Off-topic
By Matt Artz
Monday, October 19th, 2009 at 5:38 pm in Uncategorized.
Yankee manager Joe Girardi is an idiot. He should be chained to the dugout railing to avoid making imbecilic pitching changes. Second time this season he took out a reliever with the bases empty and two outs only to have the new pitcher give up the game-losing run.
I’m not the only P-O’ed person in Fremont. Several folks who live near the Sikh Temple around Mission Boulevard and Gurdwara Drive are upset about a Temple event this weekend. There were lots of emails between residents and city officials. Residents wrote of parking, traffic and fire cracker nuisances. They also wrote that the Temple folks didn’t let them know about the shindig.
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October 19th, 2009 at 8:21 pm
At least the Yankers showed up. Same cant be said about your Giants in NO.
Be thankful -you’re not an SF fan watching the Dodgers play in the NLCS tonight.
October 20th, 2009 at 10:08 am
Marty, The Giants showed up; they just showed up with the most overrated QB in the NFL. Number 1 rule of football and life as told to me by my uncle: Always fall on the ball; Number 2 rule of football and life: Never take points off the board. New number three rule for Eli: Don’t shut your eyes when throwing the ball.
October 20th, 2009 at 1:49 pm
So, what kind of celebration is planned for the Sikh Temple? Is it related to Diwali? The temple has been there for a while now – I would think that the neighbors would be getting accustomed to the holiday celebrations that are held there on an annual basis.
On the one hand, if there are genuine parking and traffic issues, those should be abated by the City. Wasn’t adequate parking taken into consideration when the permit was approved?
On the other hand, I don’t imagine that the residents feel the need to inform the temple of any impending Halloween or Thanksgiving celebrations. Give and take, y’all.
October 20th, 2009 at 7:43 pm
Go Saints! “I believe!”
October 20th, 2009 at 8:21 pm
Speaking of baseball… Fremont could have been one of 30 franchises in 28 cities to have a major league baseball franchise. Let’s not forget the lunatic fringers and their brown shirt tactics that killed it and all the positive things (jobs/tax revenue/notoriety) it would have brought to Fremont.
October 21st, 2009 at 12:40 pm
http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=975
October 21st, 2009 at 12:41 pm
swamp squid….if you think for one moment that it would be a positive thing…thank again…OAKLAND! you must live in a condo someware on the border of Fremont. Decoto? I live in the Warm Springs district and have paid good money for my house(GRIN) and don’t want people pulling up in my yard to use the bathroom! yes, I brown bag my lunch!;)Positive thing????????NOT!
October 21st, 2009 at 12:57 pm
“Skeptics point out that other publicly funded sports venues hyped as win-win situations can end up falling far short of expectations and costing taxpayers millions of dollars. Operators of the Sears Centre Arena in Hoffman Estates, for instance, estimated when it was built in 2005 that more than 125 events a year would gross more than $10 million a year. Four years later, the arena is losing money, its only regular event is lingerie football and taxpayers in the village could be on the hook for the $55 million bond issued to pay for it, plus millions more in interest.”
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chicago/chi-replica-fields-south-zone-21oct21,0,1053401.story
“Stadium advocates have been amazingly successful in taking from the poor and giving to the rich. Some wealthy sports moguls, such as Managing General Partner Al Davis of the NFL Oakland Raiders, have turned mulcting taxpayers into an art form. Raymond Keating, chief economist for the Small Business Survival Committee, estimates that government has poured more than $20 billion (in current dollars) into sports ventures in recent decades.
Yet such facilities once were and continue to be built privately. The only reason more franchise owners decline to construct their own stadiums is because taxpayers so often relieve them of the need to do so.
