Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Reactions Amusing to Channelside Stadium Talk

Interesting to see how yesterday's Tampa Bay Times story on a proposed new baseball stadium at Channelside changed as the day went on.

At midday, it read:
Joel Cantor, who built the Signature Plaza condominium tower in St. Petersburg, said Tuesday a 33,000-seat stadium could fit on the (Channelside) site, much like AT&T Park in San Francisco where the Giants play.
"Surprisingly, the dimensions fit on the water,'' he said. "It's obviously a big project, and it's a long shot. But we came to the conclusion that it would be the ideal site for a baseball stadium. It would a tremendous catalyst to rejuvenating downtown Tampa."
I immediately pointed out Cantor had no idea how to pay for a stadium in Downtown Tampa. And by evening, the same article was re-written to include the headline, "Developer's plans to build Rays stadium over Channelside faces skepticism," and these gems:
Port commissioner Lawrence Shipp laughed for a full minute after a Times reporter told him about it. He said a stadium can't fit on Channelside's footprint.
...
Then there was this reaction: "They're smoking some pretty good stuff," said Tampa City Council Chairman Charlie Miranda, who added that the city has no business talking stadiums while St. Petersburg has a contract with the Rays. "What's the outfield going to be? A cruise ship?"
Unfortunately - in full transparency - the reactions weren't added before one of my counterparts aired his 11pm story lending a bit of credibility to the rumors.  But the sports talk stations in town sure are thankful!

No comments:

Post a Comment