Soccer stadium will make downtown like Manhattan (or at least not racist)!
Some of the Chronicle sportswriters are becoming excited over the prospect of a dedicated new Houston Dynamo stadium boondoggle downtown.
Glenn Davis weighs in with the following:
Let me borrow a real estate phrase: Location, location, location is what this is about, and a downtown stadium will be an unparalleled vehicle for promoting soccer. Stadiums out in the hinterlands in MLS are still trying to prove them-selves as a magnet for fans.
Fans migrating to stadiums located in the inner city can become a part of a ritual.
When I was growing up in New Jersey, my father used to take me to sporting events at Madison Square Garden in the heart of New York. The ritual began as we left the house.
Take the train from the suburbs to Hoboken, N.J., then jump on the Path train (subway) under the Hudson River. As we exited the Path and scrambled up the steps to the street, a whole new world opened up.
The streets of Manhattan were alive with vendors, scalpers hawking tickets, and fans of the New York Rangers or Knicks. The air crackled with competition and excitement.
For a kid from the suburbs, this was like going into a new world. To this day, these impressions are indelible in my mind. Whether going to Madison Square Garden or to Giants Stadium to watch Pelé and the New York Cosmos, I always felt that sense of anticipation.
Quick reality check: The east end of Houston's downtown is not Manhattan. It's not going to be Manhattan whether a new downtown stadium is or is not constructed for what is a minor-league sport in America.
Of course, if that logic resonates at all with you, Chronicle columnist John Lopez today suggests that some people might think you're a racist:
When the city of Houston signed a letter of agreement with the Dynamo in hopes of ultimately building a soccer-specific stadium downtown, the verbiage said the deal was non-binding.
Technically, yes.
But in reality, the deal inflated not just hopes for Houston soccer fans, nearly half of whom are Hispanic, according to ticket-tracking research by the Dynamo.
It also blew up a dangerous political futbol that city leaders will be kicking around. City leaders will be watched closely on this one by many local minority groups hoping for inclusion among the big boys of sports.
[snip]
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?
Imagine you are a local politician, McLane or Alexander.
Imagine the backlash among Hispanic voters and community leaders if you came out against the proposed 21,000- to 22,000-seat stadium, which is planned for the area just east of U.S. 59 downtown, near Minute Maid Park.
So, we need a new soccer stadium downtown so that Houston can be more like Manhattan, and so that fans of what is a minor-league sport in the United States won't cry racism?
Those are certainly interesting perspectives on how public policy should be made in our city.
BLOGVERSATION: Houston's Clear Thinkers, Lose an Eye, It's a Sport, Off the Kuff.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 05/20/07 09:27 PM | Houston Miscellany | Print | Comments (16)
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