But there’s no reason to sacrifice the interest of taxpayers to that of sports fans. Stadiums are not a good financial investment. Public finance experts Roger Noll and Andrew Zimbalist concluded: “no recent facility appears to have earned anything approaching a reasonable return on investment and no recent facility has been self-financing in terms of its impact on net tax revenues.”"
http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=2830
October 21st, 2009 at 2:34 pm
http://www.kqed.org/epArchive/R902061730
October 21st, 2009 at 3:33 pm
Smith College’s Andrew Zimbalist, perhaps the leading authority on stadium subsidies, co-authored a book on the subject with Stanford University’s Roger G. Noll. “A new sports facility has an extremely small (perhaps even negative) effect on overall economic activity and employment,” the authors concluded. “No recent facility appears to have earned anything approaching a reasonable return on investment. No recent facility has been self-financing in terms of its impact on net tax revenues. Regardless of whether the unit of analysis is a local neighborhood, a city, or an entire metropolitan area, the economic benefits of sports facilities are de minimus.” Raymond Keating, the Small Business Survival Committee’s chief economist, agrees: “The lone beneficiaries of sports subsidies are team owners and players.
October 21st, 2009 at 4:50 pm
Another thought on an MLB stadium . .. . largely prompted by last night’s matchup between NY and the Angels . . .
I think anyone wanting an MLB stadium might want to just head on over to their local Little League diamond. Judging from last nights matchup, you cant do much worse – - The only thing lacking during the now infamous “worst call ever” were the parents screaming from the sidelines “TAG HIM OUT !!!!”
Very lucky for all concerned that this didn’t go down in NY – - – it would have been a madhouse and I’d wager Matt Artz’ wine glass that the same call, at home against the yanks would have resulted in the game being called – for the safety of all concerned.
Fortunately, So. Cal fans probably didn’t comprehend the full impact of what had just occurred until after a good nights sleep and a review of the this mornings’ sports page.
October 21st, 2009 at 6:18 pm
As Michael Burke once said “A baseball club is part of the chemistry of the city. A game isn’t just an athletic contest. It’s a picnic, a kind of town meeting.” Major League Baseball would of put Fremont on the map in a very positive way! Cisco Field would have been the jewel of our community bringing with it 2,100 full and part-time jobs . Look what new major league stadiums have done for the cities of Baltimore, Denver, Houston, Atlanta and I could go on. It’s all good! ATT gentrified a very shaky neighborhood in to a wonderful place to be. What could anyone have against jobs, tax revenue and notoriety for Fremont? The Oakland A’s tried to be civil and accommodating which is more than I could say for the unruly lunatic fringe who killed the deal to bring major league baseball to Fremont.
October 21st, 2009 at 8:35 pm
If there is a lunacy in this dialogue, it can only be that faction which chooses to -
- ignore a veritable mountain of contrary economic data
- presents only anecdote and emotion-filled imagery as a basis from which they would encourage others to draw economic conclusions;
- resort to personalized name calling and belittlement;
- repeats the above over and over and over.
Swamp Squid makes clear that some supporters of the stadium concept are, perhaps, not capable of critical or rational thought.
October 21st, 2009 at 10:28 pm
I spent a great deal of time looking at the stadium issue starting with the A’s submitted economic analysis. My cnclusion was that a baseball stadium could not be justified by any objective measure. The only reason to have a major league ball team in your city is because you want one. Having your city name on the jersey is probably a good thing to bring publicity to your town. The A’s were never going to be the Fremont A’s. There was no plus for Fremont in the whole equation. I wish I could find one.
October 22nd, 2009 at 9:10 am
At what price publicity? The publicity that the City’s going bankrupt from a drain on our services and lack of revenue?
Those “jobs” would be part-time, low wage McJobs, not real jobs with benefits. Jobs during ball games – concessions, ushers, parking attendents, a few retail jobs at Pacific Commons.
Matt – I submitted my last comment at 1 p.m. yesterday – how long must it wait for “moderation”?
