That was an AMAZING interview. Mayor Anderson is right, all the facts about this deal are not being presented by the local media to the general publlic. That Decker clown surely is putting a slanted view on his reports
Not a very positive spin on the situation from Mr. Decker. $40 million? Where did he get that figure? "Lawmakers are planning on going over the head of the County... and giving the money to Dave Checketts" Oh yeah, I'm sure that sounds great for everyone! Let's give tax money to Dave Checkett's! Sheesh dude! Are you TRYING to kill this thing?
Anyone know how to get in touch with KUTV about Decker's reporting. He is not stating the facts of this news story and using biased journalism. Sounds like he is on a crusade to kill this
I just sent this to KUTV: Would it be too much to ask Rod Decker to do a little investigating before jumping on the story of the day band wagon. Is anyone there a journalist? The Hotel & Transient Tax was given to the county FOR the stadium, how is it "going over the county government's head" making sure it get's used for what it was intended for? Let's say you give your teenager $20,000 for College and he decides to use it to buy a car. Is taking it back and making sure he uses it for college "going over your child's head"? I understand the need to sell the news, but let's try the sensational teaser to "grab 'em" then actually reporting the truth of an issue. That way you can get people to watch AND be a journalist.
I can't believe that I am saying this but I agree with Rocky on everything he was saying. Boy he was slamming LHM and Caroon in one interview.
Remember, this is KUTV Channel 2 we're dealing with - this station is in bed big time with Larry Miller (think 2News on KJZZ), and Rod Decker is the most bush league reporter in the nation. He's always trying to stir up trouble with everything he reports.
Decker? Research? Haha... This is the guy that emphatically called for immediate and urgent legislation to ban cell phones at gas stations for fear of magically exploding pumps.
Rod Decker. There's a name I haven't heard in a long, long time... Can't say I've missed it much. I take it his act hasn't changed much since 1984...
David Checketts Concludes talks with Anderson Development. Statement from Checketts on areyouloyal.com
Over the last few days, I've decided that Checketts is not shooting straight with us the fans or the county. This just solidified it to me. To Checketts, RSL was never about soccer and the stadium deal was never about finding a home for RSL. RSL was a way for him to make money. And the stadium deal was about building a new mall in the south end of the valley. He does not want to build a stadium. It is secondary to him. The primary reason for this development is the retail, broadcast and hotel portions. If he had been just about soccer, then the stadium would be halfway done right now at the Fairgrounds or he would have considered the free land down in Orem. Checketts is a major reason why the stadium deal wasn't finalized, because it was never about the stadium. I really believe that even if the state were to come in and find a way to build just the stadium, that this would be unacceptable to Checketts
Stadiums are just about being stadiums anymore though. How many times do you go to the Delta Center when NOT attending a Jazz game? Maybe two - three times a year tops. It is a huge slab of concrete and that is it. There is no reason to go there. Stadiums now days have to be there own self sustaining facility. They have to earn money. Putting in a shops and restaurants is a way to do that. Look at all the new stadiums: MLB and NFL.
what is intereszting about this whole stadium debacle is the emergence of 3 blogs: RSLFM AREYOULOYAL SLCSPIN i think this debacle has helped these sites gain notoriety and in the future we will look back at them as the founding fathers of RSL soccer news and information. I would like to say thank you and great job!
I'm in too... the only problem is that they're franchises. In Europe it works because the clubs are each separately owned - hence you can capitalize them through an IPO. In theory though - I like it.
I hope the Guv does take the tax away from the county so we can get this thing done. Hopefully then people will realize what a great deal it really was and expose Caroon for the ass clown that he is.