See ya, quitters

Photo courtesy of
‘Action!’
courtesy of ‘curran.kelleher’

Well, it looks like all but a done deal – DC United is going to head over into Maryland’s PG County because they want someone to build them a new stadium. I only have two suggestions: forget this horse-hockey about keeping the name – you’re not welcome to it. You want to be DC United, be in DC. The Nationals aren’t called the grod-damned Montreal Expos anymore because they’re not in Montreal. You won’t be in DC either, so be honest about it.

Second, enjoy your new digs and the quality law enforcement. I’d suggest you don’t host any Bring Your Dog To Work days, and if any of your fans get picked up and throw in jail for drunk and disorderly I’d suggest making sure they’ve paid up their season tickets in advance; might be hard to collect from them later.

Well I used to say something in my profile about not quite being a “tinker, tailor, soldier, or spy” but Tom stole that for our about us page, so I guess I’ll have to find another way to express that I am a man of many interests.

Hmm, guess I just did.

My tastes run the gamut from sophomoric to Shakespeare and in my “professional” life I’ve sold things, served beer, written software, and carried heavy objects… sometimes at the same place. It’s that range of loves and activities that makes it so easy for me to love DC – we’ve got it all.

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5 thoughts on “See ya, quitters”

  1. Although I’ll enjoy taunting fans with chants of “PG United! [clap clap clap clap]”, it has been pointed out many places already that this is hardly unusual for sports franchises. The Bullets and Caps played in Maryland before the opening of the MCI Center, the Redskins play in Landover, the Cowboys don’t play in Dallas, and “New York” teams play in New Jersey, and those are just the ones I can name without looking anything up.

    Poplar Point failed because Fenty wanted a single developer to build everything at once and overplayed his hand. The team’s been trying to get a soccer stadium started for years, so I can’t really blame them for going somewhere the government can actually get something done.

    And at least for now it appears that they’re not getting the stadium for free:

    MacFarlane, sketching the outline of a possible deal, said the authority would own the stadium and the team would pay about 25 percent of the cost through rent, which he estimated would add up to $50 million. The remainder would be funded through new revenue generated by the stadium, primarily from ticket sales, he said.

  2. While I’ll be one of the fans fedward is taunting, you can’t pin this one on the team, or its owners. They’ve been working for years trying to secure a stadium in the District. When Clark Construction dropped out of Poplar Point, it was really the last straw for a team that has been jerked around by Mayor Fenty for just a bit too long.

    On a side note, I am really interested in how the cost arrangement works for this stadium. The state covers 75% of the cost through bonds, which are paid off through tax revenue generated at the stadium. Has this been tried elsewhere? Has it worked? If so, it seems like an incredibly elegant and creative solution to the funding quandry.

  3. Yeah, don’t be an ass (unless you’re rooting for the opposing team, in which case you have little to lose on that score). United bent over backwards for about 8 years to stay in the District. RFK is a crumbling hulk, and DC is so clueless that 8 years from now, Poplar Point probably still won’t be developed.

  4. Don’t blame the team. Blame that mess of a city government. United had been trying for years to get this deal done in the District, to the exclusion of better deals elsewhere. Poplar Point falling through was the last straw. And it will keep the name D.C. because that’s the way fans want it… We’re proud to have a D.C. team and we’ll always see it that way.

  5. This is so on the DC Government (and in particular you, Mr. “baseball or nothing” Fenty). DC United (and how about you go taunt the Skins fans on this as well, for consistantancy sake…. in that case they deliberately choose to relocate out of the district with very little effort… As opposed to the monumental amount of effort that DC United expended) has tirelessly tried to get this to work.

    The only quiters in this story is the DC Government. DC United just finally realized that they would never even get an erg of respect or a friendly ear….

    I am so spitefull about this I desperately hope that the Nats fold up and the DC Government is left holding the bag for that stadium. It would be the perfect legacy for the creep-a-zoid Mayor Fenty.