Emasculated St. Louis -- Hochman: Time is now for stadium
PostPosted:9 years 6 months ago
Hochman: Time is now for stadium
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/columns/ ... b2ddd.html
3 hours ago • By Benjamin Hochman
Are we having a crisis in confidence?
Is that what this is?
I feel that Ferguson has embarrassed St. Louis, exposed St. Louis. And now, with the Rams looking to leave, that has deflated St. Louis, emasculated St. Louis.
We need to resuscitate our confidence, together — this town really is good, guys (and gals) — and that’s why I enjoyed the energy from Gov. Jay Nixon, whom I met with one-on-one Thursday afternoon.
Can Nixon save the NFL in St. Louis? He’s going up against Stan Kroenke, the stalwart Soviet hockey team of businessmen. And he’s facing misconceived skepticism nationally and, as it seems, a lack of confidence locally.
Nixon described a moment, standing near the possible new stadium site, where he pointed and said, “If we don’t do this deal, 10 years from now, the same decrepit buildings will still be there. There’s not another deal. That’s why I’m focused on the time frame — this is the time to be competitive, this is the time to move forward. And if we do, I think both under the relocation guidelines and the fact of the size of market we are, things will turn out well.”
OK, but who exactly needs to be competitive? Does the family in Festus or the single dude in Ladue really matter at this point?
The governor took 22 seconds to clearly capture the significance of what he was trying to share. He then said: “This is an important historical moment. And we all need to grasp the opportunity to redevelop the riverfront, and the necessity to remain one of what’s very rare air — an NFL city. It’s doable. … I understand it’s football, but it’s important.”
He’s renewing the call, and you know what? Let’s buy into it. Why not? What else do we have to lose? I know, I know — the Rams, yes. But even if St. Louis is to lose the Rams — after a decade of the Rams losing — here’s a twist that people don’t talk about. I can foresee St. Louis becoming the NFL’s latest “Cleveland,” a proud city that is awarded an expansion team. This is something the NFL execs have indeed considered.
When Art Modell whisked the Browns to Baltimore, the league rewarded Cleveland with the new Browns. And with the modern NFL’s possibility of expanding the regular season and creating annual games in Europe, an extra franchise or two could help with the math of bye weeks — and help build the NFL’s global brand, even from here on the Mississippi riverfront. The thing about expansion is, the timetable is open-ended.
There is a misconception nationally that St. Louis isn’t a great football town. No, St. Louis is a great football town — with bad football (and a bad stadium, and yes, I know, the city and state can take the blame for that). The Rams haven’t made the playoffs since the Coolidge administration. And it’s funny because I’m sure commissioner Roger Goodell is going to closely watch this season’s attendance figures, as if that’s at all indicative of St. Louis being a football town. Roger, why don’t you pop in the old DVD of the Rams’ Super Bowl season, instead of somehow punishing the hard-working St. Louisans, football fans who didn’t buy tickets to see a team that doesn’t want to be in St. Louis?
Nixon visited Goodell on Wednesday, and described it as “a good, thoughtful productive meeting. And we continued to say what’s on the punch list of what needs to be done and what the owners are thinking, so we know we’re meeting the competitive bars that are necessary.”
I asked, does Goodell get it? Does he see that St. Louis needs the NFL and is an NFL town?
“I don’t use the word ‘needs,’ because I think we’ve earned,” Nixon said. “We don’t have a tin cup out here, asking. This is a great sports market with a great project that has a lot more certainty around it than many others. … (Goodell) recognizes that I bring a high level of commitment, a deep knowledge of the realities of what the pressure points are, and I think they’ve been very impressed by the team that we’ve put together.”
It’s easy for us to play what-if, regarding the musical franchises. There are probably 20 scenarios we could cook up right now, for what will happen by this winter in the NFL. (The St. Louis task force will make its stadium pitch to NFL owners in October). But you know what — the 21st scenario will probably happen.
As for the locally funded new NFL stadium here, Nixon assures that data shows it will be viable and profitable (I know, he’s a politician, what else is he going to say? But he said it was a thorough economic analysis). And this is just one example, and maybe not apples to apples, but I moved here from Denver, where in the early 1990s its downtown was one big, sun-splashed crack house. But they built a baseball stadium in the heart of it, and a re-energized downtown sprouted all around it. Today, downtown Denver is buzzing, and it’s one of America’s fastest-growing cities. Denver was a nationally perceived “cow town” with only two of the four major pro sports teams. Now they have all four (and yes, I am aware that it’s the Kroenke family that owns two of the four).
