You got yours, now we get ours

John Lopez lays out an argument that I'm sure we'll hear more of regarding a possible downtown stadium for the Houston Dynamo.

The unwritten message in the letter of agreement with the city:

The predominantly white fan base that follows the Astros got theirs. The largely white and black fan base of the Rockets got theirs, too.

What about Dynamo fans? What about the fan base that has been estimated at roughly 45 percent Hispanic, 45 percent white and 10 percent Asian?

Interesting that he skipped over the Texans, who were the first to "get theirs". I'm not even sure what to make of that, other than perhaps it didn't fit into his narrative.

The appearance of this argument doesn't surprise me. It was certainly used by the Astros and the Rockets, in various forms. Putting the racial aspect aside, I'm not sure how well it would work for a team that's been here for all of a year, and which draws a smaller crowd to its games. On the other hand, they wouldn't be asking for as much, so maybe that mitigates it to an extent. Certainly, the more AEG puts up in the deal, the better that will look.

I want to see what the parameters of a deal with the city are. I don't want to spend public money on this project, but maybe there's a way of doing this that could persuade me to change my mind. I don't think so, but I won't know for sure till I see what's being offered.

Posted by Charles Kuffner on May 21, 2007 to Other sports