Breton: One Person must take charge

#1
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http://www.sacbee.com/content/sports/story/13919702p-14757837c.html
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I didnt see this article posted so I thought i would.
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Marcos Bretón: One person must take charge

By Marcos Bretón -- Bee Sports Columnist
Published 2:15 am PST Wednesday, November 30, 2005
Story appeared in Sports section, Page C1


Maybe because it's the holidays, or because middle age cannot be ignored any longer, or because children and mortality force one to assess life in more urgent ways.
But I'm feeling good will in my heart for the Maloofs, who if you believe rampant rumors, will one day initiate a royal departure from the Capital City.

That's right. A purple exodus of the most painful kind, all because a new arena deal for future Kings is - and has been - like Samuel L. Jackson said in "Pulp Fiction": As dead as fried chicken. OK. Let's make an admission right here, right now. The Maloofs likely read this column only to cut out the picture, draw horns on the head and blacken the teeth while adding a pitchfork and flames to complete the picture.
This because around Arco Arena and on the Kings' radio station, you're the Antichrist if you come hard against public financing for privately held sports facilities.
And a messy fight it was more than a year ago, when a normally united city with the most diverse neighborhoods in California warred with itself over building an arena - a fight played out in this paper, on the radio, at Arco Arena, around town, throughout Kings Nation.
For what? A lot of name-calling - for which I take my share of blame for sometimes getting too personal, too vehement while arguing sincere points.
There is nothing wrong with saying you're sorry, and I am for my share of the mess. But you know what? There were a lot of mistakes made by a lot of people - on the City Council, among the Maloofs, in the news media.
Poll them all, and you know what you get: a lot of people who do not want the Kings to leave Sacramento. Ever.
The trouble is, there hasn't been that one person to pull a deal together; that strong individual who could mediate an equitable deal that makes sense.
Don't take my word for it. This has been the contention for some time of Tony Giannoni, a downtown developer and civic leader who tried mightily and unsuccessfully to get an arena downtown last year.
"I am a firm believer that you need to have a disinterested third party saying you're out of line, or you're out of line," Giannoni said.
He's so right because an arena deal has been sliced to bits by divergent interests and there has seemingly been no one with the authority to reach the Maloofs.
Personally? I miss the late, great Mayor Joe Serna more than ever, with each passing day. Clearly, his interests were Sacramento, so he wouldn't have technically qualified as a third party.
But Serna had a vision for Sacramento that included sports.
He lobbied to bring the Raiders here, he wanted the A's here and he helped secure a highly controversial loan to keep the Kings in Sacramento.
That's why people like me used to get so angry when arena hawks would scream about Sacramento doing nothing for the Kings; it was insulting to Serna's memory.
Not long before he died of kidney cancer in 1999, Serna - and our city - did help save the Kings, floating a $73 million loan to keep the Kings afloat.
Serna accomplished that - and also helped overhaul Sacramento city schools, though he had no direct authority to do so - by using his office as a bully pulpit.
Who knows what Serna might have accomplished - he died mere months after the Maloofs assumed ownership of the Kings - but before he did, he laid down the law to them.
I remember vividly Joe Maloof saying that the first thing Serna said to him and his brother Gavin was, to paraphrase: "Don't you dare ever move this team."
"He scared the hell out of us," Joe Maloof said then.
That's Sacramento's problem today: we're still looking for someone to replace Serna. In his absence, others must step forward, including the Maloofs, who have been very reluctant to do so.
Restaurateur Randy Paragary, himself a skeptic of past arena deals but a supporter of keeping the Kings in Sacramento, said he is convinced the Maloofs want to stay in Sacramento.
"I think they are sincere," he said. So where does that leave this thing? Seemingly on the shoulders of developer Angelo Tsakopoulos, who has been working behind the scenes to craft an arena deal that would rely heavily on private money.
Is Tsakopoulos the man to fill Serna's shoes? Who knows, but it won't happen until the Maloofs do as Giannoni said: "Put their cards on the table."
"An honest and straightforward negotiation on the deal points. That's what's been missing," Giannoni said.
The time is now because big regrets could come later. Of course, the Maloofs can leave Sacramento if they wish, but why?
Why do you want to risk a sure thing while transforming a positive Maloof family reputation into something very negative? Why would you want to be mentioned in the same breath with the George Shinns and Art Modells of the world?
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#2
slugking50 said:
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Why do you want to risk a sure thing while transforming a positive Maloof family reputation into something very negative? Why would you want to be mentioned in the same breath with the George Shinns and Art Modells of the world?[/FONT][/FONT]
I've never lived in Sacramento, and so am not as close to the eye of this storm, but it seems to me that these last questions are made from a Sacramento-only point of view. I don't think Art Modell is hated in Baltimore, or any city other than Cleveland. George Shinn is an entirely different story altogether, although one which I'm not familiar with, I must admit. But it seems that any rancor raised by the movement of the Kings would be largely confined to the Sacramento area.
 
#3
Marty McNeal wrote in his column today about travel taxes and how no one has brought this up. Slap a hotel/airport and rental car tax on and get the 15-20% the Maloofs are ready to spend and you have a good start. Someone really needs to step up and get this done.
 

Bricklayer

Don't Make Me Use The Bat
#4
You know what is frightening about this article? For Breton to come out and write this sort of mea culpa, I have to believe that he too believes the Kings are coming close to moving. After spewing forth bile for years at the Maloofs, this either looks like a late attempt to cover his *** in case they move, or a sudden alarmed realization that the city's (and the Bee's sports sections) #1 sports team actually MIGHT leave, that it wasn't all smoke, and that maybe he (Breton) misjudged.

