1-Man’s Opinion-Thursday-10/8 “Chargers Silence Speaks Volumes”
Some random thoughts about this NFL thing.
NFL Owners Meetings….They’ve wrapped up their quarterly fall meeting in New York, and the NFL owners have gotten update information from the Committee on LA about the Stadium situations.
Everyone is pushing a different candidate. The Cowboys Jerry Jones is standing alongside the Rams owner, because they have big business ventures outside of football. Never mind any type of conflict of interest.
Carolina owner Jerry Richardson is pushing for Dean Spanos to move to LA because he thinks the Chargers owner did everything possible to get a stadium built. I guess he believes everything that comes out of the mouth of Mark Fabiani without checking the ‘true information is in the details page’.
No one seems to care nor want to help the ailing Raiders and their loopy owner Mark Davis. Maybe it’s payback still directed at his late father for the history of lawsuits and confrontational business practices.
The NFL can say all it wants about wanting to protect cities from losing their teams, but those are just empty words, unless the Committee on LA orders Stan Kroenke to actually sit and negotiate with the state of Missouri, or they order Spanos to go to the table in ‘good faith’ and negotiate the specifics of a ‘good deal for both sides here.
Poor Mayor Kevin Faulconer, try as hard as he might, his meetings don’t seem to merit much serious consideration. Unless he goes back to the NFL and gives them his American Express Gold Card, the one without the limit total, and tells them to build it and he’ll pay for it, San Diego won’t get much serious consideration.
You must understand, in this era, the NFL is all about the money in their pocket. It’s not history, legacy, love of tradition. It’s all about the bank and how much each of the 32-partners can get from a new stadium in Los Angeles, for the league and their respective teams.
They all get a piece of the pie, even without having to say ‘greed is good’.
I am amazed San Diego fans are not in revolt over the way this has turned out. Just keep buying tickets, enjoying the games, watching Philip Rivers do his thing. There are just 5-home games left on the schedule after Monday night.
I fully believe the NFL will vote in January, once the regular season is over, to allow the Rams to move into Los Angeles. And then we see if the Chargers become the second tenant at Hollywood Park. I do not believe the Carson project can be completed nor financed, nor cleaned up of toxic waste.
The owners can meet all they want, look at schematics and spread sheets, but in the end, it will be about how much money they can generate in LA, how much profit they split.
New England and Miami, the Seahawks and the Giants don’t give a damn about a crumbling Qualcomm Stadium. They’re too busy trying to make the playoffs and run their money-making franchises. They could care less about the profits Spanos makes for his family. Their team is the only thing that counts.
Even Dean Spanos does not care about San Diego. His actions (non-actions) speak volumes, even if the only people he talks to might be an occasional comment to an LA Times writer or someone from the Orange County Register.
The only ones who care about the team are the fans, who buy the tickets, jerseys, hot dogs, and will be there loud and proud against the Steelers on Monday night.
And soon as the season ends, the only sound you will hear will be the cash registers ringing, and the other owners counting their money from an LA deal.
It could involve the Chargers, Dean Spanos wants it to involve the Chargers, and the NFL’s league office inertia makes it seem like they think it should be the Chargers too.
It is what the NFL has become, not just touchdown passes and sacks, big runs and big hits, but the biggest financial haul possible. And now even the Committee on LA says they expect the Chargers to file the application to move in January.
Agree or disagree with me. Everyone outside this area code, including the team owner, seems to have the sentiment, ‘ San Diego be damned.’
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Well said, just remember the fiasco with the Clippers and the forced sale, the old man came away with something like 2 billion. I’m only speculating but I’m sure his original investment was no where near that.