Section 101
All-Star
New info. Says 4 developers agreed the deal is doable when the economy gets better.
http://www.sacbee.com/latest/story/2050904.html
http://www.sacbee.com/latest/story/2050904.html
I think that's obviously good news -- means the plan is viable. Unfortunately the good news has to be tempered a bit by the implication that its a no go until the economy turns, and did Arnie ever decide whether to sell Cal Expo off to Zimbabwe or whatever back there? Might be more frustrating than anything else to know that we had a viable plan in place, and the team was still lost because of bad timing.
"It comes as no surprise. We learned a project of this size is not financeable in today's market," said Brian May of Cal Expo. "Everybody has a different opinion on when economy is going to bounce back."
Checkout http://www.surplusproperty.dgs.ca.gov/
Cal Expo isn't on this list. I wonder if they guy who posted that the land goes back to the family that donated it if the state has no use for it was right.
On the plus side, Spanos was one of the developers. He has done alot for the community already. I could only hope he wants a football stadium too for the Chargers.![]()
Good news for the Maloofs would be selling out the first few games of the regular season. Now, it's up to the fans to show their support until the economy does start to come around.I also view this as good news, and I suspect the Maloofs will do the same.
If we can find a way to stay close to the .500 mark and keep the playoffs at least a possibillity until the end of the season we should sell out most of our games again... but getting off to a 20 and 4 start (or whatever it was) is going to doom this team financially for another year.
There is really no way -- I think you considerably underestimate the damage to the fanbase rihgt now. Will take years to get it back, in this economy in particular. Only realistic way to have more than a handful of sellouts this season is if Geoff does something really splashy between now and training camp -- brings in a star basically -- and THEN we start winnign at a decent rate. As it is, after opening night there will be no chance for a sellout for months (except Lakers games) unless we are winning 2/3 of our games or some such. Without the recession, I would hope for an uptick this season. With it, just holding our own would be respectable.
Rubio would have given us a better shot -- the hype machine would have helped with early tick sales. Evans might well be the better player and result in more wins down the road, but its going to take him a while to generate excitement amongst the parts of the fanbase that have drifted away.
There is really no way -- I think you considerably underestimate the damage to the fanbase rihgt now. Will take years to get it back, in this economy in particular. Only realistic way to have more than a handful of sellouts this season is if Geoff does something really splashy between now and training camp -- brings in a star basically -- and THEN we start winnign at a decent rate. As it is, after opening night there will be no chance for a sellout for months (except Lakers games) unless we are winning 2/3 of our games or some such. Without the recession, I would hope for an uptick this season. With it, just holding our own would be respectable.
Rubio would have given us a better shot -- the hype machine would have helped with early tick sales. Evans might well be the better player and result in more wins down the road, but its going to take him a while to generate excitement amongst the parts of the fanbase that have drifted away.
At this point, it's no longer about Evans v. Rubio. It's about Evans/Martin/Casspi/Thompson/Hawes and Coach Westphal putting a product onto the court that will bring the fans back. Of course, there's always the SKDT, but apparently even their skimpy costumes weren't enough last year to entice the fans into the seats.
Of course, there's always the SKDT, but apparently even their skimpy costumes weren't enough last year to entice the fans into the seats.
Okay, time to weigh in on this viability conclusion. Sorry to burst everyone's bubble but this project doesn't have an ounce of viability to it.
Let's see, they sent out 14 letters and got 4 developers to respond.
Opinions are only useful if they are backed up by facts. Have any of these 4 developers actually dug into the numbers and said "wow, this is a slam dunk!"? I don't think so. I am a 20 year real estate professional and financial analyst. I've looked at the plan and the numbers simply don't add up in a good economy let alone a depression like we are in right now. It's a difficult thing for people to admit they are wrong.
Pride preceedith a fall. The Cal Expo Board and staff desperately wanted to save face with this developer outreach effort. The spin they have employed is amazing. John Moag is out of his league and is floundering around having "spent thousands of hours and millions of dollars" on a worthless plan.