October 22nd, 2009 at 5:37 pm
BOXY
If there is lunacy in your genetics, that would explain alot…then again it might be just a phase of the moon? I’m sure everyone would agree that Box has never resorted to name calling or belittlement. Box and his/hers/it’s ilk just keep looking that old gift horse in the mouth. The A’s wanting to come to Fremont was good fortune and they were run the out on a rail in a kinder, gentler version of Kristallnacht on Mission Boulevard. The $2.9 billion in revenue generated over the next 30-years would have taken some of sting of losing NUMMI.I think I’ll go watch the game.
October 22nd, 2009 at 10:26 pm
Look, I don’t want to complicate things but – there’s the little issue of 3400 some old homes and several hundred square feet of commercial / retail space (needed or not) that were part of the A’s project. Put that in the so called “downtown” – and you just may have one.
But who knows, that analysis was never done.
October 22nd, 2009 at 10:26 pm
meant to say “some odd homes”
October 23rd, 2009 at 11:18 am
Regardless of whether the unit of analysis is a local neighborhood, a city, or an entire metropolitan area, the economic benefits of sports facilities are de minimus.” Raymond Keating, the Small Business Survival Committee’s chief economist, agrees: “The lone beneficiaries of sports subsidies are team owners and players.
October 23rd, 2009 at 12:09 pm
Can we get back to rubbing the Yankee’s middle relief woes in Matt’s face?
October 23rd, 2009 at 12:31 pm
Matt, it’s Friday the 23rd. My comment from Wednesday 10/21 is still “awaiting moderation”. If you find it objectionable in some way, I’d appreciate an explanation. If not, please release it.
October 23rd, 2009 at 12:58 pm
Very clever, squid. We get it – the A’s and their fans are the poor Jews and those of us who raised inconvenient questions about the stadium proposal are the nasty Nazis. Adding “kinder, gentler” Nazis is a truly inspired touch. People who cannot support their claims on facts generally resort to Nazi allegations in pretty short order.
What you view as “Nazi” was, in fact, a citizenry carrying out it’s civic duty. No arrests or citations were made during any stadium protests. We participated in public meetings where we made our opinions known. We utilized the net in responsible ways to organize, do research and share information. The same opportunities and resources were available to those who held differing opinions about the stadium proposal, and they had the advantage of far better funding, legal advice, and media access.
Which raises the question; if the stadium was such a great idea, why did Wolff choose to pull out? A few homeowners out in the rain with paper signs? The economic downturn? Or did he unexpectedly encounter residents who were wise to his plan to squeeze this town like an orange and leave us with the rind? Why aren’t other cities lined up to welcome him?
October 23rd, 2009 at 2:43 pm
Matt, the Yankees are the equivalent of the rich kid at school who used his daddy’s money to buy himself popularity. Sorry bud, you know its true! Me being an ex-Boston U guy doesn’t have anything to do with that either!
Fremont Lifer, while I was pro A’s I like the way you underline the democratic value of the anti-A’s movement. It was truly beautiful to see the normally apathetic people of our city finally get worked up over something. Democracy is a beautiful thing. Anybody who calls any aspect of it communistic or facistic is crossing a line that shouldn’t be crossed no matter what the debate.
October 23rd, 2009 at 8:39 pm
Fremont Lifer……you nailed it
<@
October 23rd, 2009 at 8:54 pm
Surprise surprise…more delusional statements of unknowing, inexperienced opinion. Lifer your treatise is simply to add trouble, subtract logic, divide attention, and multiply ignorance. Fox News could use someone like you. You won’t acknowledge and most likely celebrate the aggressive and rowdy behavior demonstrated by some of the crowd opposed to the A’s moving to Fremont during the Mission Boulevard “Kristallnacht”. No doubt the A’s were bullied out of Fremont. Again the economic facts are jobs and tax revenue ($130 million in annual spending throughout the local economy) would have come to our city.
Nailed it!
October 24th, 2009 at 9:25 am
WHAT an IDIOT, SS!! (that’s an acronym for Swamp Squid)
You brought NOTHING to this debate – N O T H I N G
You criticize with no supporting facts – only OPINION.
