Writing Shotgun

NFL STADIUM BESIDE THE QUEEN MARY? DON’T EVEN BOTHER ASKING

Dave WielengaWed. April 02
 

Just in case anybody is just about to bring up the idea of building a football stadium on the land next to the Queen Mary and inviting a National Football team to make its home there – because, really, isn’t somebody always just about to bring that up? — here’s a pre-emptive buzzkill, courtesy of the sports page in today’s Los Angeles Times.

Sam Farmer, who covers the NFL for The Times, summarizes his piece and the constant longing for a Southern California team thusly: Get real. Farmer goes on to provide all kinds of economic evidence that we ought to get used to getting our NFL fixes via cable TV packages.

For The District’s previously published thesis that the lack of an NFL team puts Southern California on the leading edge of sophistication, [CLICK RIGHT HERE].

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COMMENTS

  1. 1

    Thank GAWD! The last thing Long Beach needs is a football stadium…could you imagine the gridlock throughout the city on Sundays? It would be like the marathon times 10! Also, I used to go to games at the Coliseum when I was little and L.A. doesn’t need a football team…if people really want to go watch a game, a simple drive to San Diego is suggested…it’s much safer and the team is probably better than any relocated or expansion team will ever be!

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    Posted By A.R. on April 2nd, 2008 at 12:00 pm

     

  2. 2

    What we do need is a Basketball arena. Let’s tear down the old arena and auction off Wyland’s art to rich old ladies with tacky taste to fund it. Plop down a brand new arena - one fit to house the Clippers (which means we’ll only need about 2/3s the capacity of a normal arena) therefore giving Long Beach a professional team, liberating the Clips from the Lakers’ shadow, and giving me a reason to go down to the shoreline area more than once a year.

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    Posted By Brian on April 2nd, 2008 at 1:01 pm

     

  3. 3

    Fine with me, but make it a nice, viewer-friendly arena. The Staples Center and the Honda Center require telescopes for the upper tier seating. Put the luxury suites at the top. A good model to strive for would be based on the U. of Utah’s campus arena, which is one of the best for hoops. Even the bleeders aren’t bad.

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    Posted By drnoe on April 2nd, 2008 at 3:49 pm

     

  4. 4

    The Clippers? There would be no traffic at all! haha.

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    Posted By A.R. on April 2nd, 2008 at 4:00 pm

     

  5. 5

    I’m in as long as they bring back the $2 beer and hot dog nights from the Ice Dogs games. “Pitch-a-puck” was pretty fun, too, but might be more fun as “Blast-a-basketball”.

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    Posted By Andy on April 2nd, 2008 at 5:16 pm

     

  6. 6

    As I stated from the onset, an NFL stadium was never going to happen in Long Beach. The concept was just another dog & pony show put on by the new operator of the Queen Mary.

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    Posted By Juan on April 2nd, 2008 at 10:22 pm

     

  7. 7

    The only way I would support a new stadium for the NFL in Southern California would be if the team were community owned on the model of the Packers. Spending a billion or more of public funds to build a stadium for a private enterprise that can then move the tenant with no recourse at the end of a relatively short lease is asinine. Someone made this comment on a call into Doug “I Only Write About Drunks In Town” Krikorian and he said, “why shouldn’t public money be used for a stadium, they use my taxes for libraries I don’t go to…” or some comment to that effect.

    Re: #2 Brian: “Clippers” “professional team” ?

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    Posted By LBRez on April 3rd, 2008 at 10:33 am

     

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