play ball
08 Feb 2006John Spragens has a good post about the approval of the Sounds stadium. I’ve been remiss in following the debate over the issue, but Mike has been all over it.
I have been too busy to write anything comprehensive, but I want to go on record as opposing the idea. I think it’s a bad decision to divert taxpayer money for a ballpark. Period.
In the comments of John’s post, Mike says:
I continue to be dumbfounded by ballpark opponents’ tap dance around the $5 million that Metro might owe next year on Greer to bring it up to ADA standards (if they did not move to construct a new facility). I have not understood why opponents see this problem in unambiguous terms. Where would the $5 million come from if the new ballpark lost last night? And if opponents say, “No where,” then they ought to at least have the guts to come right out and advocate that Nashville needs to move on without baseball, rather than just hemming and hawing with the figures.
And that’s precisely where I stand. I say, “nowhere”. I like baseball, and I loved going to the Sounds games, but I see no reason for it to be a publicly funded venture – at Greer, or downtown. I agree with what Briley has to say about it:
Councilman-at-Large David Briley, who has consistently opposed the stadium, maintained his stance, saying, “We’re making a decision here to buy an Xbox for the community.”