A couple of interesting links from the Wall St. Journal. One serious, one not so serious.
First, the not-so-serious:
The Yankees on the Yankees
The WSJ asked the Yankees to rate each other. Who's the smartest? The best-dressed? The most likely to have a deer head over his fireplace?
Amusing glimpse inside the clubhouse. I'm not surprised Jorge Posada was picked as the slowest...and that he was not happy about it. Jorgie doesn't seem to have much a sense of humor about that kind of thing.
The illustrations for the articles are a hoot. Fun with Photoshop!
On a more serious note:
A Stadium's Costly Legacy Throws Taxpayers for a Loss
CINCINNATI—Here in Hamilton County, where one in seven people lives beneath the poverty line and budget cuts have left gaps in the schools and sheriffs department, residents are bracing for more belt-tightening: rollback of a property-tax break promised as part of a 1996 plan to entice voters to pay for two new stadiums.
The tax hit is just the latest in a string of unforeseen consequences from what has turned into one of the worst professional sports deals ever struck by a local government—soaking up unprecedented tax dollars and county resources while returning little economic benefit.
The Reds' deal has turned out okay, but the Bengals deal has been a disaster. I'm amazed they agreed to such onerous conditions. I guess it was part of the bubble mentality of the '90s, but still.
On top of paying for the stadium, Hamilton County granted the Bengals generous lease terms. It agreed to pick up nearly all operating and capital improvement costs—and to foot the bill for high-tech bells and whistles that have yet to be invented, like a "holographic replay machine." No team had snared such concessions in addition to huge sums of public money, Journal research shows.
A holographic replay machine? Good gravy.
These smaller cities are really over a barrel with stadium funding. No would seriously believe it if the Yankees threatened to leave NY, or the Cowboys threatened to leave Dallas, but cities like Cincinnati had to be worrying that what happened to Baltimore would happen to them: their team would pack up in the middle of the night, and move to greener pastures.