I’m not saying we’re going to become Denver. But let’s use that city as a history lesson, at least. Or, if anything, simply a confidence-booster.
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/columns/ ... b2ddd.html
3 hours ago • By Benjamin Hochman
Are we having a crisis in confidence?
Is that what this is?
I feel that Ferguson has embarrassed St. Louis, exposed St. Louis. And now, with the Rams looking to leave, that has deflated St. Louis, emasculated St. Louis.
We need to resuscitate our confidence, together — this town really is good, guys (and gals) — and that’s why I enjoyed the energy from Gov. Jay Nixon, whom I met with one-on-one Thursday afternoon.
Can Nixon save the NFL in St. Louis? He’s going up against Stan Kroenke, the stalwart Soviet hockey team of businessmen. And he’s facing misconceived skepticism nationally and, as it seems, a lack of confidence locally.
Nixon described a moment, standing near the possible new stadium site, where he pointed and said, “If we don’t do this deal, 10 years from now, the same decrepit buildings will still be there. There’s not another deal. That’s why I’m focused on the time frame — this is the time to be competitive, this is the time to move forward. And if we do, I think both under the relocation guidelines and the fact of the size of market we are, things will turn out well.”
OK, but who exactly needs to be competitive? Does the family in Festus or the single dude in Ladue really matter at this point?
The governor took 22 seconds to clearly capture the significance of what he was trying to share. He then said: “This is an important historical moment. And we all need to grasp the opportunity to redevelop the riverfront, and the necessity to remain one of what’s very rare air — an NFL city. It’s doable. … I understand it’s football, but it’s important.”
He’s renewing the call, and you know what? Let’s buy into it. Why not? What else do we have to lose? I know, I know — the Rams, yes. But even if St. Louis is to lose the Rams — after a decade of the Rams losing — here’s a twist that people don’t talk about. I can foresee St. Louis becoming the NFL’s latest “Cleveland,” a proud city that is awarded an expansion team. This is something the NFL execs have indeed considered.
When Art Modell whisked the Browns to Baltimore, the league rewarded Cleveland with the new Browns. And with the modern NFL’s possibility of expanding the regular season and creating annual games in Europe, an extra franchise or two could help with the math of bye weeks — and help build the NFL’s global brand, even from here on the Mississippi riverfront. The thing about expansion is, the timetable is open-ended.
There is a misconception nationally that St. Louis isn’t a great football town. No, St. Louis is a great football town — with bad football (and a bad stadium, and yes, I know, the city and state can take the blame for that). The Rams haven’t made the playoffs since the Coolidge administration. And it’s funny because I’m sure commissioner Roger Goodell is going to closely watch this season’s attendance figures, as if that’s at all indicative of St. Louis being a football town. Roger, why don’t you pop in the old DVD of the Rams’ Super Bowl season, instead of somehow punishing the hard-working St. Louisans, football fans who didn’t buy tickets to see a team that doesn’t want to be in St. Louis?
Nixon visited Goodell on Wednesday, and described it as “a good, thoughtful productive meeting. And we continued to say what’s on the punch list of what needs to be done and what the owners are thinking, so we know we’re meeting the competitive bars that are necessary.”
I asked, does Goodell get it? Does he see that St. Louis needs the NFL and is an NFL town?
“I don’t use the word ‘needs,’ because I think we’ve earned,” Nixon said. “We don’t have a tin cup out here, asking. This is a great sports market with a great project that has a lot more certainty around it than many others. … (Goodell) recognizes that I bring a high level of commitment, a deep knowledge of the realities of what the pressure points are, and I think they’ve been very impressed by the team that we’ve put together.”
It’s easy for us to play what-if, regarding the musical franchises. There are probably 20 scenarios we could cook up right now, for what will happen by this winter in the NFL. (The St. Louis task force will make its stadium pitch to NFL owners in October). But you know what — the 21st scenario will probably happen.
As for the locally funded new NFL stadium here, Nixon assures that data shows it will be viable and profitable (I know, he’s a politician, what else is he going to say? But he said it was a thorough economic analysis). And this is just one example, and maybe not apples to apples, but I moved here from Denver, where in the early 1990s its downtown was one big, sun-splashed crack house. But they built a baseball stadium in the heart of it, and a re-energized downtown sprouted all around it. Today, downtown Denver is buzzing, and it’s one of America’s fastest-growing cities. Denver was a nationally perceived “cow town” with only two of the four major pro sports teams. Now they have all four (and yes, I am aware that it’s the Kroenke family that owns two of the four).
I’m not saying we’re going to become Denver. But let’s use that city as a history lesson, at least. Or, if anything, simply a confidence-booster.