Post/Goff 4/9: Talks Continue on Building Soccer Stadium

[dcajedi]

am i the only one focusing a bit more on this:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A59264-2003Apr8.html

an actual article about the possibility of a new stadium ?!?!

[Atouk]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A59264-2003Apr8.html

In separate meetings on Tuesday, Garber and Payne met with the DCSEC folks, including Chairman John Richardson and president and executive director Bobby Goldwater, about the future soccer stadium.

Among the quotes from Richardson is "Soccer is based on reality, not projections." From Goldwater, "Baseball is a priority, and soccer is another priority. They're both important."

....
Mod's Note: Just fixed the link.

[JMU Soccer!]

Wow, didn't we just read a little while ago that AEG wasn't going to press until the future of baseball in D.C. was more certain?

This article was a shock....in a good way!

[mellon002]

While this news is very encouraging I still think they will wait and see what happens with baseball. It would be too much of a mess to start construction for a SSS and then find out a baseball team is moving in to RFK.

[JMU Soccer!]

Originally posted by mellon002
While this news is very encouraging I still think they will wait and see what happens with baseball. It would be too much of a mess to start construction for a SSS and then find out a baseball team is moving in to RFK.

You do make a point, but I believe this is the first positive news we've heard come out of the Stadium Commission's mouth that even hints that they might just move forward on a soccer stadium regardless of what happens with baseball. Of course, as a seasoned MLS supporter, I won't believe it until the shovel hits the dirt.

But according to Richardson, building a soccer stadium might make more financial sense. "AEG is here. They have a team. It's a functioning team," he said. "Baseball has a lot more uncertainties than soccer. Soccer is based on reality, not projections."

[CHICO13]

Originally posted by Atouk
From Goldwater, "Baseball is a priority, and soccer is another priority. They're both important."
Bobby Goldwater blows more smoke than the Marlboro Man.

In a related note in todays Washington Post.....

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A59417-2003Apr8.html


Virginia officials say that a ballpark in suburban Washington would average thousands more fans per game than one in the city and have crafted a financial plan that banks on a Northern Virginia team being among the most successful in Major League Baseball.

[Red&Black]

i have to say i think the "meetings" with goldwater and garber/payne had more to do with the three of them being in the same place (United for DC luncheon) than some milestone progress. garber even ribbed goldwater in his comments about public funding. i think the meetings were hardly concrete in any way.

what i gathered from garber's public comments is they feel a lot of momentum with the texas deal getting approved and he is trying to use that to win over goldwater, et. al.

chico is right about goldwater--one gentleman, well known to this board, suggested to me yesterday that we club bobby g over the head with a bottle and throw him out the 14th floor window.

[GoDC]

Yep, while the meetings sound good, I see nothing positive from Goldwater's comments. Maybe Richardson can hit him over the head and knock some sense into him!!

However, now that we do appear to have their interest, we need to have good crowds this season and stay in the front of their minds.

[Sachin]

No offense to Goff or anyone else, but we're at precisely the same point in the process that we were a year ago: studying stadium concepts and funding packages.

Nothing will happen until the baseball situation is resolved.

Sachin

[Lanky134]

Originally posted by CHICO13
Bobby Goldwater blows more smoke than the Marlboro Man.

In a related note in todays Washington Post.....

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A59417-2003Apr8.html


Virginia officials say that a ballpark in suburban Washington would average thousands more fans per game than one in the city and have crafted a financial plan that banks on a Northern Virginia team being among the most successful in Major League Baseball.
...and their lawyers can beat up DC's lawyers.

[EdTheRed]

Originally posted by Lanky134
...and their lawyers can beat up DC's lawyers.

Bring on those skanky suburban attorneys! I passed the New York Bar, dang it! Besides, if what VA delegate Vincent F. Callahan Jr. said is true, and "People from Virginia are not going to go into D.C. in the evening," it sounds like they're a bunch of scaredycats anyways. ;) On second thought, let them have the baseball team...that will leave soccer as the DCSEC's number one priority.

I hope that the DCSEC will treat United (and the Freedom) a little bit better during the occupation of RFK by baseball if the baseball team is just hanging out in DC while a stadium is built somewhere in VA.

[CHICO13]

Originally posted by EdTheRed
"People from Virginia are not going to go into D.C. in the evening," it sounds like they're a bunch of scaredycats anyways. ;)
Who you callin' a scaredycat?
Have you ever been to a Barra post-game tailgate, circa midnight? Now THAT"S scary....:D

[revelation]

Originally posted by Sachin
No offense to Goff or anyone else, but we're at precisely the same point in the process that we were a year ago: studying stadium concepts and funding packages.

Nothing will happen until the baseball situation is resolved.

Sachin

Exactly. I've read this article before. It seems that each year and often twice a year (Spring and Fall), the Stadium Authority and AEG have a meeting (i.e. luncheonette) where among talk of the Cherry Blossom Festival, Beltway Traffic problems, Why the Sky is Blue, and Did the US really put a man on the moon, they mention that building a Soccer Specific Stadium in DC would be an idea. I'll believe it only when I'm standing in the bouncy stands next to y'all in our newly constructed stadium! (And even then I'll be skeptical!)

[michael greene]

George Orwell and Bobby Goldwater, can you tell them apart?:


Said Goldwater: "Baseball is a priority, and soccer is another priority. They're both important."

Said Orwell: "All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others."

Discuss.

[PSG Stunna]

does anyone have any good ideas on how we may be able to capitalize on this news. What about drafting a formal letter to Barry Goldwater then having all of us sign it? Bring it up at city council?

I would love to know if there is some guidance from DCU HQ about what we can do to help push this along. It will never be a priority for the city unless we make them make it a priority.


#1 Stunna

[sch2383]

I really hope they build a SSS in DC, but I am not holding my breath.

[perctarit]

Originally posted by michael greene
George Orwell and Bobby Goldwater, can you tell them apart?:


Said Goldwater: "Baseball is a priority, and soccer is another priority. They're both important."

Said Orwell: "All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others."

Discuss.

Actually, if Orwell had been speaking of the Stadium Authority's approach to soccer it might have been something like this: 'All sports are equal in priority, but any sport other than baseball is less a priority than baseball'.

An SSS in DC would be great, especially if baseball comes to town, but sch2833 is right: don't hold your breath.

[Claymore]

It's just frustrating that Dallas can nearly get to the altar in McKinney and then turn around and strike a deal with Frisco in the space of a year (is that right?). Meanwhile, we're stuck in "Waiting For Godot" mode.

I think the folks at AEG need to stop wasting their time with the DCSEC and start courting other possible sites outside the city.

[perctarit]

Originally posted by Claymore
I think the folks at AEG need to stop wasting their time with the DCSEC and start courting other possible sites outside the city.

Everyone else can weigh in on this if they want (and they probably already have), but in my judgment a stadium outside DC would be a big, big mistake. Perhaps if they can find a suburban location near the Metro it could work, but a stadium in the middle of no-where accessable only by car will not be a step forward.

perc

[Funkfoot]

The Arlington sites that have been mentioned for boreball sound good.