It was a dark and stormy afternoon. Tampa Bay Rays President Brian Auld approached the podium at a meeting of the Suncoast Tiger Bay Club at the St. Pete Yacht Club, where he stood before a packed room of well-heeled individuals.
We sat on the sidelines, waiting.
We figured it was a good time to catch up on the latest developments in the whole Rays stadium dealie, and thought perhaps Auld might say (or not say) something we could plug into our Speculatron 9000, to help us predict The Future of the City.
But alas. Our hopes were dashed once we realized that even if one of the questioners within the forum did ask a question that had a good set of incisors on it, that doesn't mean it would be met with a particularly definitive response.
We don't think it was because Auld was trying to pull one over on us; it's only because of the standstill the team is at with a city that can't decide whether or not it's worth their while to let the team explore potential stadium sites in Hillsborough.
It was a good chance for Auld to articulate why the team isn't budging in its desire to explore other stadium sites throughout the Tampa Bay area (namely in Hillsborough County) before the Rays' agreement to play at the Trop expires in 2027. When the St. Pete City Council debated such a proposal in December of last year, Auld had a tough time convincing council members of the city's value to the team (and we gave him crap for it then).
He did a lot better this time around, at least once articulating the team's commitment to Tampa Bay while stressing the need to look at other potential stadium sites.
Someone asked him what prospective stadium location has the most potential to bring attendance, something he said he couldn't answer because the city's not willing to let them frickin' look anywhere.
“I wish I had the ability to answer that question but unfortunately we are not able to determine what the ideal stadium would be in what the ideal location would be," he said to a room full of laughter. "And I'm not being flippant about that. Those are the rules and we intend to abide by them.”
He later put a finer point on that when asked why the city ought to let the team bend the rules on the team's use agreement.
“In my opinion, it would be foolhardy for the Rays organization to put a shovel in the the ground, potentially invest hundreds of millions of dollars in a new ball park, if we weren't as sure as we possibly could be that it is the best place not just for the Rays organization, but for the fans and for the region as a whole,” he said. “That's why we're not willing to budge on the particular issue.”
Then came the matter of stadium funding, which seems to inevitably come out of local government coffers even when cities and counties face steep shortfalls in other areas, as Last Week Tonight with John Oliver covered a few weeks back.
Auld's answer to a question on why cities should spend hundreds of millions of dollars on a stadium with little risk to the team that calls it home did strike us as ... well, let's put it this way: Perhaps the city and county should chip fork over some cash to secure top-notch digs, instruments and equipment for, I dunno, the band I play in? So we can focus all our energy and resources on being awesome.
“Every single dollar that we have to take away from our organization and put toward any other endeavor, be it a ball park or marketing campaign or anything else, is one less dollar that we have to put a great team on the field,” he said.
Meanwhile, the city seems open to funding a new stadium, but wants to study the advantages of doing so, an undertaking the Rays have agreed to help fund.
But the debate over what to do drags on.
Quite honestly, it's starting to remind us of that one scene in Monty Python and the Holy Grail in which Sir Robin and his men encounter the three-headed man that wants to kill them rather than let them pass. By the time the three heads are done squabbling over what to do, Robin and his men are long gone.
Oh, by the way, Auld also said the Rays are playing tonight (which they can do despite the absolute shit weather we're having thanks to the dome everyone bitches about). He urged the audience to get tickets.