So the Cubs are getting their new park in Mesa? Hardly. As predicted here first, (I told all you happy-go-luckies to calm down, didn't I?) the Cubs new spring training facility is getting opposition from, well, just about everyone.
Despite the legislation clearing the Arizona House Commerce Committee by a vote of 6-2, it looks as though there is going to be a long and hard fight to get the funding needed for the projected $84 million site dubbed, "Wrigleyville West".
First into the ring, the car rental companies. This one is obvious. A proposed increase would raise the taxes of car rentals by $1 in a state that already has some of the highest rental taxes in the nation. This seems to makes sense why they would be pissed, until you think about the alternatives that tourists would face. Will they take cabs or the bus instead? Or maybe even rent a bicycle? Or...walk? Come, on! Seriously, this tax is hurting only the tourists, who will still flock to Mesa to see the Cubs play regardless. Sorry, it's a small price to pay to keep the Cubs and it's not effecting the local taxpayers. And what if the Cubs do leave? You think those car rental companies are going to have as good of business in March as before? Let's get realistic, people.
Next up are the other Cactus League teams, who oppose the 8% surcharge per ticket to pay for the complex. Cubs fans are used to being ripped off, especially when it comes to ticket prices. One needs only look as far the Cubs 20% increase in "pre-sale" ticket prices for regular season games. But other teams are used to their fans getting their tickets at regular price, if not for a discount.
Here's where the hypocrisy lies though, the teams that are complaining, mainly the White Sox and D-Bags, got money from the government and from increased taxes as well. It's not like they paid out-of-pocket for their new stadiums. Let's let an article from the East Valley Tribune's former editor, Jim Ripley describe the shenanigans these teams are throwing out there, as I am just blind with rage:
“Unfair” was the most used word of the day by opponents who argued it was unfair to raise the cost of all Cactus League tickets for the benefit of the Cubs.
But fairness is in the eye of the beholder and one could ask if it is fair that so much of the Arizona Tourism and Sports Authority public money is going to the West Valley for the Cardinals’ stadium and other projects and so little is coming to the East Valley.
Arizona Diamondbacks representative Tom Dorn chided Mesa and the Cubs for its ballgame ticket surcharge and car rental tax solution. He proudly pointed out the Diamondbacks’ had avoided being a burden on others by getting the Salt River Pima Maricopa Indian Community to build a Cactus League stadium for them and the Colorado Rockies.
Now that’s chutzpah or worse—from a team whose downtown Phoenix stadium was 71 percent publicly financed, including a quarter cent sales tax levied on taxpayers throughout the county, not just in Phoenix.
We got ours. The heck with Mesa and the Cubs.
Lawmakers were unimpressed as they noted that by playing on Indian community land, fan purchases would not be subject to sales taxes.
Finally into the ring, a late addition and a man who had previously lobbied for the Cubs to stay in Mesa, former COI Idiot of the Moment (and contender for COI Idiot of FOREVER) Bud Seilg.
GOD FUCKING HELL CHRIST SHIT MOTHER FUCKER STOP YOU FUCKING IDIOT! YOU SAID YOU WANTED TO KEEP THE CUBS! IT WILL KEEP MLB FANS IN ARIZONA! THEY MIGHT EVEN GO TO A BREWERS GAME! YOU OWN...YOUR DAUGHTER OWNS THAT TEAM! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU!?!?!?!
Sorry about that. Okay, let's hear what the genius had to say?
Scottsdale Attorney Patrick Ray, who spoke on Selig’s and MLB’s behalf, said he was only called on Tuesday to represent the commissioner and the league.
He acknowledged that he was late to the party when committee members asked if MLB had engaged in discussions prior to the writing of House Bill 2736. He said he had set up a meeting for later in the day with a deputy Mesa city manager.
Well, that makes sense. So why is he opposing it again?
As you can see, the process will take much more time and many more hurdles than expected. And don't count out that the Ricketts won't just entirely jump ship and move the team to Naples, FL. Sources close to the family say they have businesses and vested interests in Florida that would benefit them more financially than keeping the team in Arizona.
I know for most of you, you really don't care and a trip to Florida in March is just as exciting as a trip to Arizona, probably even cheaper. But for those of us who live in the Valley, some of whom actually moved here partly because of the Cubs, it would be devastating. And not only for us fans, but for the economy of Mesa and Arizona as well, which can hardly lose up to $150 million a year in revenue generated by Cubs fans.
Go Cubs!
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