SS discredits the Wolfe’s, the A’s, and anyone else that was pro-stadium
Where’s MARTY ?????
Same fabric.
Time to “IGNORE” another.
October 24th, 2009 at 11:02 pm
Swamp Squid says – “…unknowning, inexperienced, opinion.”
If there are statements of opinion in this debate – it would appear they originate from the PRO-STADIUM faction since it is THIS group that is unable or unwilling to present ANY substantitating data from independant sources which are supportive to their (seemingly) emotional claims.
“Kristallnacht” – - -??? !!! – - Sorry but that one is (for me) over the top Swamp Squid and I’d encourage you to seek some professional advice.
Time to IGNORE another contributor to this list.
October 25th, 2009 at 3:09 pm
Box, here’s a bit of information on your “independant source”, the SBSC:
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Small_Business_Survival_Committee
October 25th, 2009 at 3:21 pm
Matt – I’d sure appreciate an explanation of why my post of Wednesday 10/21 at 1 p.m. was deleted. It did not contain anything vaguely obscene; only quotes from two articles about stadiums, different in content but not in substance from many other citations found here. You can certainly delete anything you wish, but I think folks would like to know what the rules are so they can comply with them. The post in question was about as spicy as a Council agenda item.
October 25th, 2009 at 3:47 pm
Fabulous that you should mention Faux News, squid, since they’ve pretty much cornered the market on Nazi references these days. If the behavior of stadium opponents was so “aggressive and rowdy”, why were there no police actions related to any anti-stadium demonstration? Tell me about the circumstances where Fremont’s finest were called upon to resolve a situation caused by the actions of an anti-stadium protester.
What you are not taking into consideration is the cost-benefit analysis of the project. A project can bring in a bazillion dollars to a local economy, but if it costs that local economy five bazillion dollars to have it there, the local economy loses. Who would have paid for the additional road wear related to stadium traffic? Who would have paid for the additional public safety staffing that would have been required? Who would have built the schools to educate the children who would have lived in the residential component of the proposal? Not the A’s or MLB, that’s for sure. What would have replaced the businesses that would have moved out of Pacific Commons because of their lost revenue due to gridlock on game days? You do realize that Costco, Kohls, and Lowes were opposed to the project, right?
Finally, historically you’re a little foggy, Kristallnacht was the Nazis seizing and destroying the property of the Jews. Stadium opponents were concerned that the A’s, aided and abetted by some of our local elected officials, were attempting to seize and destroy the future economic and social welfare of our City. Even under these circumstances, I don’t recall anyone referring to the A’s as Nazis. Stadium opponents had no power to do any harm to the A’s or local officials beyond the raising of our voices to pose questions about the proposal. Mr. Wolff is a professional businessman who could not have been scared off by a few middle-class homeowners unless he knew he couldn’t make money here if he had to address reasonable concerns, so he went elsewhere. We’ll see if San Jose works out for him.
October 25th, 2009 at 6:00 pm
Squid, that “aggressive and rowdy” Mob was Fremont Citizens getting involved with the direction of there City, I applaud them.
They were very well behaved, how do I know… I was there!
October 25th, 2009 at 6:07 pm
F.L.
Speculative on my part but, but in the absence of any consideration from Matt – I will offer a personal conjectuire – - – - I believe I have seen rather consistantly that, only the most recent posting to a given BLOG by a given I.P. address is eventually “approved” and posted.
If I make an addendum to a previous post, while the first message is held for moderation – only the most recent addendum gets reviewed and eventually posted.
Whether this works consistantly as described or not throughout the entire BANG Blog is unclear to me. But – I’ve had it happen once or twice to the point that I now take note to wait for my previous post to get “released” – and only AFTER my first message is “approved” do I post any addendum – - – either that, or you can also use this period of time to “edit” – - – - where moderation is in force – this works pretty reliably for me. Note that, where moderation is NOT in effect – you can post and add an addendum right away.
