesting to see how many Saints tickets are sold in San Antonio after Tagliabue's "small market" comment came to light.
Tagliabue, it appears, only wants to do the right thing. And the moral road, in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, is to allow no looting, no preying upon a city that already has been ravaged and can't yet defend itself.
Thank heavens that Hurricane Rita and any deadly tornadoes appear to be veering elsewhere.
Thank heavens, because you never know. Some city might have come to San Antonio's "rescue" and lusted after the Spurs.
Shame on you, San Antonio.
By GIL LEBRETON
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/sports/football/12721597.htm
Looters should be shot.
And that includes you, too, San Antonio.
In the wake of the largest natural disaster in U.S. history, the citizens of hurricane-ravaged New Orleans often have had to rely upon the kindness of strangers.
But what sort of purported good Samaritan welcomes a city with one hand, while robbing it with the other?
Call San Antonio's coveting of the New Orleans Saints what you will. I call it looting - to take or carry off as plunder; to steal.
San Antonio doesn't deserve an NFL team. For preying upon one community's misfortunes, it deserves the disdain of every decent city in America.
The floodwaters were still rushing into New Orleans three weeks ago, when Saints owner Tom Benson made the decision to relocate his team's practices and offices to his second home of San Antonio. Saints fans, accustomed to distrusting the owner's motives, immediately saw the "evacuation" as the lowest in a long line of Benson low blows.
Benson had previously used threats of moving the team as leverage to extract more money and concessions from the state of Louisiana. The tactic has proven to be more than profitable for the Benson family. Since state funds were allocated to guarantee any Benson shortfalls, the Saints' reported revenues have ranked not at the bottom of the NFL, but in the middle, among some cities twice New Orleans' size.
But there is no honor among thieves. Benson -- always -- wants more money. And San Antonio is willing to sell its soul to give him some.
The Saints have been in New Orleans since their expansion season of 1967. The team is as much a part of the fabric of the city as, well, the Spurs are in San Antonio.
Thank heavens Thursday night that Hurricane Rita appeared to be veering toward the east.
Thank heavens, because what if a major disaster had befallen San Antonio? What if a tornado had killed hundreds and made much of the city uninhabitable?
And what if the mayor of, say, Las Vegas had called a press conference and invited San Antonio's beloved Spurs to come stay awhile, if not permanently? Las Vegas, most NBA watchers agree, looms as the next city on the list to get a league franchise. It has already been awarded the 2007 NBA All-Star Game.
Steal the Spurs? Why not? It would be no different than what San Antonio is trying to do to New Orleans.
At a breakfast meeting last week, the San Antonio Chamber of Commerce rallied its area corporate heads. Former mayor Henry Cisneros shamelessly preached to the congregation about stealing the Saints, calling it "a financial affirmation of economic momentum,"" according to the San Antonio Express-News.
One lowlife city councilman called Cisneros' speech "stirring -- something out of Braveheart."
Like I said, there is no honor among thieves.
In a lengthy question-and-answer session, however, that appeared Monday in The Times-Picayune of New Orleans, NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue reaffirmed the league's position.
"We're going to do everything possible to make sure there's a New Orleans Saints," Tagliabue said.
A lot will depend, Tagliabue properly added, on what sort of New Orleans emerges from the muddy rubble. The league has long been fond of New Orleans. It hosted the fourth Super Bowl, and nine in all. When Donald Trump throws his hat and hair into the ring and professes his interest in helping to rebuild the city, as he did this week, Tagliabue is inclined to listen.
Besides, the commissioner told The Times-Picayune, "We're not going to be moving any teams into small markets ...We're going to be moving up in market size, not down or flat."
In San Antonio, the mayor, among others, promptly bristled at the insinuation that his city was small-time.
Tagliabue never said exactly that. But if the commissioner had used the term "small-minded," he wouldn't have gotten an argument here.
Since Tagliabue brought it up, however, let's define the parameters.
First and foremost, consider the building that will be temporarily housing the Saints for part of this season. The Alamodome, built 12 years ago, has ample seating capacity, but lacks the amenities to which the NFL has become accustomed.
It has, for example, only 34 luxury suites. Houston's Reliant Stadium, home of the NFL Texans, has 188. Texas Stadium has 380.
The Spurs, despite their NBA championships, reportedly had trouble selling all of their 51 suites last season at the SBC Center.
According to the San Antonio paper, a study commissioned by the city five years ago estimated that it would cost $136 million to redo the Alamodome to NFL standards.
Good luck with that bond election, brave hearts. It was a district in San Antonio's Bexar County that led to the infamous Robin Hood school funding plan, "robbing" from the property-rich districts to fund the poor. Every school district in Bexar County receives Robin Hood funds.
How much will Tom Benson get?
Mayor Phil Hardberger noted that San Antonio is the nation's eighth-largest city in population. Maybe, but the metropolitan area ranks somewhere around 30th. As a TV market, San Antonio ranks No. 37.
Both of those, let me suggest, aren't real-life figures in NFL terms. The league already has two teams in Texas, and neither likely would be fond of relinquishing any share of the TV or merchandising market to a San Antonio franchise.
San Antonio, for the most part, is Cowboys country. The city has proven that.
If the Fox affiliate dares to show a Saints road game over a Cowboys one this season, expect San Antonio viewers to be livid.
Subtract all the Cowboys fans from the San Antonio metro population, therefore, and eliminate them from the TV audience, and where does "small market" San Antonio rank now?
The NFL, let me suggest, would make its mark better in Birmingham, Ala., or Portland, Ore.
It will be interesting to see how many Saints tickets are sold in San Antonio after Tagliabue's "small market" comment came to light.
Tagliabue, it appears, only wants to do the right thing. And the moral road, in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, is to allow no looting, no preying upon a city that already has been ravaged and can't yet defend itself.
Thank heavens that Hurricane Rita and any deadly tornadoes appear to be veering elsewhere.
Thank heavens, because you never know. Some city might have come to San Antonio's "rescue" and lusted after the Spurs.
Shame on you, San Antonio.