Toast to the Bay: The Tampa Bay Rays
Last week we wrote that our Toast to the Bay went to St. Pete Mayor Rick Kriseman in part because of the deal he struck with the Tampa Bay Rays to let the team look outside St. Pete for alternative stadium sites despite an iron-clad contract that prohibits them from doing so.
This week we’re shifting our toast ever so slightly to the Major League Baseball team whose leaders are probably already on the horn with Tampa to set up meetings.
After voting 5-3 in favor of the latest Memorandum of Understanding, City Council officially gave the go-ahead to the Rays to enter into what will likely be the win-win of all win-wins.
First of all, the deal approved Thursday caps the payout the Rays would have to shell out for leaving Tropicana Field prematurely at just $24 million. That’s about what the team had been aiming for all along. It makes leaving a doable scenario and one that isn’t all that expensive, comparatively speaking.
Second, it gives the Rays considerable financial incentive to stay in St. Pete. If they play out their contract through 2027 at Tropicana Field, the team is entitled to half of the development rights on the 85-acre Trop site. If they stay beyond that, they get half, plus interest.
It leaves a considerable pool of money at the team’s fingertips to help fund a new stadium, estimated to cost about $600 million. That’s in addition to the county’s bed-tax revenue that will also likely be available to the Rays.
Last, the Rays have waited a long, long time for this opportunity. It all started circa 2009 after voters rejected a tax proposal to fund a waterfront stadium at the Al Lang Stadium site where the Rowdies now play. The team’s enduring patience clearly paid off. They now find themselves in a position where it’s practically free to look, not too expensive to leave, and worthwhile to stay.
So, actually, it’s a win-win-win. For that the Tampa Bay Rays deserve a toast. Here, here!
Dump into the Bay: Music lovers
It would be easy to piggyback off the Rays’ victory with City Council this week and declare this week’s dump the three council members who voted against the plan: Steve Kornell, Jim Kennedy and Ed Montanari. But, there are plenty of reasons to leave them out of this week’s hot seat. First, Kornell has suffered enough, with his opposition to a deal that doesn’t include substantial reimbursement to the city when the Times jockeyed to have him voted out of office.
Second, the trio really did have the city’s best interest at heart even if many disagreed.
So instead, this week’s dump is quite somber. Music lovers everywhere are mourning the loss of one of its greats: David Bowie. That includes, of course, his stellar alter ego, Ziggy Stardust.
From the late ’60s until the early ’80s, Bowie churned out so many hits his tenure during that time is considered one of the longest and most productive creative streaks in music history.
He’s responsible for tunes you just have to turn up the likes of “Starman,” “Moonage Daydream,” “Rebel Rebel” and “Young Americans.” Consult any of a number of polls this week about favorite Bowie tunes and you’ll find a collective clash of opinions on the Internet of just which are the best.
Even his most recent single, “Lazarus,” made waves with its eerily relevant video showing a gaunt Bowie blind-folded and floating above a hospital bed with lyrics that begin with, “Look up here, I’m in heaven.”
So many people were playing Bowie the morning news broke about his death from an 18-month battle with cancer, you could probably hear his trademark voice from space. In fact, his voice was even playing in space with a Bowie tribute from the International Space Station by a Canadian astronaut who played “Space Oddity” in zero freaking gravity.
If it weren’t for him dying of cancer, Bowie certainly would be worthy of this week’s Toast to the Bay.
But his loss leaves a hole in the hearts of unrelenting fans, many grief stricken by the loss of a man they never actually met.
So, while we certainly give three cheers to Bowie, sad fans this week are our Dump into the Bay.
