Don't Listen To Bitter Bernie; Let USC Run Coliseum
The battle between Rose Bowl bound USC and the Coliseum Commission has turned up a notch as the university threatens to move if the Commission is so short sighted to not show the Trojans they respect they deserve.Various members of the Commission say they've allegedly received death threats from SC fans, which of course is not cool.
However the Commission - including folks like Bitter Bernie who thinks that an NFL team is still coming to the Coliseum (a folly even Tony Villar has given up on) - needs to realize that their white elephant is in far better hands under the management of sports and marketing powerhouse USC.
Bernie and the fools assume that if USC is given a master lease on the facility that soccer games, rock concerts and other events that earn the stadium revenue and have an impact on local businesses will come to an end.
However, since USC is looking to earn revenue to pay for maintenance and upgrades on the Coliseum, assuredly they won't just schedule money loser sporting events of their own.
For nearly 30 years, the Coliseum Commission has failed to make this gem succeed. Let someone else try.
Even the Former Fishwrap of Record agrees.
Labels: bernard parks, Bitter Bernie, los angeles memorial coliseum, los angeles politics, usc
Posted by Mayor Sam @ 12/03/2007 12:38:00 AM
14 Comments:
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"Various members of the Commission say they've allegedly received death threats from SC fans, which of course is not cool."
Boy Mayor Sam is the king of the understatement isn't he! ;)
Sam, give it up.
You do not understand the issues nor do you understand how the Commission works.
I do understand the composition and the intricacies of the relationship with the State of California (represented by the ScienCenter) and the very complex problems of booking a venue without controlling its parking.
USC, led by Mike Garrett is in no position to run the venue and they want much more control than they need. As it is, they have the best deal in the USA for a stadium that they do not own and is not on their property.
Their "ploy" to move to the Rose Bowl is nothing more than an amateur negotiating gaffe.
Only fools who know nothing about the stadium management busniess fell for that dummy move.
They are going nowhere and everyone at the table knows it.
Now, they need to come back to the table and get reasonable about what they want and what they will pay for.
Remember, their tickets are artifically priced low but they create the income by giving the best seats to people who donate the most. By doing it this way, they avoid showing a "profit" for the purposes of paying the venue. So everything is not what it seems.
They also control a good deal of the income from parking, as they have parking all over the campus, including new spaces in the Galen Center.
So Sam, why don't you just go deal with the fool to whom you have given the keys to your blog and who has brought a bunch of inane CD 14 folks to trash up your blog?
If it were just you and Joe, it would return to its former glory. Many of us hope for that day.
Another failure for Bitter Bernie not bringing NFL to LA. Hell the entire nation knows no team will come here and Bernie has the worst reputation of being a stubborn, angry old fool. HIs commission hasn't done shit to improve the coliseum which is an historic monument. USC brings in all that money and what has the city, state and county done with it. No one has wanted to fix that place for years and now that USC wants to move all of a sudden they're acting like crybabies. I say to USC move to the Rose Bowl.
The Midget Mexican Mayor and Bitter Bernie are too stupid to manage anything. We should give the keys to the Coliseum to the Blogging Burros. The Blogging Burros are experts in everything and anything.
We could have Zuma doing his song and dance at half-time to entertain the USC football fans.
We could have Red Spot giving grammar lessons to the kids, before the games.
We could have Mayor Sam negotiating with the NFL owners to bring the newest expansion team to Los Angeles.
Go Blogging Burros Go!!!!!
It's cute that CC spinners (paid or unpaid makes no difference) are learning from their bretheren of the the 3rd and fourth floors.
Hide your bosses' mistakes and missteps by playing the Zuma Dogg card.
Bottom line is that at their worst USC would be a better manager and caretaker than Bitter Bernie et al.
Please be prepared to come on this blog and argue how much more succesful of an institution the Commission is as opposed to USC. Be prepared to give examples and supporting facts.
Next.
You guys are a bunch of ignoramuses.
Don't you read anything? Neither Bernie nor The Mayor can give the Coliseum to anyone, because IT IS OWNED BY THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA.
What part of that do you not understand?
Are you all ADD like ZD?
Why have a commission appointed by electeds if they don't do anything? They should have private citizens on the commission then at least even with their personal agendas I'm sure by now they would have done something more concrete to save the coliseum. Stupid Antonio and Bitter Bernie for years sat and did nothing and now are acting like crybabies.
There are some private citizens on the commission (what does Candy Spelling do?) and three of the Supes, who are too busy with other things to run it and probably left it to Bernie to be in charge. Since he's always talking about his close connections to USC. So it's especially ironic that he's the one who alienated USC so much they wrote an open letter to their alumni and public and are waging this PR war about the Rose Bowl.
The Mayor and others do want to abolish this commission and appoint genuinely qualified people who aren't there because of some plum political job and don't know enough about what's involved to oppose Bernie. (But putting USC people on the commission, as USC wants, would be a disaster, too -- just putting Bernie and them into the same bull pen.)
To the poster who says USC already has a great deal: you overlook that the Colliseum needs million in improvements USC is willing to pay for, pending a reasonable deal.
That Commission spinner (BB Jr?) has a real problem.
No one is saying GIVE the Coliseum to anyone. We're saying let the Trojans MANAGE it.
USC has not asked to be given title, they want a master lease.
For which they're going to pay big time AND make the repairs the Commission has failed to make.
For Christ sake even if the OLD GRAY HAG ON SPRING STREET is saying turn it over to USC you know the Commission has failed.
USC only pays about $990,000 in rent to the Coliseum, makes $27 million in ticket sales, shares in the concessions and makes a ton in parking. They probably net $50 million off of football at the Coliseum adding in the 50 yard line donors. But that's not enough for the Trojans. They want to manage the whole thing for the whole year, keep all the money, and only pay $10 million a year for ten years. Sweet. What experience do they have booking events? The Coliseum made more money on one Latino concert and one soccer game last year than they did off of the whole USC football season.
dissolve the commission and appoint a new one like the 2 councilmembers want: we can't turn a state-owned entity totally over the USC either, but the current commission led by Bernie has lost every major team, and it's had a history of failure. One or two Latino concerts don't guarantee the future or an identity.
USC needs to remain the main tenant, and have some say in its future.
The current commission hasn't lost any teams. The Raiders left in '94. Get out of your time machine, Jackass!
Give the coliseum to the dumb illegals. They pack the place when the LA Galaxy or any other soccer team play. They drink tons of beer and pay for parking believe it or not. bitter Bernie has done a horrible job looking after an historic venue for this city. He couldn't bring an NFL team why should people think he can do anything to help the situation. The coliseum has to pay state, county and city.
February 1, Bernie is out as President. The Presidency and Vice Presidency rotate every year between City State and County.
They will NEVER turn over the keys to USC or anyone else.
It is not the nature of man nor government to cede power willingly.
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