Jim Caple takes some cheap shots

[Butcher]

<!--quoteo-->QUOTE <!--quotec-->The Cubs, meanwhile, are threatening to move from Mesa unless the city agrees to more than $100 million in upgrades to their camp. The funding proposal would add another fee to rental car taxes that already are at 50 percent -- my car cost $344 for nine days and the taxes were $175 -- plus an 8 percent tax on every ticket to every game their rival teams play in Arizona (White Sox fans will be thrilled to pay money to the Cubs to see their team play in its own stadium). Few things upset me in sports anymore, but owners who blackmail communities into building them new stadiums (and then hypocritically bitch about government "socialism") still make me turn so red in the face I look like Chief Wahoo.

I mean, come on. The Cubs need a $100 million makeover in this economy? In a state that has been hit about as hard as any by the recession? For a spring training site? Really? Get real. <i>There are 14 other teams in Arizona -- including a Chicago team that has won the World Series in the past five years, let alone the past century -- and fans will be only too happy to go see them instead if the Cubs move.</i>

<i>I say let the Cubs leave. Better yet, have them move to Hi Corbett, a beautiful ballpark that will be available next spring. It may not have a portable fitness room or a high-priced steakhouse, but it was plenty good enough to send a team to the World Series in its second year of spring training (Cleveland in 1948) and another one in its 60th (Colorado in 2007). The Cubs are too pigheaded and greedy to take advantage of this opportunity, </i>but a couple Japanese teams are considering moving their camps to Tucson.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Always good to see the 100 years get thrown in there -- as if it has anything to do with wanting a new Spring Training facility. And maybe Caple hasn't noticed that the Cubs are the biggest draw in the Cactus league and have been for years and years. Fans won't just go watch the White Sox instead -- they'll vacation in Florida instead. Fucking moran.

[veryzer]

<!--quoteo(post=84352:date=Mar 24 2010, 02:35 PM:name=Butcher)-->QUOTE (Butcher @ Mar 24 2010, 02:35 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec--><!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE <!--quotec-->The Cubs, meanwhile, are threatening to move from Mesa unless the city agrees to more than $100 million in upgrades to their camp. The funding proposal would add another fee to rental car taxes that already are at 50 percent -- my car cost $344 for nine days and the taxes were $175 -- plus an 8 percent tax on every ticket to every game their rival teams play in Arizona (White Sox fans will be thrilled to pay money to the Cubs to see their team play in its own stadium). Few things upset me in sports anymore, but owners who blackmail communities into building them new stadiums (and then hypocritically bitch about government "socialism") still make me turn so red in the face I look like Chief Wahoo.

I mean, come on. The Cubs need a $100 million makeover in this economy? In a state that has been hit about as hard as any by the recession? For a spring training site? Really? Get real. <i>There are 14 other teams in Arizona -- including a Chicago team that has won the World Series in the past five years, let alone the past century -- and fans will be only too happy to go see them instead if the Cubs move.</i>

<i>I say let the Cubs leave. Better yet, have them move to Hi Corbett, a beautiful ballpark that will be available next spring. It may not have a portable fitness room or a high-priced steakhouse, but it was plenty good enough to send a team to the World Series in its second year of spring training (Cleveland in 1948) and another one in its 60th (Colorado in 2007). The Cubs are too pigheaded and greedy to take advantage of this opportunity, </i>but a couple Japanese teams are considering moving their camps to Tucson.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Always good to see the 100 years get thrown in there -- as if it has anything to do with wanting a new Spring Training facility. And maybe Caple hasn't noticed that the Cubs are the biggest draw in the Cactus league and have been for years and years. Fans won't just go watch the White Sox instead -- they'll vacation in Florida instead. Fucking moran.
<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->


Yeah, he's deluded if he thinks people will go see the White Sox if the Cubs move. Why would a Cub fan see the White Sox if they aren't playing the Cubs?

[rok]

<!--quoteo(post=84352:date=Mar 24 2010, 02:35 PM:name=Butcher)-->QUOTE (Butcher @ Mar 24 2010, 02:35 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec--><!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE <!--quotec-->The Cubs, meanwhile, are threatening to move from Mesa unless the city agrees to more than $100 million in upgrades to their camp. The funding proposal would add another fee to rental car taxes that already are at 50 percent -- my car cost $344 for nine days and the taxes were $175 -- plus an 8 percent tax on every ticket to every game their rival teams play in Arizona (White Sox fans will be thrilled to pay money to the Cubs to see their team play in its own stadium). Few things upset me in sports anymore, but owners who blackmail communities into building them new stadiums (and then hypocritically bitch about government "socialism") still make me turn so red in the face I look like Chief Wahoo.

