Comments on: Even their spring training home is down on the Red Sox

By: ken1lutheran

ken1lutheran — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 21:12:30 +0000

A really good club will build its own park, and ask only for infrastructure improvements to accommodate it. That’s what the New England Patriots did in Foxborough. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Norfolk County, and the town of Foxborough didn’t build that park. Bob Kraft did. All the state and local governments were asked to do was widen US 1 and put in a larger water main–less than Lee County has spent on these spring training parks. And what has happened since Bob Kraft put in the bigger and better park? They haven’t failed to sell out a single game. The team hasn’t gone worse than 9-7 in any season since the park opened in 2002, and only did that poorly once. They’ve gone to four Super Bowls and won two of them. That’s how a good club works. State and city governments ought to enter into an agreement that none of them will pay for the construction of a ball park. If ball clubs couldn’t play them off one against the other, that game would stop in a hurry. Some big corporation wants its name on a ball park? Let IT provide the financing to build it.

By: belichickrulz

belichickrulz — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 20:41:12 +0000

How could it not be nicer than Fenway? Fenway is a dump. It’s disgraceful that a big time major league team is playing in a ballpark that opened when the Titanic sank! And before anyone cries “But it’s old… it’s historic”, so is Stonehenge and I wouldn’t want to watch a ballgame there, either.

By: stex52

stex52 — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 17:31:00 +0000

Maybe in good times you can make a quality of life argument for a stadium in your city. You are unlikely ever to break even. And it’s lunacy in hard times.

By: belichickrulz

belichickrulz — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 13:49:33 +0000

Politicians need to learn from this. Sports stadiums are a nice bonus to a city, but they are not essential and never, ever provide the jobs and revenue promised by the leagues and owners. Voters need to boot out any city officials who support these boondoggles.

By: rbern11162

rbern11162 — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 12:12:07 +0000

It doesn’t make sense to build a top 10 stadium for 5 weeks worth of use . The place is a nicer stadium than Fenway

By: tfbuckfutter

tfbuckfutter — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 12:10:27 +0000

He’s just mad because as soon as they got the stadium funded the Red Sox traded all their big contracts for James Loney.

By: deathmonkey41

deathmonkey41 — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 03:58:32 +0000

Big Papi just wants to know how something like this can happen to him???

By: kkolchak

kkolchak — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 03:10:11 +0000

Another idiot politician is regretting a taxpayer giveaway to a billionaire owner. How shocking.

By: joeyashwi

joeyashwi — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 03:04:17 +0000

The Twins get upgraded spring training facility and a new public funded stadium and are worse than ever. So much for the extra revenue being used to get better players.

By: baseballisboring

baseballisboring — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 02:14:06 +0000

I’m just trying to figure out how the hell that costs $78 Million…

By: chill1184

chill1184 — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 02:05:30 +0000

Perhaps Henderson should’ve realized that sports welfare is always a loss for the town that puts up the money

By: lroc20

lroc20 — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 02:03:00 +0000

Matthew go to bed

By: Old Gator

Old Gator — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 01:59:38 +0000

So why not let the Twins walk, then, if you claim to have learned some kind of lesson?