Writing Shotgun

DOUG KRIKORIAN ON THE NFL: HE’S CRYING, BUT HIS TEARS ARE FAR AWAY

Dave WielengaSat. December 22
 

Doug Krikorian has another good cry over the lack of a National Football League franchise in the Los Angeles area today, and as he sobs himself to sleep the Press-Telegram sports columnist again goes so far as to dream of placing a team in Long Beach, with a stadium next to the Queen Mary. Doug is getting old.

No, I don’t mean I’m growing tired of reading him. Doug Krikorian may be the last sports columnist worth reading in Southern California, a guy who still writes from the gut and lets those guts — his life — spill into his copy in a way that is, frankly, mesmerizing. I read him every day.

When I say Doug is getting old, I mean: Doug is getting old. Like, he’s had lots of birthdays.

Krikorian’s longing for an NFL team derives from a byegone era when a big-league sports franchise really was one of the the marks of a great city. In his latest good cry over the fact that the Los Angeles area has been without pro football since the Rams and Raiders skipped town after the 1994 season, he actually describes the situation as “cultural deprivation.” Of course, the opposite is actually true.

The citizens of this region opened a new era of sophistication — set a new standard for the truly modern metropolis — when they reacted to the simultaneous loss of the Rams and Raiders by telling the NFL to screw itself.

The Los Angeles area lost the Rams and Raiders because the politicians of St. Louis and Oakland used taxpayers’ money to bribe team owners Georgia Frontiere and Al Davis. Los Angeles citizens have served warning to their politicians that to reward such crass behavior — to spend gazillions in taxpayer money on an NFL team — will be an act of political suicide.  That’s why there is no NFL franchise in the area.

That’s also why all the best NFL games are on free local television. If the Rams or the Raiders — or some new expansion franchise — were playing in Los Angeles, we’d be saddled with watching their games every week, per the NFL television contract. Know how crappy the Rams and Raiders are these days? Can you imagine how crappy an expansion team would be? Not having a team with “Los Angeles” or “Orange County” or even “Long Beach” in its name doesn’t diminish a real football fan’s enjoyment of an NFL season — particularly in this era of fantasy football leagues.

Besides, the way NFL tickets are priced, just about anybody with money to attend a game here can afford a plane ticket to St. Louis or Oakland –or Nashville, Jacksonville, Charlotte or any of the other gullible hick cities that believe they are “major league” because they’ve been bamboozled into forking over millions of dollars to NFL crooks for a team that’ll be gone as soon as somebody else offers more.

Finally, Krikorian points out that Green Bay — a Wisconsin hamlet with barely 100,000 people — has its own NFL team, the Packers. He fails to point out that the team is publicly owned by fans of Green Bay — the only non-profit, community owned professional sports team in the United States. It’s been that way since the team was born, and there’s never been a question of the Packers going anywhere else since the 1920s. Doug may be getting old, but he’s not old enough to remember that.

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COMMENTS

  1. 1

    Dave i disagree with you fundamentally about an NFL team in southern california, but I understand where you’re coming from.

    On the other hand, this statement: “That’s also why all the best NFL games are on free local television” is totally false.

    Because we still have confused and angry NFL fans here who love the raiders, we get way more raiders games than we should; we also get lots of chargers game now that they’re good. one of the best three games of the whole seasons, Cowboys Patriots, was pre-empted by raiders/chargers, when neither of those teams were playing good football. this was, in cbs 2’s judgment, because both teams are quasi-local teams. instead of one local team, we have a number of “fan favorite” franchises (including the niners, rams, raiders, and chargers) who soak up local airtime with their often subpar play. furreal.

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    Posted By Mike Guardabascio on December 22nd, 2007 at 4:32 pm

     

  2. 2

    Hey Dave. Guys like me (65) love it when you label DK as old, like that’s a bad thing. (When I say Doug is getting old, I mean: Doug is getting old. Like, he’s had lots of birthdays.).

    How old is Dave? Will age make him a bigger idiot, or is he doing just fine with it at his current age? Give it up, Dave. I’ve met you. How many birthdays have you had?

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    Posted By lbwhiner on December 23rd, 2007 at 10:37 pm

     

  3. 3

    I’ve had 52, as of last November 11…and now that you know, I’m expecting a gift.

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    Posted By Dave Wielenga on December 24th, 2007 at 6:16 am

     

  4. 4

    Give it ten years for early Social Security, if there’s still $$$ in the system. Then we can talk about Medicare.

    My gift to you is my years of experience I’ll be happy to share with you and all the readers. As an extra attraction, I can do some focus groups that’ll skew your demographic well past the X generation target.

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    Posted By lbcritic on December 24th, 2007 at 9:33 am

     

  5. 5

    Obviously, I can use all the help and experience I can get, which is why my mention of Krikorian’s age was not a tool of insult but one to locate where he is coming from on this NFL issue. Believe me, Doug and I go way back. Hey, lbcritic, are you the same person as lbwhiner?

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    Posted By Dave Wielenga on December 24th, 2007 at 10:09 am

     

  6. 6

    only on Tuesdays, Thursdays and holidays.

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    Posted By lbcritic on December 24th, 2007 at 10:49 am

     

  7. 7

    NFL team owners will always go for the best deal they can get, the community be damned! Look at what the 49ers are trying to do. They seek to pillage the coffers of Santa Clara taxpayers, and now that the city is $51 million short of what is being requested, the 49ers brass are attempting to deploy rhetoric as to how the city can make up the shortage with a bunch of “what-if” scenarios. Either or, it places the taxpayer at risk. Do the 49ers owners care? Hell no!

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    Posted By Juan on January 2nd, 2008 at 11:07 am

     

  8. 8

    I assume you are talking about the SAN FRANCISCO 49ers, right? Because the Long Beach State 49ers don’t have a football team. See what a smart-ass I am?

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    Posted By Dave Wielenga on January 2nd, 2008 at 2:30 pm

     

  9. 9

    Maybe Jeff Klein can purchase the SF 49ers and move them to Long Beach. He and Prevratil can be the co-owners. hahahahahahahahahhahaha.

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    Posted By juan on January 2nd, 2008 at 7:40 pm

     

  10. 10

    I would only support a team in LB if the model is similar to Green Bay’s with public ownership of the team–or at least a portion. Help potential owner(s) cobble together the parcels of land required, work with them on EIRs and zoning but let them pay for building a stadium and the City of LB has at least a 20% stake in the team so if there is a move we get paid.

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    Posted By LBRez on January 3rd, 2008 at 1:31 pm

     

  11. 11

    Sadly, Mr. David Wielenga is, alas, right. I am getting old, an unfortunate affliction of life when one doesn’t perish at a modest age. And, since he did soften his criticism of my fanciful stand on a possible football stadium for Long Beach, I will say what I’ve always said about Mr. Wielenga—he’s a wonderfully talented writer with keen insights, even if they do notice the excessive amount of birthdays I’ve celebrated in my quite inglorious albeit at times enjoyable life. .

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    Posted By doug krikorian on January 23rd, 2008 at 2:56 pm

     

  12. 12

    If you think about it, all the pro teams should be owned by their cities. Theres no need for private ownership in this realm. All we get with private owners are thieves who extort HUNDREDS of millions from their cities over threats to move. Or they just move if they feel like it. And please, no braindead connedservatives out there need to scream how this would end the free world,blah,blah,blah. Your just pathetic.

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    Posted By freddy c on May 13th, 2008 at 11:56 pm

     

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