I mean, come on. The Cubs need a $100 million makeover in this economy? In a state that has been hit about as hard as any by the recession? For a spring training site? Really? Get real. <i>There are 14 other teams in Arizona -- including a Chicago team that has won the World Series in the past five years, let alone the past century -- and fans will be only too happy to go see them instead if the Cubs move.</i>

<i>I say let the Cubs leave. Better yet, have them move to Hi Corbett, a beautiful ballpark that will be available next spring. It may not have a portable fitness room or a high-priced steakhouse, but it was plenty good enough to send a team to the World Series in its second year of spring training (Cleveland in 1948) and another one in its 60th (Colorado in 2007). The Cubs are too pigheaded and greedy to take advantage of this opportunity, </i>but a couple Japanese teams are considering moving their camps to Tucson.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Always good to see the 100 years get thrown in there -- as if it has anything to do with wanting a new Spring Training facility. And maybe Caple hasn't noticed that the Cubs are the biggest draw in the Cactus league and have been for years and years. Fans won't just go watch the White Sox instead -- they'll vacation in Florida instead. Fucking moran.
<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I guess he didn't get the news flash that the Sox' stadium and THE MAJORITY OF OTHER FUCKING CACTUS LEAGUE TEAMS have publicly funded stadiums and caused other municipalities serious financial hardship when they held them over a barrel and or abandoned other facilities. But who cares about the facts. The past doesn't count.

[The Dude]

Also, wasn't the rental car thing dropped like a week ago?

[1060Ivy]

Naples is looking better by the week.

[Butcher]

<!--quoteo(post=84363:date=Mar 24 2010, 03:00 PM:name=The Dude)-->QUOTE (The Dude @ Mar 24 2010, 03:00 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->Also, wasn't the rental car thing dropped like a week ago?<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I thought the tax add-ons were dropped, too.

[rok]

<!--quoteo(post=84367:date=Mar 24 2010, 03:05 PM:name=Butcher)-->QUOTE (Butcher @ Mar 24 2010, 03:05 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec--><!--quoteo(post=84363:date=Mar 24 2010, 03:00 PM:name=The Dude)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (The Dude @ Mar 24 2010, 03:00 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->Also, wasn't the rental car thing dropped like a week ago?<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I thought the tax add-ons were dropped, too.
<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
This was the latest, I believe:
http://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/stories...08/daily68.html
<!--quoteo-->QUOTE <!--quotec-->The Chicago Cubs have ditched plans for an 8 percent tax on all Cactus League tickets to help pay for a new $80 million spring training ballpark in Mesa.
....
But Cubs President Crane Kenney said Thursday that the team does not need the tax to help finance the new stadium. Kenney said the team could finance the stadium through a $1 increase to Maricopa County’s rental car tax, bonding and spending increases to be voted on by Mesa voters.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

<!--quoteo-->QUOTE <!--quotec-->Alternative funding plans for the Cubs stadium and other Cactus League ballparks include creating special tax districts to help finance stadiums or new taxes on restaurants and satellite television services. Mesa lobbyists Scott Butler and John MacDonald argue those funding mechanisms don’t have support at the Legislature or wouldn’t create enough revenue. Most of the other ideas, they say, have come from lobbyist John Kaites, who represents the White Sox and Seattle Mariners.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

And this:
http://sports.espn.go.com/chicago/mlb/ne...id=4985952
<!--quoteo-->QUOTE <!--quotec-->"The plan for our facility can be managed through the Mesa property tax referendum that will happen in November, and the car rental tax," Kenney said. "The ticket tax is not needed for what we're building. But ... [Mesa and the state of Arizona] seem to have our needs well in hand."

Kenney said the discussion isn't just about the Cubs.

"They are talking about what the appropriate long term vision is for the Cactus League," he said. "This isn't about the Cubs, this is about the other teams in the league as well."

Kenney also said the Cubs are committed to pay between $20-$30 million to develop a non-baseball area around the facility.

The Cubs are expected to move into the new facility in 2013, a year later than originally estimated.

Other topics Kenney touched on are:

• The Cubs will have a new CFO by April 1;

• The marquee on Wrigley Field at Clark and Addison is getting a facelift;

• The Sheffield Grill, which is a new year-round restaurant at Wrigley, will open April 5;

• Construction on the "Triangle Building" -- which will house front-office headquarters and will house bars, restaurants and possibly a hotel -- should start after this season;

• Funding for the "Triangle Building" and other rehabbing of Wrigley Field could be $200-$300 million over the next four years. The vision is for it to be completed by 2014, which is the 100th anniversary of Wrigley Field;

• There will be virtual ads on rooftops during games, perhaps beginning as early as 2011.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

[jstraw]

The Cubs don't plan or not plan to levy taxes in the state of Arizona.

[Mikey]

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