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| Location, Location, Location
by John M. Curtis Copyright December 5, 1998
When the Los Angeles Lakers reluctantly leased the Great Western Forum in Inglewood, many Angelinos were complaining that Inglewood didn’t represent the best location that ‘Los Angeles’ had to offer. Heading South just wasn’t anybody’s idea of a good time. Though the Lakers enjoyed their best days so far in Inglewood, Jerry Buss and company decided to bail-out and resettle in the heart of Los Angeles at the newly developed Staples Center. As Los Angeles — not Carson or Inglewood — is considered the front-runner for the next Democratic national convention, so too must Los Angeles be considered the preferred site for the next NFL franchise. It’s disgraceful to think that the national and worldwide prestige of Los Angeles isn’t enough to lure an NFL franchise. Whatever problems exist with refurbishing the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, they’re microscopic in comparison to shifting the next NFL team out of Los Angeles. Regardless of all the wrangling, Los Angeles is still the best and only acceptable place in which to house the next NFL team. When Carson City Manager Jerry Groomes volunteered that Carson could kick-in as much as 180 million dollars, many people were raising their eyebrows, knowing that the conditions in their public schools--among other public services — were so abysmal that the state decertified their schools. Putting the cart before the horse by leaping into a financial albatross like constructing a state-of-the-art NFL stadium might bankrupt the otherwise working class community. Realistic estimates on completing the new NFL stadium have skyrocketed from an initial 623 million dollars to perhaps as high as 1.2 billion. While certain Carson officials are licking their chops about the prospects of lucrative windfalls from an NFL franchise, the project might be over their head. Certainly the great City of Los Angeles is not without its problems. In case anyone hasn’t noticed: With trash piling up on the downtown streets and with the homeless camped out on every intersection, Mayor Riordan and the City Council have their work cut out for them. Traveling to the pacific rim to drum up business has its place, but walking the streets of the downtown wholesale district also has its own revelations. Putting the homeless to work picking up trash and beautifying the downtown corridor would be a step in the right direction. Criticize as you will the congestion of New York and Chicago, but their streets are clean and their downtown environments hospitable. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the streets of downtown Los Angeles. Soliciting an NFL franchise requires some coherent urban plan to put its house in order. Having said this, there’s still no comparison with what Los Angeles has to offer over its less affluent surrounding communities. While many people want to preserve the Coliseum as an historical monument, that still can be accomplished by bulldozing it flat and starting from scratch. Nostalgia has its place, but clearly the nearly 70 year old facility is badly outmoded. If refurbishing is just not feasible, then it’s time to jettison the nostalgia and build the next great stadium for the new millennium. Erecting a historical monument to a bygone era is easily done. Why get started at all if you’re only going to go halfway? But it’s high time that the Mayor and City Council assume the same aggressive leadership with which they’ve pursued landing the next Democratic national convention. By all accounts, there’s absolutely no excuse why Los Angeles shouldn’t have premier franchises in all professional sports. If Green Bay, Wisconsin boasts a Superbowl champion, then for heaven sakes why shouldn’t Los Angeles? Bickering about where the money is going to come from shouldn’t be the main stumbling block to doing what’s right. It’s reasonable to ask: Why is an entrepreneur like Michael Ovitz leading the charge for the City of Carson? Why isn’t he or others in similar positions getting behind the idea of bringing next great NFL team and stadium to Los Angeles? — remember, We Love LA? Other luminaries and moguls are patiently waiting for the vision and leadership to build the ultimate sports stadium right here. Though time is running out, it’s still possible to salvage the NFL project. While Mr. Ovitz might be playing the rabbit, maybe his overture will serve as a wake-up call to the soporific businessmen and politicians who have been asleep at the helm. Money woes are always a convenient smokescreen, but the real problem has been a conspicuous vacuum of effective leadership. It’s time for the Mayor and the City Council to step up to the plate. Los Angeles deserves and demands the next NFL franchise. Working together, there’s nothing that they can’t accomplish. But they must have a shared vision of where their taking Los Angeles into the next millennium. While hosting the Democratic national convention is a step in the right direction, assuring the citizens of Los Angeles the next NFL franchise would be a crowning jewel. Anything less would be a disgrace. About the Author John M. Curtis is director of a West Los Angeles think tank specializing in human behavior, health care and political research and media consultation. He’s a seminar trainer, columnist and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma. |
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ocation scouts are certainly an essential part of movie making, but how Michael Ovitz wound up scouting Carson for the next NFL franchise has many people shaking their heads. Where does Mr. Ovitz live: Beverly Hills? Bel Air? Brentwood? The Palisades? Encino? Without seeming too uppity, how many tourists or local inhabitants make their pilgrimage to the Carson Mall? Let’s face it, as landmarks go, it isn’t on the ‘must see’ list. Nor could any reasonable person expect that entertainment oriented football fans would schlep to Carson to see football games. Unlike other parts of the country, football isn’t the only act in town, and LA fans aren’t likely to endure any hardships to attend professional sports. Can you imagine luxury boxes built on a polluted landfill in Carson? I don’t think so. OK, diehard football fans might travel long and hard, but enticing LA’s power elite to Carson is a dicey proposition. Surely Mr. Ovitiz must know this. Or does he? One thing is certain: Mrs. Ovitz doesn’t shop at the Carson Mall.|
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