I gave the Board a "viable" alternative and at least it gave them pause to stop and reflect upon what they really should do. Unfortunately the Board and especially Cal Expo staff are still looking through rose colored glasses as many of you on this board are doing also. As a committed Kings fans it pains me to see so many of you misled by those with some kind of agenda.
I look forward to hearing who the developers were at the next Board meeting and seeing if there is any validity to their assumptions, opinions and conclusions. I can tell you right now, there will be none.
Oh VF21, I knew I'd rile you up. My "horse" in the race was put there for the simple reason I want the Kings to stay here and a new arena built. That typical response of "oh well, you're just jealous they don't want to do your idea" is lame and wrong. All of my arguments about this project are based upon analytical facts, not emotional or unsupported personal opinions. The problem you and many others have today is that you trust "experts". You think they are free from bias or personal agenda and are acting out of pure motives. Look at what's happened to our economy from the actions of so-called experts. It has imploded. Your trust is misplaced. A dose of critical thinking is necessary here and always. I could say I don't care if they don't pursue my concept but I'd be lying. Because, I do care that a proposal is put forward that has even a slight chance of happening. My proposal would create permanent jobs and a job multiplier for the future. That's what this area needs. We don't need more stores, offices and high density housing. Do you get it now? How do you think we are going to escape from this depression? I understand the real estate business better than John Moag, Rex Hime or the entirety of the Board. Whether you believe that or not is irrelevant. What really is relevant is the fact that spinning this yarn for the folks at Cal Expo is not going to help us get to where we want to be. Please take some time to look at what the other "experts" had to say about this overly optimistic plan. It's not just me sounding the alarm. This plan is going nowhere but if you want to hang on to that thread of hope, be my guest.
Oh VF21, I knew I'd rile you up.
My "horse" in the race was put there for the simple reason I want the Kings to stay here and a new arena built. That typical response of "oh well, you're just jealous they don't want to do your idea" is lame and wrong.
All of my arguments about this project are based upon analytical facts, not emotional or unsupported personal opinions. The problem you and many others have today is that you trust "experts". You think they are free from bias or personal agenda and are acting out of pure motives. Look at what's happened to our economy from the actions of so-called experts. It has imploded. Your trust is misplaced.
A dose of critical thinking is necessary here and always. I could say I don't care if they don't pursue my concept but I'd be lying. Because, I do care that a proposal is put forward that has even a slight chance of happening. My proposal would create permanent jobs and a job multiplier for the future. That's what this area needs. We don't need more stores, offices and high density housing.
Do you get it now? How do you think we are going to escape from this depression? I understand the real estate business better than John Moag, Rex Hime or the entirety of the Board.
Whether you believe that or not is irrelevant. What really is relevant is the fact that spinning this yarn for the folks at Cal Expo is not going to help us get to where we want to be.
Please take some time to look at what the other "experts" had to say about this overly optimistic plan. It's not just me sounding the alarm. This plan is going nowhere but if you want to hang on to that thread of hope, be my guest.
VF21 said:Basically then, you're objecting because they didn't consider your alternative to be as viable as you think it is? Differences in opinion in business dealings don't IMHO necessarily mean one side is right or wrong. It means there are differences of opinion. And apparently, your idea for a viable alternative was not as viable as you seemed to believe. It happens...
We've got a lot of threads about the whole Rubio-Evans scenario so I don't want to take this totally off-topic BUT Rubio might have galvanized the fan base IF he was able to get out of his contract and IF he was able to play right away in the NBA with the same flair and style he showed in the Olympics.
At this point, it's no longer about Evans v. Rubio. It's about Evans/Martin/Casspi/Thompson/Hawes and Coach Westphal putting a product onto the court that will bring the fans back. Of course, there's always the SKDT, but apparently even their skimpy costumes weren't enough last year to entice the fans into the seats.