October 26th, 2009 at 9:58 am
Lifer,
For the record, the far left makes far greater use of Nazi accusations and metaphors than the far and mainstream right put together; usually in highly inappropriate ways. I say that calling myself center-left.
October 26th, 2009 at 9:53 pm
Lifer & Box
I would suggest that you stop watching “The Factor”and maybe go to Church a few times a year. The “Kristallnacht” reference has seemed to have rubbed you raw and I can only guess why? You may not be Nazis but your ilk did behave badly and you must admit they ran the A’s were out of town on a rail with bulling tactics. I’m sure you are feeling guilty about something? Maybe some of the 4,700 jobs lost at NUMMI could have been replaced by bringing professional baseball to Fremont?If you want to defend the goon squad keep a going. If you ever want to get over your guilt then talk to me about your past tactics and admit I have a point.
October 27th, 2009 at 12:48 am
Squid,
Why are you not answering Lifer’s questions at #27 ?
October 27th, 2009 at 3:19 pm
Thanks, Box, but I think you were responding to Irvington’s concerns about his/her disappearing post. Which makes me wonder how many other posts disappear that we never know about. What’s up with that, Matt? How about an explanation for Irv?
October 27th, 2009 at 3:42 pm
PS for squid, No Guilt Ever. Also, as the great George Carlin said, “God makes me nervous when you get him indoors.” Thanks for backing off on the “Nazi” thing. “Rubbed me raw”? Not too many people would thank you for inferring that they are a Nazi. We may disagree, but I wouldn’t do that to you.
Apparently one man’s “goon squad” is another’s informed/engaged/involved electorate – it just depends on who ends up on the losing end of the situation. Don’t doubt for a minute – if they were building that stadium right now, we’d still be raising questions, going to public meetings, and organizing protests.
Is The Factor O’rally’s show? Sorry, hablo Olbermann and Maddow.
October 27th, 2009 at 4:35 pm
Yeah – good catch – my bad – post #29 was directed at Irv.
October 27th, 2009 at 6:45 pm
“Swamp Squid Says:
October 23rd, 2009 at 8:54 pm
Surprise surprise…more delusional statements of unknowing, inexperienced opinion. Lifer your treatise is simply to add trouble, subtract logic, divide attention, and multiply ignorance. Fox News could use someone like you. You won’t acknowledge and most likely celebrate the aggressive and rowdy behavior demonstrated by some of the crowd opposed to the A’s moving to Fremont during the Mission Boulevard “Kristallnacht”. No doubt the A’s were bullied out of Fremont. Again the economic facts are jobs and tax revenue ($130 million in annual spending throughout the local economy) would have come to our city.
Why do you keep repeating your self? BLAH BLAH BLAH!
You live in Decoto…..right.;)? I know you won’t answerer my question because, you are embarrassed…it’s o.k. Squid:( “($130 million in annual spending throughout the local economy)”… and so would have the “rif raf”, criminals, garbage and traffic…..ect as if we don’t have enough in my neighborhood(Warm Springs)! Decoto right? Cheers:)
October 27th, 2009 at 6:47 pm
Waiting patiently squid:)
Bully? Me? NOT!
October 27th, 2009 at 6:49 pm
I think the only thing “squid” can say about my comments…..is my spelling and grammer:? (grin)
October 27th, 2009 at 7:36 pm
Elvis Costello sings…“They pat some good boys on the back and put some to the rod but I never thought they’d put me in the Goon squad…. A kinder, gentler version of Kristallnacht is what it was and I will stand by that. I must say the some of your so called well mannered opponents of bringing a positive things (professional baseball) to Fremont behaved in a less than savory fashion. That doesn’t make them Nazis. Even though they raged on Mission, shouted down their opposition at neighborhood meetings and made a point to say they were going to go to the city hall meeting to disrupt baseballs commissioner who was planning to attend and a cause a scene…let’s be thankful the informed/engaged/involved fringers didn’t kill anyone.
