It looks like that bastard running the stadium authority won't be around much longer; see the following in the Washington Post Metro section today: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A37201-2003Oct2.html I guess he wore out his welcome here (along with draining the bank account). Has everyone finally given up waiting for baseball? Will this mean better days ahead at RFK???
I heard him interviewed on WTOP this morning. What an ass. He sounded like he was going to cry, and the reasons he gave for leaving all sounded like fancy ways of saying "I'm a useless jackass, people hate me, and if I don't leave now I'm gonna get run out of town by angry mobs."
I would cry too if someone took my hugely overpaid job away, including paid trips all around the world for the purpose of "research", get wined and dined by many people in the sports community, and the ability to "hang" with some of the top sports figures of our time (I mean who among us would not be really upset by not meeting and talking with someone like The Bruce on a regular basis). BTW - I would appreciate if everyone would put in a good word for me in my bid to become the next Stadium Authority! I promise that I will do everything in my power to build revenues for BOTH DC United and the stadium authority. I will tell baseball what they can do with extended hand asking for a bribe! Thanks for your support! This post brought to you by the Revelation for Stadium Grandmaster 2003 Peoples Committee of DC.
F him. I'd love to personally shove him out the door. He had one of the highest paid and easiest jobs you could ever have, all he needed to do was spend a little time w/it in a serious effort to do his job, and all he wanted to do instead 100% of the time was to use his job rake in money for his and his friends own personal wishes. I never want to hear this guy's name associated w/anything in the DC area ever again.
Ummm...what? OK, he slapped a coat of paint on, put in a new sound system (which some say sounds like crap) and put up the jumbotron. As far as the Armory, it's still a rat hole. Welcome to DC, home of lowered standards.
Good riddance now take CSC with you Bobby. The gravy train has stopped. I bet he takes the jumbotron with him, so he can watch baseball with his shady pals. I can see him heading down the road with it strapped to the top of his luxury car. Piss off, Barra Brava
Hey Goldwater... the next roll of TP from La Norte is for you. Here's hoping the door does hit ya where the good Lord splits ya. Sachin
Everyone seems to fail to realize that the new person they bring in to do his job could be completely against building a SSS for DCU. At least Goldwater had worked for AEG before (he ran Staples Center) and there was a familiarity with the people at AEG who were working with him on a stadium. Don't be so eager to push someone out the door without thinking about who might replace him. More than likely, the District will try to pursue someone with strong baseball ties to step up their attempt to woo them. The person could be completely anti-soccer. Could he/she be better? Maybe Could he/she be worse? Maybe Point is, nobody knows. So don't get so excited yet.
You do have a good point chayes, but let's face it, Goldwater did a bad job no matter how you slice it. He was terrible while he was here, not just for soccer, but also for the DC sports scene in general. Sachin
There was one ray of hope an optimist could get from the article in the times, by "Mr. Brazil" so they want to get us into a new place ..... that is a nice thing to hear. Now a pessimest (or maybe a realist) might take it as it'd be by screwing the team so royally, they force them to find a different place ;-)
Well, gee, maybe if he had accomplished one thing for the city (in addition to the baseball, soccer and Grand Prix foul-ups, let's not forget the failed Olympic bid, the Mike Tyson fiasco, etc.) maybe the mob would be less angry.
I agree that Goldwater failed during his time here, but that doesn't mean the next person will help DC United. The problem as I see it is that those who hired Goldwater don't see DC United as a good future potential source of income. My back-of-the-envelope calculcations have DC United bringing over $2mil/year into DC, minus DC's operational costs. You can see where a good percentage of that money Bob blew came from DC United. I suspect my figures are low, plus there is even more money from the many other soccer events that have been held at RFK. So why doesn't DC recognize this? I don't know. Maybe they are too blinded by the much larger numbers baseball could bring to appreciate what they've got. It is possible to cultivate the local soccer team and also try to bring in a baseball team, but so far, I see no evidence that anyone in DC who would be hiring the next DCSEC head believes this. (Who is DC anyway? The board? Williams? Both?) (back-of-the-envelope calculations: 15 games/year $60K/game rent 15,000 people/game 33% park, 5K X $10 = $50K/game 1 $3 drink per person = $45K/game = $155K/game, =$2,325,000/year -hey, it's rough, but I needed to start somewhere.)
