Nationals Disgrace

Jacob Sullum | December 1, 2004

Yesterday the D.C. Council voted, 6-4 (with three abstentions), in favor of Mayor Anthony Williams' plan to bribe Major League Baseball into moving the Montreal Expos to Washington with a stadium project expected to cost more than half a billion dollars. The plan, under which the team will be renamed the Nationals, is up for a second vote on December 14, but things are not looking good for the opposition.

The council did reject the $75 million in "community benefits" that Williams had dangled in an attempt to win votes. (But then, it turned out the taxpayer-funded largess wasn't necessary.) And Council Chairman Linda Cropp, who abstained, tacked on a provision that instructs the city's chief financial officer to do a second analysis of the project's costs; if it exceeds his original estimate ($530 million) by more than $100 million, the city will have to look for a cheaper site. This looks more like a face-saving measure for Cropp, who dramatically delayed a vote on the deal last month before backing down, than a provision that will have any practical effect. Likewise her amendment requiring the city to (rather belatedly) look into private financing options.

Council member David Catania, who voted against the plan, offered several unsuccessful amendments, including one that would have made Major League Baseball rather than the city responsible for cost overruns. "A lot of what he wants sounds good on its face," said council member Jack Evans, an enthusiastic stadium supporter, "but it's in actuality a poison bill designed to kill the deal." That objection does not exactly inspire confidence in the city's cost projections.

Comments

|12.1.04 @ 6:47PM|#

I was hoping for a few dozen comments supporting the vote so I could bring out my "Imagine your equal and opposite response to $500 million in Halliburton subsidies." But, since I'm the first, never mind, I guess.

|12.1.04 @ 6:53PM|#

GH,
Good luck finding more than one or two people that will support this on this board. The peeps here, even the sports fans, are against these kinds of subsidies.

|12.2.04 @ 7:58AM|#

Whoops.. "teeming"..

|12.2.04 @ 10:31AM|#

Yeah, it sucks, but you have to remember the one-term Mayor of DC, Sharon Whatever-Her-Name-Was, who didn't get to serve a second term in part because she didn't keep the Redskins playing in DC. I'm sure Mayor Williams has heard of this and being that he seems to enjoy being Mayor, no doubt he fought tooth and nail anything that would threaten the baseball franchise staying in DC.

I suppose you could call it the Hizzoner factor.

|12.2.04 @ 10:42AM|#

Is anyone else completely underwhelmed by the name "Washington Nationals"?

|12.2.04 @ 11:13AM|#

Mo, not even the liberal, sports-loving urban planner on this board thinks spending $500,000,000 like this is a good idea.

|12.2.04 @ 11:14AM|#

It's fucking retarded that they are called the "Nationals". There is a huge nostalgia here for the name "Senators" (Yes, I know, they were called The Nationals eons before). This is all over some political hissy. Yes, there are legit concerns over representation, but c'mon.. people would totally buy up Senators paraphernalia.

This is almost as fucked up as them changing the name The Bullets to The Wizards. Nostalgia is about the only thing going for these lousy teams. Take that away, you got absolutely nothing.

|12.2.04 @ 11:15AM|#

SR

How about the Washington Cats? Or even, the Fatcats?

The logo being a Chesire Cat-looking figure with a tophat and glasses, holding a cigarette holder in his grinning teeth like Roosevelt in the famous inaugural parade photo?

|12.2.04 @ 11:31AM|#

They were always called the Senators before, even during the decades their official mascot was the Nationals.

History:
After the 1899 season, the Washington Senators of the National League folded in the 12-8 contraction, when the American League began play in 1901 Washington, not wanting to confuse fans with the previous franchise, called themselves the Nationals. However, the fans never took to the name and called them the Senators. In 1912, when Griffith was named manager, newspaper writers referred to them as the 'Grifs'. In the early 1950s the team changed logos to one incorporating 'NATIONALS' within it, after the fans continued to reject the name they were officially renamed Senators in 1956.

|12.2.04 @ 11:32AM|#

The name Nationals is insulting to Nationals everywhere. Same goes for Cowboys, how dare they insult cowboys by making them a mascot. Thank god there are no real wizards, this town would never hear the end of it...

|12.2.04 @ 11:35AM|#

That's it! The Redskins need to change their name to the "NFCs!"

|12.2.04 @ 4:44PM|#

umm let's see

1899 - Washington Senators fold

1956 - Washington Nationals formed (are popularly known as Senators)

1956 - Washington Nationals formally change name to Senators

1960 - Washington Senators move to Minneapolis

1961 - New Washington Senators

1971 - Washington Senators move to Texas

2005 - Montreal Expos become Washington Nationals

Looks like Nationals is a good choice judging by the longevity of teams named the Senators.

|12.2.04 @ 6:46PM|#

There's a problem with the name Nationals. They already have a Nationals just down the road, in Baltimore -- National Bo.

|12.18.04 @ 6:02PM|#

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