Keeping with the financial theme, apparently Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria duped the taxpayers on the proposed new stadium.
Owner Jeffrey Loria and president David Samson for years have contended the Marlins break even financially, the centerpiece fiscal argument that resulted in local governments gifting them a new stadium that will cost generations of taxpayers an estimated $2.4 billion. They said they had no money to do it alone and intimated they would have to move the team without public assistance.
The ugliness of the Marlins’ ballpark situation is already apparent, and the building doesn’t open for another 18 months. Somehow a team that listed its operating income as a healthy $37.8 million in 2008 alone swung a deal in which it would pay only $155 million of the $634 million stadium complex. Meanwhile, Miami-Dade County agreed – without the consent of taxpayers – to take $409 million in loans loaded with balloon payments and long grace periods. By 2049, when the debt is due, the county will have paid billions.
via l.yimg.com
Lineups, via Susan Slusser:
#Athletics at #Indians: Crisp cf, Barton 1b, Suzuki c, Cust lf, Ellis 2b, Larish dh, Kouzmanoff 3b, Gross rf, Pennington ss
Felix Hernandez is the youngest pitcher to 1,000 strikeouts... since Dwight Gooden (I should, you know, start reading things I link, huh?). Playing in the same division as Jack Cust has helped.
Also,
• Trevor Cahill allowed 1 unearned run in seven innings pitched against the Cleveland Indians to pick up his 14th win of the season. His performance is the 17th straight quality start by Oakland Athletics starters. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, that is the longest streak by an MLB team since the Braves had a 21-start streak in 1997. It is the longest by an AL team since the Yankees had an 18-start streak back in 1981.
ESPN Page 2's Kurt Snibbe comes up with some MLB promotional giveaways that didn't make the cut.
NFL owners love your hard-earned money, too (shocking!) and are looking into expanding the regular season from 16 to 18 games.
A nice piece from Posnanski about Strasburg-like pitchers. Warning: the words "Van Poppel" and "Harden" are in that link.
via media.lehighvalleylive.com
NBC kowtows to Notre Dame football as coach Brian Kelly works with the peacock to make commercial breaks better fit the Fighting Irish offense. Between this and the shell game being played by teams and conferences moving every day, my dislike of the NCAA is growing.
Kelly said he and athletic director Jack Swarbrick have had conversations with NBC officials about how coverage plans will work with the Irish's up-tempo style, which is basically hurry-up, no-huddle.
"We've talked to NBC about the way we like to play the game versus maybe how it was played in the past," Kelly said Tuesday. "There is certainly a need for us to address it and I think we're working with NBC to make certain that they get what they need from an advertising standpoint. But, also as the network that carries Notre Dame, that we're able to do things we need to do as well."
In response, NBC plans to have five shorter breaks per quarter this season, rather than four longer ones, during Notre Dame games, a format that is used for NFL games.
