The latest development to come out of the Bay Area on the 49ers' new stadium sounds strangely identical to the last news about two months ago: the Great America theme park owners are -- wait for it -- still peeved the new South Bay stadium is going to be built in their backyard.
Great America owners don't want the 49ers in its backyard...and won't stop talking about it.The complaint, as accounted by the San Jose Mercury News, still centers on the theme park owner Cedar Fair Entertainment's concern it will not be properly compensated if the stadium is built. That's even if the team follows through with its assurance it will compensate Great America for lost profits if it closes on game days.
"In addition, the letter accuses city officials of failing to disclose the potential additional cost to taxpayers if Great America suffers greater-than-expected financial losses connected to the stadium," The Merc says. (Great America leases its property from Santa Clara which is worth about $5 million in annual revenue for the city.)
This latest posturing by the G.A. owners is just the latest in a long line of feet stomping and ear-drum-breaking shrieking that makes a three-year-old's temper tamtrum look adult compared to these shennanigans. (I love that word. I don't care what you think.) For years they have been singing the same old tune while the team has all but handed them a blank check to shut them up.
Maybe Great America had its supporters at the beginning of all this. From their point of view, it's basically like having a Wal-Mart move in across the street from your Mom & Pop shop. (Then again if Wal-Mart offered to make up the difference with my shop, I take the money and live like a king in Mexico for five months out of the year. But that's probably why I don't own a business.)
The point is, Great America's owners aren't gaining any supporters by crying about the same old thing for two years even after concessions have been made. As one of my film professors once said, "Once is innovative, twice is clever but three or more times is just obnoxious."
Great America, you are officially obnoxious. Please shut up.