Gothamite

"Hello, Goldwater Institute?"

Is the antidote to that having a city subsidize a failing private business to the tune of tens of millions of taxpayer dollars every year? Really?

At what cost? The Coyotes have been good for the past three years, playing playoff hockey, and still they can't draw flies in the desert. They're still losing tens of millions of dollars a year, money that the city of Glendale has to funnel from legitimate city services like libraries to cover the team's losses. Even under the rosiest scenarios now being floated, the city will have to pay $17,000,000 per year to subsidize a failing private industry. Tank, forgive me for introducing a personal comment, but I thought you were a conservative.

Well, there's your problem right there. His responses sure read like a list of talking points. He says all the "right" things, but doesn't actually address the issues you raise. He's either not actually reading your tweets, or he's trying to force his ill-fitting script into the conversation.

Nobody has. Quite the opposite; we've been saying for years that this team deserves to play in a market with at least a modicum of interest in the sport. Which, objectively, ain't Arizona.

And if the reports are true (and even if this "tentative deal" actually goes through where the others fell apart) under the terms of the lease he'll be free to move them.

Yes, nine posts above yours. A tentative deal? Haven't we been to this dance before?

Ambulances aren't funded by the government. Ambulance costs are included in medical bills. Every municipal fire department has EMTs. Even Glendale, at least for now.

You got me. I'm wondering if the NHL suing Moyes for the Coyotes' expenses since the league bought them means that the other owners have finally had enough of writing checks to the desert orphans. I always figured that would be the breaking point; eventually the owners of teams in successful markets would balk at giving one more cent to keep a failed team afloat. If Bettman is trying to raise the cash, that could be why. Recoup those losses and maybe the owners will let him keep his pet project in Arizona a little while longer.

It is an excellent question. And if they're going after him, the situation must be even more dire than we thought. Owner revolt against Bettman?

Unless he's already convinced the Mad Russian to sink many more millions in a massive renovation.

So he doesn't have the money yet, Glendale isn't willing to make the annual subsidy he's looking for, and they still have to deal with Goldwater's lawsuits. Yep, I'd say he's still well below "100%".

Good point - games against Chicago and Detroit are reportedly very lucrative for the Coyotes, not so much Nashville.

Exactly. Why should the team take their own money and use it to cover the city's contribution? Sort of defeats the purpose of fleecing the city for every penny the insecure politicians will give them...

I don't think they can afford to - the other owners are tired of subsidizing them, and Glendale can't even afford to pay this year's installment, much less another one.

Nah, the people of Arizona won't notice either way.

That's not a smoke screen you smell. It's pure old-fashioned bull . C'mon, Glendale. Your fantasy plan has to at least pass a cursory examination. You're not trying hard enough.

A small city with a very large ego. Which was the problem. I feel no sympathy for the politicians who funneled millions upon millions of public dollars to a team that their city didn't even want. To now cry that they have been taken advantage of is laughable at best.

Riiight. Is it possible that there's spmeone involved with this mess who is actually less trustworthy than Bettman?

I think "we close libraries and swimming pools to subsidize a failing sports team" is a blow to civic pride. Or it should be. I don't know. All those teabaggers in the desert really cherry-pick which socialism they like and which socialism they don't like. Sad but true. But are these particular politicians teabagger darlings? I honestly don't know the political scene in Glendale, beyond the car-crash aspects.

So are you afraid that they'll move, or that they won't?

That's it - they've been knocking down the design in order to get the thing built. At some point, it was a choice between hockey rink or no building.

I think the hockey-capable arena was pitched when Rattner was forced to downsize his proposal. I don't think it was a conscious choice, but rather what he had to do to get his project built.

That would be nice. Much better than the Packers' last ring.

Yeah, I don't follow that train of thought, either.