October 28th, 2009 at 4:48 pm
Thanks for finally releasing my comment #8, Matt – what took so long?
I believe that Squid is operating under a unfortunately mistaken impression of the folks who opposed the stadium proposal. I was at some of the events you cite, and I saw working people, old folks, and families with small children in attendance. I doubt if these people would have been comfortable being there if they got any sense at all that they were in a dangerous situation. You might be surprised to see who these people are, because they’re not the “fringers” you describe – they own businesses here in town, volunteer for sport and civic activities, they hold differing political and religious beliefs and generally are a cross-section of the City’s residents. Most likely, you encounter them on a fairly regular basis without realizing it. Probably the only thing we all agreed on was that we weren’t getting the true story about the real cost of the stadium proposal. The fact that Mr. Wolff chose to depart rather than address those issues leads me to believe that we were right.
Since you appear to still be interested in this subject, I would encourage you to do your own research into the effects that stadia have had on other municipalities; please don’t just accept what the A’s or MLB tell you. Professional baseball is a business and it exists to make a profit – period. For themselves, not for the cities that they move into. Any revenue to the city is incidental to their goals. Their interest is to get the most from that city at the least cost to themselves, thereby lowering their costs and maximizing their income. It isn’t wrong or right, it’s just the free market at work.
October 28th, 2009 at 5:11 pm
Swampy – thankful that anti-stadium protesters “didn’t kill anyone”? Really? There wasn’t even a parking ticket issued at a stadium protest. We didn’t even litter, much less menace anyone. Don’t look now – you’re credibility is leaking.
BTW, that “city hall meeting” you mention that the protesters (also known as tax-paying, voting residents) were going to attend? It was a PUBLIC MEETING. We’re part of “the public”. Were you under the impression that it was a meeting of the Bob Wasserman fan club?
October 28th, 2009 at 7:22 pm
Don’t tread on me…Why wouldn’t Fremont want increased income, new job growth, additional spending and increase tax revenues? Bla bla bla… What say you Volunteer! Why would the fringe be opposed to so many positive things? The relocation of the A’s to Fremont and a new stadium would have provided our community indirect benefits such as an enhanced city image, a focus for community pride and would have served as a relocation magnet for corporate interest. What say you Niles Baxter? I guess you all were afraid of the big bad Lewis Wolf when in fact he and the A’s turned out to be much more civilized and accommodating that you all were. The anti-stadium mob was rude and that’s just the facts. Get over your guilt and see the light.
October 28th, 2009 at 8:00 pm
I have a sneaking suspicion that come 2010 election time, anybody associated with the FCN will get their asses served on a In-N-Out tray with a directive to go find a job across the street at Kohl’s. This is just my opinion, but I think the usual bastards here are in for a bit of a lesson.
October 28th, 2009 at 10:13 pm
Squid, …”enhanced city image, a focus for community pride and would have served as a relocation magnet for corporate interest”. Wow, you sound like you live in fantasy land. Fremont has busted out of the “ideal city” to bring a business too. Notice all the “for lease” signs. Since you have all of these wonderful ideas, why don’t you run for city council and maybe you can bring the A’s to your neighborhood. (grin) p.s. we still have our pride without the A’s after all, we made the 10 (#5)top places to raise our kids in the USA…. Hoorah! It even made it on the national news;). Cheers! http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33385798/ns/today-parenting_and_family/
note #5.
October 29th, 2009 at 9:37 am
OBJECTION TO MARTY’S #45 !
Marty, why would you call other posters here “BASTXXDS’ ?
October 29th, 2009 at 10:13 am
Sorry, Fremontperson. I find many posts objectionable myself, but that’s how it goes. Take or example post #7 in this thread. Not only is “Volunteer’s” post arrogant, prejudicial and divisive, but I think it sums of the motivation behind the Warm Springs politic pretty well, which is belief that Warm Springs inhabitants are more important based on higher property values. In that respect, I dare any one candidate for council to incorporate the support of this group into their 2010 campaign.
