crossposted RonKayeLA
Dear Janice:
Your daddy would be so proud of the stand you took in introducing legislation in the Congress of the United States of America called the “Give the Fans a Chance Act.”
He never missed a chance to get his name in the newspaper either. Every newsroom in town knew the axiom, “Need a quote, call Kenny Hahn…” He was an unbeatable politician and so are you, which just proves the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree — at least half the time.
What’s so beautiful about you getting your name everywhere, associated with the sale of the once beloved Dodgers, is that you good and well know your bill doesn’t stand a chance in hell, especially not in the time frame set to consummate the sale of the team at auction by the bankrupt Frank McCourt.
As you acknowledged to reports, the bill faces “an uphill battle — two previous attempts to pass similar bills have failed — and would unlikely be approved in time to apply to the Dodgers.”
“Fans across this country have really been upset with many of the owners who really are all about corporate greed and profits and not so much about the team or the fans,” you told them.
I have to admire the astonishing chutzpah you showed in calling this the Occupy Major League Baseball Act, shamelessly associating the outrageous self-indulgences of the McCourts with the greed of Wall Street and the bankers that has awakened millions of young people in America from their decades-long stupor.
Pure genius, Janice.
And drawing the distinction between Major League Baseball’s banning a majority of a team to be publicly owned while the National Football League grandfathered in the community ownership of the Green Bay Packers was stunning.
After all, weren’t you among the first to jump aboard the plan to build an NFL stadium in downtown L.A., you remember the proposal by AEG owned by Phil Anschutz, one of the greediest and most right-wing billionaires in America, telling his front man TIm Leiweke back in January what a splendid deal he was offering: “We believe you, Tim. But we have to convince the public.”
It’s hard to believe it was half a century ago that your dad brokered the deal that stole the Dodgers from Brooklyn and brought professional baseball to the L.A. And now here you are doing the same thing to some poor town out there in trying to bring professional football to back to L.A. for a third try.
I got to hand it to you, coming up with this scheme to get ordinary folks to each put up $10,000 to become partners in owning the Dodgers. You know how to convince the public of almost anything but finding 100,000 of them with that kind of money to spare to meet the $1 billion asking price is asking a lot in town with one of the nation’s highest poverty and unemployment rates.
As you well know, the bill you introduced was just good old-fashioned political grandstanding and isn’t going anywhere. The new owners of the Dodgers will be just like the people you talked about — “owners who really are all about corporate greed and profits and not so much about the team or the fans.”
You know the type, a lot of them are your friends and contributors.
Anyway Janice, keep up the great work and know we love you.
Congratulations!