Hypocrite

My buddy Nick Coleman of the StarTribune is at it again. Now that the Twins ballpark is seemingly a done deal, he has published yet another rip job of the Hennepin County Commissioners, the Twins organization and (of course) Carl Pohlad. Mr. Coleman is not a fan of public money being spent on building a stadium for a baseball team owned by a billionaire. And, with no referendum! Here's the article for your reading pleasure:

http://www.startribune.com/357/story/1162274.html

What strikes me as odd is the fact that Mr. Coleman recently wrote at least two sweet odes to the Minnesota Wild, hockey in general and the Xcel Energy Center. He wrote:

"It'd be a shame if this postseason party never got rolling. Wild fans have been hungering for more Spring Puck since the brilliant and thoroughly thrilling postseason ride of 2003.It remains to be seen if we will have another Miracle on Kellogg Boulevard.But win or lose, the franchise has proved something that franchises in Anaheim and Nashville will never prove: The Minnesota hockey community is close, tight-knit, loyal and, did I mention, close? It is a real community, in the true sense." Here is that full article:

http://www.startribune.com/357/story/1122691.html

I actually love that article. I find it hypocritical, however, that Coleman takes so much pride in the Wild and has so much scorn for the Twins. After all, the Wild play in a publicly funded arena that was built without the input of a public referendum. The last I checked their owner Bob Naegle is a billionaire. There are poor areas of St. Paul that could have used the tax money that was used for building the hockey arena, right? In addition, I remember hearing from some politicians at the time that the old St. Paul Civic Center was "good enough" for NHL hockey. Whey build a new arena? Well, 10 years later, we all know (including Nick Coleman) that the building of the Xcel Energy Center was necessary for attracting the NHL back to Minnesota, and it has been a boon for the economy and pride of the City of St. Paul.Now, under similar circumstances, Hennepin County has agreed to implement a sales tax and build a new Twins stadium. While being pro-Xcel and Wild, Mr. Coleman is bitterly against the Twins plan. Here are some of his points, and my responses:

NC: As I have said repeatedly to fend off accusations from 16-year-olds that I am an un-American lickspittle, I want the Twins to stay in Minnesota, where I have watched them since I was a lad. But I don't like the way this deal was rammed through, or the way it relies on a tax that the voters were deprived of a chance to approve or reject.

JT: This condescending rant implies that all objections to Coleman's beliefs are made by teen-agers. I hear from many anti-ballpark types that "they want the Twins to stay in Minnesota, but.." Well, YOU come up with a feasible plan that will actually work, and makes everyone happy. Good luck. Also - the deal was "rammed through?" It took 10 frickin' years to pass! No referendum? See above regarding Xcel Energy Center.

NC: More than that, I'm still not convinced the new park has a better design than the old. The Twins say the closest seat to home plate will be 45 feet away, while it's 46 at the Metrodome. But without knowing how far away the cheap seats are, or how high above the field, we can't know whether most patrons will have a better vantage than they do in the Dome.

JT: This may be the most ridiculous assertion in the entire column. The Twins have played baseball in a football stadium for 25 years in which many of the seats point away from the infield. I once sat in a suite in which you could not see the infield unless you went beyond the sliding glass door and turned your head at a 90-degree angle. There is a teflon roof and plastic grass. Enough said - it's a ridiculous statement.

NC: With 40,000 seats, the new park will have 28 percent fewer seats than the Metrodome. And tickets will cost far more than we suppose, especially now that the Legislature -- that champion of the little people -- is poised to legalize scalping. "Hey, Buddy. You and the kids wanna sit behind first base? That'll be $400. Or I tell you what, just give me the kids."

JT: Most new baseball stadiums have no more than 40,000 seats. How often do more than 40,000 fans attend games at the dome? Hardly ever - that is why they put the "curtain" up in center field to hide the empty blue seats. As far as scalpers buying all the good seats, I'm sure that Mr. Coleman will just get his tickets from the StarTribune.

NC: It was a gift, from you to professional baseball (Thank you!), just part of half a billion (when you include interest) taxpayers have been assigned to shoulder on behalf of the Pohlad family business plan. The very day we extended that helping hand, it was learned that Twins owner Carl Pohlad and sons paid $6 million to buy J.B. Hudson Jewelers, the upscale bling-bling shop where Minnesotans go to gaze at engagement rings before they get real about their budget. As I say, it's good to have cash on hand. And diamonds.

JT: My feeling all along has been that Nick Coleman simply hates Carl Pohlad. This statement goes a long way in backing that up. Pohlad bought a jewelery business? So what? All sports teams owners are billionaires, and all of them receive stadium deals like the current Twins plan. Right or wrong, that's the way it goes. As I've mentioned before, Bob Naegle, owner of the Wild is rich, and Coleman does not have a regular rant against him. I think Coleman has a personal vendetta for Carl Pohlad.

NC: Nearly 1,000 homes in north Minneapolis were foreclosed last year, and the rate is skyrocketing this year, adding to the troubles in a part of town where affordable housing is in short supply, hundreds of homes are vacant or boarded, street murders are frightening the citizens and public schools are closing for lack of interest. You can make a case that north Minneapolis should be declared a disaster zone that urgently needs a united effort from state, city and county governments.Instead, the state lent the city $11 million to revive some foreclosed homes in a feeble effort to stop the downward spiral of a historic community whose collapse, if it is allowed, will cause calamity.

JT: No County money was going toward a ballpark in 2006, and 1000 homes were still foreclosed in Minneapolis last year. Will NOT building a baseball park mean that housing will suddenly become more affordable? Will NOT building a baseball park suddenly make North Minneapolis a safer place to live? I would argue that having 81 games played per year downtown will actually increase police protection, and help revitalize that area. Remember the Xcel Energy Center, Mr. Coleman, and the effect it has had on the West 7th street of St. Paul? Were there not home-foreclosures in St. Paul before the X was built? Why were you not protesting back in 1997? My belief? Even though Mr. Coleman writes for the Minneapolis paper, he is a St. Paul guy. I think he is simply biased in this case because the Twins park is in Minneapolis.

The bottom line is that if a community does not build stadiums, theatres, museums, etc., because there is still crime, poverty and other social ills, nothing would ever get built, and the community would eventually suffer. It won't make these areas more attractive to live in or any safer. Which, oddly enough, can cause more crime and poverty. All I am asking for is some consistency from Mr. Coleman. The Xcel Energy Center has been a great success, and he has every right to praise it in his columns. The new Twins stadium will have the same positive effect on Minneapolis, but we'll probably never hear this from him , even though he'll have an excellent vantage point from his StarTribune seats.

Let me know what you think!

Jeff