[RedAlice]

hollywood park was goodell's idea?

I've heard that before, Spanos apparently is upset and believes that the Commissioner has stabbed him in the back. Fred also hinted that Richardson approached Spanos and told him to peruse Carson in order to get leverage to be taken care of.

to be more exact: yes. Spanos is an idiot money hunger man, he is not repsected by the 32 owners as we have been told. No one who made his own money respects him. Do your own math.

[max]

I've been reading and hearing for months that Spanos is an idiot, Carson is a joke, and Inglewood is getting built. Well, here we are on thanksgiving and if anything Inglewood has moved backwards. They were supposed to be building in a week or two. That's just not happening.

Maybe Spanos isn't as stupid as people think. He's made a lot more progress than Kroenke over the past several months.

[Hacksaw]

I've been reading and hearing for months that Spanos is an idiot, Carson is a joke, and Inglewood is getting built. Well, here we are on thanksgiving and if anything Inglewood has moved backwards. They were supposed to be building in a week or two. That's just not happening.

Maybe Spanos isn't as stupid as people think. He's made a lot more progress than Kroenke over the past several months.

Has he? His camp certainly has made more noise. That and the peep coming from StL.
Fred (4 sources) shed some light on things and now we see what's really up. Not to far from what we thought, just more defined.
Spanos comes off like the spoiled brat that AZ was alluding to (my uncle never stared at my ass though). His track record is wimpy. He's selfishly claiming things that aren't his and stopping real progress.
I consider the former narratives which were StL's task force/funding, the Charaiders, the notion that Carson makes more money etc. and all teamed up against Kroenke, more formidable than a group of owners who are trying to protect a runt owner from a more powerful one who;s in alliance with the commissioner/league.
I could be wrong but at the end of the day, they all want LA "done right" and it just doesn't seem that Spanos fits that bill.
I'm giving thanks today that the comish is on our side in all this.

[OldSchool]

I've been reading and hearing for months that Spanos is an idiot, Carson is a joke, and Inglewood is getting built. Well, here we are on thanksgiving and if anything Inglewood has moved backwards. They were supposed to be building in a week or two. That's just not happening.

Maybe Spanos isn't as stupid as people think. He's made a lot more progress than Kroenke over the past several months.

The thing is though Max he's had to make up ground. Kroenke hit the ground running with a fully developed project and one that could be started almost right away. He needed the initiative signatures and the board approval and he was ready. While Spanos still can't start construction Kroenke could have things begin on Monday. So yes Spanos has done more of late than Kroenke has but it's only because the next step for Stan is to break ground. The same isn't even close to being said for Spanos, even with all his recent noise.

[max]

I believe Roggin and Vinny that this is a political thing now. It's all about 28 owners taking sides and if Goodell has enough juice to move enough owners to Kroenke's side. The question I have is, has the LA Committee gained more power after the Deflategate debacle? If guys like Richardson, Rooney, and Mara are influencing the other owners more than Goodell is now, then Spanos can win and he knows it. Everything else is irrelevant. As Roggin said, it doesn't matter about Inglewood being any better than Carson. Carson is good enough.

Things have changed because Goodell has lost his clout.

[bubbaramfan]

Fact is, Spanos hasn't stopped anything, "yet". Mayor Butts has been saying ground breaking can begin when the permits are in place the middle of Dec. still a week or so away. Spanos so far has done nothing but make noise.
The really telling date is Jan 28, when Kroenke has to renew his year to year lease with the ED. If Inglewood project hasn't started by then, I'll be skeptical if it goes through then.

[RamsFanSince82]

I believe Roggin and Vinny that this is a political thing now. It's all about 28 owners taking sides and if Goodell has enough juice to move enough owners to Kroenke's side. The question I have is, has the LA Committee gained more power after the Deflategate debacle? If guys like Richardson, Rooney, and Mara are influencing the other owners more than Goodell is now, then Spanos can win and he knows it. Everything else is irrelevant. As Roggin said, it doesn't matter about Inglewood being any better than Carson. Carson is good enough.

Things have changed because Goodell has lost his clout.

You're looking at this the wrong way. Stop talking about votes/voting. As Roggin has said for a long time, and Jason Cole and others are now saying it, there won't be a vote be the LA committee or all of the other owners. Goodell and the other owners will have Stan K, Spanos and Davis work it out and come to some type of an agreement where there isn't a "loser". In situations like this, the owner(s)/person with the most money and power usually end up winning.

[bluecoconuts]

I've been reading and hearing for months that Spanos is an idiot, Carson is a joke, and Inglewood is getting built. Well, here we are on thanksgiving and if anything Inglewood has moved backwards. They were supposed to be building in a week or two. That's just not happening.

Maybe Spanos isn't as stupid as people think. He's made a lot more progress than Kroenke over the past several months.

I certainly don't think that Spanos is stupid, I think he's played it very smart. That being said, I don't think that Inglewood has moved backwards at all, I think they will still break ground in December... They will do whatever they need to do before they're past the point of no return up until they get the green light from the league.

That way Kroenke can say "Look, we're already started with the prep work, you can see these pictures, there is no delay at all."

I don't think they'll go past the point of no return, but I doubt they will let it drag on past January. The Rams lease ends at the end of January, they wont be renewing it, the NFL will need to do something beforehand.

[Hacksaw]

I believe Roggin and Vinny that this is a political thing now. It's all about 28 owners taking sides and if Goodell has enough juice to move enough owners to Kroenke's side. The question I have is, has the LA Committee gained more power after the Deflategate debacle? If guys like Richardson, Rooney, and Mara are influencing the other owners more than Goodell is now, then Spanos can win and he knows it. Everything else is irrelevant. As Roggin said, it doesn't matter about Inglewood being any better than Carson. Carson is good enough.

Things have changed because Goodell has lost his clout.

Good points max.

Not sure that Goodell has lost clout as reported. Not sure he hasn't. Not sure why the NFL (Goodell) would form a committee to possibly oppose his own legacy move. Or did the owners form that committee on their own despite Goodell?
Still, the "juice" reference would be about swaying votes or at least members opinion majority.

Fred repeated pretty matter of fact like (and Vinny agreed) that the owners feel the Inglewood site is the best. It's been repeatedly stated that the owners / league want to get LA done and done right.

That said, does it seem likely to anyone using common sense that they would side with Spanos who would considerably delay the LA process, give it a new stadium but one with so many question marks and logistical problems, one with questionable financials (team profits) all for a guy who procrastinated for over a decade? The same owners who already resides in the leagues preferred location for that team (allegedly)?

Also the difference for Spanos is either a league driven lease deal at Inglewood (to be the other team to the Rams,) or going into hock in Carson (to be the other team to the Raiders). Either way Spanos has a solution for his stadium problem, and LA get's done. A stalemate could derail the whole thing.

I still think that the decisions are made a bit harder or easier with the results in the 3 cities fighting for their teams. No funding for StL, or a real plan moving forward in SD should naturally sway things a bit. It's not only Goodell vs the committee 7.

And isn't Goodell the representative of the owners. One would think his position isn't a unilateral one.

I don't see Spanos jumping up and down in the corner stomping his feet as sufficient cause to risk losing LA or risk having to fight Kroenke in court if they end up with a split decision.

[willasdad]

This is my conspiracy theory thinking mind but the LA committee is comprised of a bunch of the old school owners, eah of whom garner respect among the other owners but maybe have more influence than Goodell would like them to have. Maybe Goodell foresaw that by sticking them in a committee together, he knew that they'd likely recommend Carson. What a great way to discredit their influence than by embaerassing them and getting the other owners to vote against their recommendation.