Does anyone else think that the maloofs aren't saying anything about the arena because if they do say there leaving then there afraid nobody will go to any kings games?
Think about it, if they said there leaving all the fans would be mad and would not attend anymore games and would lose more money!
If they don't say anything it makes it look like there staying and people still buy tickets. Therefore maloofs pocket more money before they leave out of town.
Smart idea, the maloofs are playing us.
Can you, for just one minute, try looking at it from their prespective. Lets back up just a little. Can we agree that a new arena is needed? That independent studies have been done, and the conclusion was that the old arena is falling apart, and because of how it was built in the first place, it can't even be remodeled and brought up to league standards. This was concluded almost 10 years ago. In that ten year period there have been several attempts to find a way to get an arena built. All of them failures for one reason or another. The most popular failure that the city and Bee journalists allude to is the one the Maloofs walked out on.
So why did they walk out? Because they had been in negotiations with the city on what their idea of what the arena should represent. You know, the usual things. Corporate boxes, parking, concessions, etc. All the things that make the Maloofs money. Location was also an issue. The railyards was the best location from a city point of view, but it was probably the most expensive when you take all the infrastructure that would be involved. And since financing is the main obstacle, just maybe, putting the arena in the cheapest place to build would be the best idea.
In any event, the Maloofs came to the meeting thinking they knew everything that was going to be propossed. But alas, no! They were completely blindsided by the city with plans they had never discussed, or if they had, they wern't popular with the Maloofs, and wern't suspossed to be part of any discussion. So there they were, standing in a public fourm, being asked to discuss, and approve something they never agreed to in advance. So they turned around and left. They were visibly angry, and felt betrayed by the city. Might explain way they might not trust the city now.
Now lets talk about this sudden sense of urgency by Johnson and the city council, and the seemingly lack of it by the Maloofs. Johnson put out requests for all parties interested to submit plans to build a new arena. And I'm referring to his request after the failure of the Cal ExPo land swap idea. He then put together a commision to study all the plans submited. The plans were submited and presented before the commison. The Taylor groups plan was deemed to be the best of the lot and thats the plan the commision decided on. But it still had to be approved by the city council.
Lets remember that the city council is made up of politicians. And a good politician will never miss a good opportunity to show his voters what a great job they did in electing him or her. Or is it, her or him. God knows I want to be politically correct. Especially when something as high profile as a new arena comes along. Now the city council could have done a quick review and rubberstamped the commissions recommendation.. But that wouldn't have allowed them any air time. No, lets not speed the process along as quickly as possible and approve the commissions recommendation. Lets go through the entire process all over again. Now they have every right to do that. But just maybe a little logic and a sense of urgency might be in need here. And so new meetings are scheduled and all the same parties come in and give the same presentations, and low and behold, the city council comes to the unlikely conclusion that the commission was right to begin with. So several weeks are wasted. And the Maloofs sit and observe as the march 1st deadline approaches.
Suddenly, because they have the gall to ask for an extension on the deadline, there's now a sense of urgency, and suddenly the Maloofs are being accused of dragging their feet. Strikes me that whats good for the goose is good for the gander. Where was that sense of urgency weeks ago when the city council could have by passed going through the entire process again, when god, you, me, and just about everyone else in the world knew that they were going to approve the same plan the commission recommended.
From day one, everything they've done has been questioned and twisted. If they say they want to stay, they're lying. It doesn't matter how many times they say it, or how many years they've been saying it. If I were the Maloofs, I would pack up my bags at the first opportunity and kiss this thankless city goodbye. And I'm not talking about the great fans out there. But the narrowminded people that only see rich billionaires that want to rob the city and starve the homeless. I've never been a class warfare person. I've always believed that there are good and bad people everywhere, and being rich or being poor isn't an excuse to do bad things. When Ronald Reagan was asked about class warfare and the evil corporations. He said, well, I've never seen anyone hired by a poor man. A simple statement to be sure. But it clearly gets the message across that although you might envy a rich person, he is the one that does all the employing of people. The city has already lost many employers of people. What few corporations the city did have, have left. Anyone remember Campbells soup. Many of the largest contractors have moved to other states.
The Kings have created a lot of jobs both directly and indirectly. Forget the 1 thousand people directly employed by the Kings. How may resturants and other businesses will shut their doors, or have to lay off people because of the Kings departure. Who prints their tickets? Who prints all their advertising?
Where do they buy their food from? Which local truck lines deliver most of their goods. There are thousands of related jobs involved that could and will be affected. Lets not even talk about the tax revenues the city will lose.
I can't sit here and tell you exactly what the Maloofs motives were in asking for an extension. And you have every right to look at it in a negative way. But remember, thats what a lot of folks have been doing since they bought the team, and its brought us to this. Me, I'm going to take a positive approach to the whole affair. I'm going to hope that their decision hasn't been made yet, and they're still in a limited, wait and see mode. If so, then there's hope, and thats a start. I'm on the side of the doers. The people that are willing to put out the effort. Willing to put their money and time where their mouth is. I have little use for the naysayer, whose best effort, is to say I told you so. I would hate to be left with nothing but the feeling of regret. Regret that I didn't even try.
