College of Idiots: D-Bags & Meth Heads Oppose The Cubs In Mesa

Mr. Wilson hates it when Dennis comes over to play.

A report by the Phoenix Business Journal states that White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf and D-Backs President Derrick Hall don't agree with the proposal to fund the new Spring Training stadium for the Cubs which if passed will impose a $1 per ticket surcharge on all cactus league ticket sales, not just those for Cubs games. As if there wasn't enough whining going on this week, the two heads don't like the fact that their new stadiums did not get the same support which the proposed "Wrigleyville West" site is getting.

The Sox have a new stadium in Glendale (yeah, like anyone wants to travel up there? It's like the Milwaukee of the valley) that they share with with the Dodgers. The D-bags and Rockies also have a new stadium currently being built outside of Scottsdale. $60 million of the Sox/Dodgers park was funded by Arizona Sports & Tourism Authority, an entity designed to help build new stadiums that gets it's money from tourism taxes. The D-bags/Rockies park is being built on Indian land and is being funded by a federal loan to the tribe and cash out of pocket (from the tribe, not the teams).

So why are they complaining again?

“We want the Cubs to stay here badly, but not at the expense of our fans,” Hall said. “I’ve heard the argument that the other teams should be willing to because of the visiting crowds that the Cubs bring to their games. They do draw well, as do we, yet we were creative in our search for a new site to identify a partner willing to finance the entire project without public dollars.”

Hey buddy, you used to play your games in Tucson. You drew well because along with the White Sox (who shared the park with the D-Bags) and Rockies, you were the only draw in town. Coincidence? Now that you're up here with the big boys, just be resigned to the fact that you won't sell out any games unless you are playing the Cubs.

Even though the state is as broke as a joke (bringing out the old-school guns), the proposed funding of a ticket surcharge and increased hotel and car rental tax means that tax payers of AZ will not be paying for the new stadium. This is a good thing for a state that can easily pass propositions naming English the state language and banning gay marriage, but can't pass one that increases taxes by .5% to give more money towards public education. So GFY Reinsdorf (shouldn't you be focusing on your shitty basketball team now anyways?) and Hall. The Cubs are good for Arizona AND for your teams. So sit down and shut up.

For more on the funding, go here.

Go Cubs!

Update: AZ Central has a good article on this as well. A nice highlight below, although I recommend reading the whole article if you really want your blood to boil.

"Is this the same Jerry Reinsdorf that skipped out on Pima County taxpayers who had spent tens of millions of dollars to provide him with a taxpayer-funded stadium, to come to Glendale, where Maricopa County taxpayers provided him a Taj Mahal spring training facility?" Smith said.

He said Reinsdorf's White Sox enjoy a publicly funded stadium in Chicago and that Reinsdorf last year looked into buying the Phoenix Coyotes, who play in Glendale's publicly funded hockey arena.

"The irony is delicious," Smith said.