"Ding dong the witch is dead!" was the triumphant cry of the Munchkins when the Wicked Witch was killed by Dorothy's falling farmhouse. Yet their worries were not over because another Wicked Witch would seek revenge. That's the way I feel right now about the Dodgers and their upcoming sale. The wicked Frank McCourt has been forced by Bud Selig's falling fist to sell the Dodgers and that's cause for great celebration. However, McCourt somehow figured out how to keep the Dodger Stadium parking lots separate from the sale of the team. Whoever buys The Dodgers will have to lease the lots from McCourt. Somehow this wicked witch has cast an evil spell on the Dodgers which will outlast his ownership!
I've been going to the stadium I once loved since 1965. I've probably attended 1000 events there. Yet McCourt's mismanagement of the team and their resources have kept me away for the past two seasons. I have turned down free tickets simply because I don't want even a dime of beer money to go to McCourt. Many other Dodger fans feel the same and in 2011 the team failed to draw at least 3 million fans for the first time since 1992.
My biggest concern is that McCourt might try to use the parking lots to attract an NFL team to Dodger Stadium. There's a perfect spot to build a football stadium behind center field. Its called Lot 5 and it sits in the original Chavez Ravine, surrounded on three sides by steep hills that lead to a flat surface almost exactly the size of a football field. Looking at the spot its easy to imagine a football stadium nestled into those hillsides. With all the talk of building a new stadium downtown (where there's no parking at all) or out in the City of Industry (really?), this has always seemed to be the perfect spot.
Peter O'Malley wanted to build a football stadium there in 1996 before Mayor Richard Riordan asked O'Malley not to pursue an NFL team. He wanted to concentrate on bringing a team to the historic LA Coliseum. Historic, yes but also an aging dump with notoriously bad parking. O'Malley was so disappointed he ended up selling The Dodgers and since then the team's fortunes have gone downhill.
Just when I thought it was safe to go back to Dodger Stadium, it may be even worse. McCourt has already ruined the Dodgers. The thought of him ruining a chance to bring NFL football back to L.A. is too much to handle. The thought of him owning the new football stadium makes me sick!
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