That’s all I have to say on the matter. Flame on.
October 29th, 2009 at 12:01 pm
See, Squid, some of us here DO want “new job growth, additional spending and increase tax revenues”. That would not have come with the stadium proposal. It was never assumed that the stadium would not bring some short-term revenue to town, but the truth was that the cost of having it here would far out-weigh any benefit it brought. You can’t make civic decisions based on what’s good today; you have to look at long-term outcomes. As Irvington says, please do your research; don’t just believe what you heard at the last A’s game.
Volunteer – since we’re all pretty much anonymous here, how do we know that Squid hasn’t run for Council or, for that matter, isn’t currently on the Council?
Fremontperson, good luck with that objection – Matt has pretty lax ideas about constitutes a civilized discussion.
October 29th, 2009 at 2:11 pm
SWINE FLU BREAKOUT AT NILES SCHOOL. The school has been notified that a child has tested positive for the swine flu and that there are other children from that class that have been out with the flu. The school said that the CDC told them that they don’t have to notify the parents. Is this the way Fremont Unified is going to handle the swine flu? What a joke.
October 29th, 2009 at 3:23 pm
Worble: swine flu has been going around since the spring. We’ve already been told that any flu right now is almost certainly swine flu, since the seasonal flu has not started up yet. I know a kid who had it in August. Maybe they could make an announcement at Niles, but don’t expect them to quarantine the school or anything like that.
October 29th, 2009 at 3:38 pm
They have told us that they will not make an annoucement. Why not? What are they hiding from? or is it that Fremont Unified will lose money if the parents keep there kids at home? What about the poor child that has a emune problem and die from the flu who is responssible? the school and the school district for not letting the public know that they have a swine flu breakout.
October 29th, 2009 at 4:04 pm
Valid questions, Worble. Have you called the School District to ask them? If you do I hope you will share with us what you find out.
How do you think the District should handle the situation? You noted in your first post that the CDC had told the District not to do a notification, then you ask in your second post why they’re not making an announcement – seems to me you answered your own question.
It can hardly be news to anybody that the swine flu’s going around, and responsible parents of immunologically-challenged children have probably already taken whatever steps they feel are prudent to protect their kids.
November 1st, 2009 at 8:47 pm
If building sports stadiums to your city is such bad idea, why have so many cities including Houston, Chicago, Baltimore, San Diego, Cleveland and Denver built them? I guess you on the fringe are good with our somewhat boring bedroom community? Number ten on the charts! No sense in taking the opportunity to help turn Fremont into a top tier city…right? You fringe do not understand the tangible and intangible opportunities and benefits associated with a baseball team rsincluding visitors, tourists, and people looking for nightly dining, entertainment, and hotel accommodations professional baseball would have brought. The return on investment would have been worth it. Come out and introduce yourself…I think you know who I am. I will most certainly be at the next Council meeting.
November 1st, 2009 at 9:48 pm
Raymond Keating, the Small Business Survival Committee’s chief economist, agrees: “The lone beneficiaries of sports subsidies are team owners and players.
November 1st, 2009 at 9:50 pm
Something new to consider -
http://www.kqed.org/epArchive/R902061730
November 1st, 2009 at 9:51 pm
And another -
http://www.cato.org/pubs/regulation/regv23n2/coates.pdf
November 2nd, 2009 at 7:43 am
Mayor Wasserman is Swamp Squid? If so time to drain the swamp!
November 2nd, 2009 at 8:18 am
“The lone beneficiaries of sports subsidies are team owners and players.”
…and the fans, general entertainment seekers, the supporting businesses and city’s reputation as a whole. Here’s a few other non-essential amenities that cities provide at a net expense:
Parks
Performing arts centers
Public amphitheaters
Softball fields
Waterslides
Museums
Using the condition that a non-essential city amenity must provide a profit, you must be against the creation of all of those. OR, the issue is that you don’t want a baseball field, plain and simple and would be more that willing to hamstring the city budget as long as the outcome meets your personal preferences. That’s fair enough, but just admit it.
