Sox to Sarasota? “What if…”
June 20, 2008 – 4:35 pmIf the city of Sarasota had a dime for every “what if” scenario bandied about this summer, it wouldn’t have any trouble raising $70M to lure the Red Sox from their spring training home in Ft. Myers.
The latest example of superfluous speculation without much sustenance is a “breaking news” article in today’s Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Stadium on the Bay? It seems the proponents of spending tax money on a professional team - the same people who were shot down by county voters twice - are waging their war through the media. Here’s how the articles read to me:
Breaking news today as another Red Sox fan in Sarasota has come up with a way to build a new mega-stadium. The location would be ideal as long as the traffic nightmares, infastructure shortcomings, and budget shortfalls can be ignored. And as long as the current owners of the proposed property get behind the cause and donate it to the county.
We’ve seen column after column wondering how the city may get the Sox to leave Ft. Myers in 2010. And also how Ft. Myers is scrambling to find other teams to replace the Sox if they leave. And how Lee Co. is dropping the gloves to fight for its team. And how hundreds of people (out of 600,000 in the county) are making their voices heard!
However, we haven’t seen much of anything regarding all of Sarasota’s giant hurdles to clear before even making a pitch to the Sox (see my previous postings). Or the terrific behind-the-scenes work of Lee Co. officials to block Sarasota’s efforts to get state money for a new stadium. With all the “Sox-to-Sarasota?” talk in the local media these days, you - the viewer/reader - should know that we’re still a long way off from any of the parties making substantial progress in this chess match.
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