While I thought that Goldwater did a terrible job and I'm glad he's gone, I have to agree with chayes that, as far as DC United are concerned, we don't really know what happens from here... Unless Revelation gets the job, we don't know anything about who the new person or what their priorities will be; so we should be wondering wonder where this leaves DC United. I also agree with Mountania, that it doesn't really appear that the people responsible for hiring Goldwater's replacement see DC United as a good source of income, anyway. Also, don't put too much stock into what Harold Brazil says. While I'd like to feel encouraged that someone on the city council is pulling for DC United, he's well-known for his wishy-washiness, and for saying one thing but doing another. He's probably known more for his inconsistency than for anything else. Nobody listens to what that guy says.
That money came DIRECTLY FROM THE PEOPLE ON THIS BOARD GOING TO THE GAMES I'd rather the $ go to the general funds of the DC government. Maybe it will then be used for something better than trips around the world, tickets to the best events, salaries for Barry's friends, etc And to those who say we're better off with him, just WHAT do you expect him to do on behalf of DC United. Absolutely NOTHING, EVER. Goldwater leaving is a NO LOSE situation, and a potential GAIN GOOD RIDDANCE
Despite Goldwater's background with AEG and all the noise he made about getting an SSS built, his primary job was landing baseball. The money he wasted was not on DCU, but on wining and dining various baseball interests. The things he did to the stadium had less to do with making soccer fans happy than simply putting lipstick on the pig that is RFK Stadium, in hopes of attracting baseball. Soccer was always an afterthought.
I don't think that anyone here is saying that we'd be better off with Goldwater. (I know I wasn't...) You just have to wonder what the priorities of the city council/Williams administration (and by extension, Goldwater's replacement...) will be with regards to DC United. Will they see DC United as they are: the only consistent source fo revenue from RFK Stadium? Or, do they, as Claymore suggests, simply see DC United (and soccer) as an afterthought to attracting a baseball team (even though DCU's revenue finances that same baseball effort)?
Let's unpack some of these. BASEBALL. Accomplishments? Two exhibition games between St. Louis and Montreal. Fock-ups? Having MLB delay its decision on the Expos makes it sound like the Washington bid ain't good enough. And Arlington's NIMBY shout is louder and louder all the time. SOCCER. Accomplishments? Women's World Cup, presence of Division I men's and women's leagues in stadium, attracted Champions World match, a handful of internationals. Fock-ups? Losing '99 WWC matches to Fed Ex, massive parking problems for opening '03 WWC doubleheader and the CW match. Also, ticketing screwups for inaugural WUSA match (not enough being sold, wrong tickets being handed out), WWC 03 (no "real" Sam's Army section), WC qualifiers (Honduran fans in US section, and continuous tensions between jackbooted thugs and the fans. Also has somehow allowed the University of Maryland to become the No. 1 choice for a United SSS. GRAND PRIX. Accomplishments? Paving over a perfectly good parking lot taking out a thriving flea market. Fock-ups? ALMS stayed one year. And putting a race track in a crowded residential area: what were you thinking? OLYMPICS. Accomplishments? None. Fock-ups? Washington had a winning bid, plus Comcast Center, MCI Center, RFK, FedEx, PSI Net, and numerous existing venues. Lut lost in a close vote (some say because of vote-trading) to New York and San Francisco. Spent all of that Sept. 11 goodwill for a third-place tally (Houston was last). BOXING: Accomplishments? Making Glen Burnie Ballroom Boxing look good. Fock-ups? Mike Tyson. Nuff sed. There were plenty of other screwups that have led to people being shot, stabbed, or killed on his watch. And let me now say, from the deepest belief of my soul: BOBBY GOLDWATER IS A WANK!!!!!!
Fair enough, and I agree that we're better of without Goldwater. The question remains, though: where does all this leave DC United's hopes for a SSS in DC? -I suspect pretty much in the same place, as second fiddle to the whole baseball pipe dream, but who really knows?
That happened in 1999 - when Dalrymple was in charge. Again, Dalrymple. How much of that was his responsibility, or the USSF's? The stabbing, again, was under Dalrymple. Please provide proof of your allegations that Goldwater's mismanagement has been responsible for people dying. That's conviction for you. Now, i'm not trying to suggest that Goldwater hasn't been a failure, but the fact is that such ineptitude was going on before Goldwater got there. I do remember those of us on the boards were pretty happy when Dalrymple left, saying that anybody would be better than Dalrymple, especially given Goldwater's AEG ties. It would seem that cautious optimism for his replacement would be the best choice of action.