And in all honesty, it was difficult to come up with six non-essential amenities in Fremont (in fact two of those barely exist). THAT speaks to the sad state of options available to our residents and is perhaps the reason why there are many who wanted the A’s.
But continue to call these people fringe, extremists etc. Maybe Lifer can correlate them to “Birthers” again, and Vinnie Bacon can thank him for the astute analysis. The FCN herd is writing the us-vs-them narrative and working overtime to divide the city on this issue.
November 2nd, 2009 at 4:56 pm
Sounds like we have acouple of winners who can’t read or see the simple facts that most of Fremont did not want this project. Like I have always said let the people of Fremont vote and these sore losers will see that this was never going to happen. Lew wolff played Fremont so he can move the team out of the bay area he knew that the ballpark would never happen in Fremont that is why he gave up. Quit sniffling about it.
November 2nd, 2009 at 10:40 pm
No Kyle,I am not Wasserman but your getting warmer. Why won’t you fingers admit I have a point. You tossed our community under the bus and you behaved like somebody who wears brown shirts 6 days a week. For what? I would like Fremont to be a better place, a more exciting place, a place that the rest of the nation /world might come to know because we have a professional baseball team with a world class stadium. Right now we have our share of chains and no fireworks on the 4th of July. Thanks a lot Gus! Admit it you screwed up. NUMMI is history and 4,700 jobs have been lost…Bacon,Bacon,Bacon. BBox needs to go back to DTox. Yankees 3- Phillies 2.
Cheers
November 2nd, 2009 at 11:21 pm
Diaz?
November 3rd, 2009 at 4:39 pm
I must thank you all for putting a smile on my face this afternoon at observing the guesses about who our pal Squiddy is. This is just too good.
A baseball and Nazi-obsessed marginal typist (“fringers”/”fingers”) who attends Council meetings and uses “bedroom community” as a pejorative – hmmmm. Plus, a fireworks enthusiast with no love for Gus. Not a real long list of possibile candidates.
November 3rd, 2009 at 6:25 pm
Yuck yucks. I’ve got to hand it to our baseball hating buddy Lifer…Must of been quite a task wiping all the egg away to find your mouth to view that cute and demonic smile of yours this afternoon.
The guilt Lifer is burdened with has turned his brain into mush.
”Pejorative – hmmmm”…could Lifer be a grammer Nazi to boot?
November 3rd, 2009 at 8:45 pm
Oh, yeah – I forgot “guilt obsessed”.
“Why can’t I find the word ‘perjorative’ in my dictionary?
Because it is spelled pejorative. This word does not contain the prefix per-, but is derived from the Latin word peior or pejor meaning ‘worse’.”
http://www.askoxford.com/asktheexperts/faq/aboutspelling/perjorative
Come on – you know you’re dying to admit who you are or you wouldn’t have dropped so many unsolicited clues. It’s eating you up. Spill it – you’ll feel better.
November 4th, 2009 at 6:31 pm
Tell me, who are you? ‘Cause I really wanna know who, who, who, who?
Holy albumin Lifer… just come to the next City Council meeting and it will be revealed. Heck, you could even bring that mob of baseball haters that ran the A’s out of Fremont with you.That’s no yoke!
P.S. Has anyone told you to watch your dangling participles?
November 5th, 2009 at 9:19 am
Dude, I’m not the one dropping broad hints about who I am. You can’t dangle clues out there that imply that you’re a Council member and expect people not to bat them around. This fan-dancer routine is getting old – nobody wants to see your naughty bits anyway.
At least prior (and future?) candidate Bacon posts under his own name.
November 5th, 2009 at 9:36 am
I’ll take a look at that “dangling participle”!