Either way the Bee suddenly rallying behind the arena cause is amusing and alarming in that I can't see it happening unless the threat was imminent and they suddenly realized it. Now the question becomes whether its just too little too late with the damage already being done.
 
#5
Bricklayer said:
You know what is frightening about this article? For Breton to come out and write this sort of mea culpa, I have to believe that he too believes the Kings are coming close to moving. After spewing forth bile for years at the Maloofs, this either looks like a late attempt to cover his *** in case they move, or a sudden alarmed realization that the city's (and the Bee's sports sections) #1 sports team actually MIGHT leave, that it wasn't all smoke, and that maybe he (Breton) misjudged.

Either way the Bee suddenly rallying behind the arena cause is amusing and alarming in that I can't see it happening unless the threat was imminent and they suddenly realized it. Now the question becomes whether its just too little too late with the damage already being done.

Here's what I feel like the sacramento bee did:
They bashed our players, bashed the owners, and basically bashed the team with AV and Breton spitting out crap. Now they don't want our kings to move(I don't either!), but probably just so they can bash them some more.
 
#6
To me what is really alarming and makes me mad...NO ONE from the City or County even bothers to pretend any interest or caring anymore. I'm disgusted with them.:mad:
 

Bricklayer

Don't Make Me Use The Bat
#7
kennadog said:
To me what is really alarming and makes me mad...NO ONE from the City or County even bothers to pretend any interest or caring anymore. I'm disgusted with them.:mad:
This is not aimed at you personally obviously -- but why the hell doesn't somebody in Sacto DO something about that? Those buffoons are elected by you, the Sacramento residents, last time I checked. Everybody is conernced, everybody is upset, but it seems as if nobody feels effectual.

I am 3000 miles away. Givin myu political experience, I've been giving a little thought here to making my presence felt on this issue if its not already too late, but I am not the one in charge of the ballot box when it comes to the city council. All I can do is write them nastygrams from across the country.
 
#8
Actually, I just moved to Yuba City after almost 40 years in the Sacramento. However, I haven't lived in the CITY of Sacramento for ages. So no, I didn't vote in any of those folks. And therein lies a big part of the problem and why so many Kings fans in the metropolitan area feel helpless. The City of Sacramento is actually rather small, population-wise, about 400,000 (Fresno is bigger). And unlike so many cities, it hasn't bothered to annex the densely populated areas contiguous to the City. So the majority of the population lives in the County of Sacramento. It's really a ridiculous situation and rather unique to Sacramento, at least in California. So it was frustrating that I was never going to have a say in whatever the City did or did not do about an arena.

However, I have felt for a long time that anything proposed needs to cut across these boundaries to be regional, including surrounding cities and counties. But the counties and cities around Sacramento seem utterly unable to cooperate on ANYTHING in terms of planning.

Beyond that, it really does seem as though the majority of the people here don't care if there is a new arena. This boggles my mind. Most people seem to believe it is for the Kings and it keeps getting talked about as a "Kings" arena. As pointed out, the arena currently hosts other events on the 300 days a year that the Kings don't use it. 300 days out of 365! In the face of such apathy, I really feel helpless.

To show how helpless I feel...I can't afford season tickets. Heck, only since my son graduated from college have I been able to afford going to games a few times a year. And yet, if it would make even the slightest difference, I would be willing to give a substantial (for me) contribution to construct a new arena. I wouldn't expect repayment as long as the Kings played in Sacramento. That's how much I love my Kings and want them in Sacramento forever.

Honestly, I just can't explain why things can't seem to get done (not just this arena) in this City. It's pathetic and embarrassing. No vision, no leadership, at all. Except for people that say no to everything.
 
#9
Bricklayer said:
This is not aimed at you personally obviously -- but why the hell doesn't somebody in Sacto DO something about that?
The interesting dynamic is that most of the people that REALLY care don't live in the city of Sacramento. That's why, as a person who lives in Placer Co., we could get a more regional approach.

P.S.- Bring the bat Brick and unleash a little old school east coast politics on those bafoons!;)
 

VF21

Super Moderator Emeritus
SME
#10
Bricklayer said:
You know what is frightening about this article? For Breton to come out and write this sort of mea culpa, I have to believe that he too believes the Kings are coming close to moving. After spewing forth bile for years at the Maloofs, this either looks like a late attempt to cover his *** in case they move, or a sudden alarmed realization that the city's (and the Bee's sports sections) #1 sports team actually MIGHT leave, that it wasn't all smoke, and that maybe he (Breton) misjudged.

Either way the Bee suddenly rallying behind the arena cause is amusing and alarming in that I can't see it happening unless the threat was imminent and they suddenly realized it. Now the question becomes whether its just too little too late with the damage already being done.
From what I've been reading in various parts of the Bee lately I almost have to wonder if there's been a directive issued from the top for writers to stop grinding axes. If it did happen, it's long overdue!

I do not believe it's too late. I do think, however, that it's time for people to get off their duffs and call their city councilmen, call their county supervisors, etc. and put some pressure on them. The squeaking wheel does get the grease and if everyone waits for someone else to do - or figures one call won't make a difference anyway - then they'll have no one to blame but themselves IF the worst case scenario actually comes to pass.

And, if you're in a surrounding area, call YOUR county's supervisor. It certainly can't hurt to let them know how you feel as I'm pretty sure the possibility of "stealing" the arena from the city of Sacramento has at least been whispered once or twice in the hallowed meeting chambers.