Quote:
|
Originally Posted by SoCalBronco
W*GS, what turns you off to the Broncos and/or sports? You just not a big sports guy or is it just the Broncos?
|
The thing that set me off was the corporate welfare scheme known locally as the "Metropolitan Football Stadium District", which is nothing more than a special sales tax that paid for the construction of Invesco Field. Local taxpayers were dinged to the tune of $400 million just so Pat Bowlen would have a new facility in which he could sell $5 hot dogs, $8 beers, and jack up ticket prices, all for his lust for more money. Also, his campaign for the Bowlen Tax (which outspent the opposition more than 10:1) was full of lies and deceptions - and the underlying threat that the Broncos would leave Denver if the tax vote didn't pass. Amazingly, the new Broncos-City of Denver contract doesn't prevent the Broncos from packing up and leaving tomorrow, and its basic terms include much greater revenue for Pat Bowlen from any and all events held at Invesco. Basically, Denver-area taxpayers have subsidized Pat Bowlen to the tune of $400 million, and we get nothing in return. The Broncos' franchise value has also increased dramatically (over $800 million now compared to under $200 million before the Bowlen Tax), and any sale at that value of the Broncos nets us nothing. We've made an incredibly wealthy man far wealthier on the backs of working folks, who have no choice but to pay his tax.
This sort of nonsense has taken place all around the country, including baseball and basketball, and it's simply atrocious.
I could also comment on the corruption of universities by the presence of pro footall's (and pro basketball's) farm league system on their campuses, but that's another discussion.
In short, I find that the major professional sports in the US today aren't worth it in any sense. All we get is a bunch of overpaid prima donnas prancing about in silly costumes, when they're not driving drunk, beating up folks, or otherwise getting their mug shots splashed on the local news for some offense or another.