San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
Chargers return faces too many obstacles
Sez Me …
Caught up in Sibling Revilery, Fredo Spanos really doesn’t want to sell the NFL Team That Used To Be Here, possibly because it’s the last thing left for him to screw up.
But Fredo (aka Dean) has a partner in sister Dea (aka Connie in the film), who is going to court demanding her brother sell the Judases (ironically, the suit was filed on Holy Thursday).
It’s all about debt, and money of course, and Fredo owns a leaking canoe in the NFL’S sea full of billionaire yachts. But I’m not about to get into cracking all the numbers, because we’ve been all over that and it bores the hell out of me.
The short of it is that Dea, as co-trustee, claims the trust’s debts exceed $353 million and that her brother has no plan to pay the $22 million owed to charities. And Fredo, as usual, could lose.
There was talk in 2017 she wanted big brother to sell before moving the franchise out of San Diego to the L.A. area, where he couldn’t draw at Carson High even after making the playoffs. He became an obvious embarrassment to The League, which would love for him to disappear, but appeased him just to stop his whining — no matter that he worked over a city that supported him for 56 years.
But today’s subject must be: What now?
Optimists see the team sold and moved back to San Diego, where it rightfully belongs.
As usual, optimism escapes me. Far more ifs and buts than candy and nuts in this hit-thetrail mix. But it is must-watch sitcom.
First and foremost, where would the team play?
San Diego State’s Too Small Stadium, scheduled to open in September of next year?
Petco Park, which doesn’t seat that many more people than Too Small? Not happening.
On the scorched earth of San Diego Stadium, which actually may be in better shape now than when they actually played their last game in it?
No, we’re asking a whole helluva lot for this to happen.
And that is, it must be sold to a billionaire many times over, who can buy land here and build the new stadium on his or her own. Our city’s Ham & Eggers, as we have seen, certainly aren’t going to pay for it — or, unfortunately, really care about erasing the biggest black eye in the history of this city (except maybe their self-inflicted pension plan).
There of course is speculative talk Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, who’s worth is somewhere up around the national debt, wants to buy an NFL team. Bezos purchasing a team and building a sports palace would be like me buying a pepperoni.
Even if he did, why should we believe he’d choose San Diego, although he certainly would be most welcome.
That’s the kind of person it would take, though, one who doesn’t give a damn.
Why any owner would want to remain renter to Stan Kronke’s landlord in Inglewood wouldn’t make sense, either. I can’t believe L.A. ever is going to care about the J’s.
Fredo made an enormous blunder moving there, but where he really screwed up was not choosing Vegas, where he’s had a residence for years, would have longtime built-in team support, and a free stadium.
He couldn’t continue playing here, couldn’t fight City Hall, and I believe he tried 100 times over.
Plus, had he stayed, our stadium would have been condemned out from under him.
Put me down as hopefully pessimistic.
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