Boy, I dunno — Rich Guy’s private letter to Babs “Big” Boxer (originally provided without a clear trail of provenance by Zennie Abraham) sure strikes me as Bybee/Yoo-ish.
Suresure, each individual fact vets out — but the way he concatenates them, collapses timeframes, and raises outmoded issues (unpredictable walkup crowds? I thought the A’s had spent the last 5 or so years addressing that … so that they’re predictably tiny) makes his entire framing pretty specious.
Now, I myself don’t hold a brief for Oakland or Alameda County — personally I’d prefer that the A’s new stadium be sited somewhere within easy walking distance of a BART station within 30-40 minutes of downtown SF, but Crywolffisher has every right to move wherever the heck they want to. And there are obvious economic/regulatory/infrastructure advantages to SJ.
But this Dear Babs letter is a supremely dishonest piece of work.
It’s funny that this heretofore unknown dude has suddenly become the Spiro Agnew of the ownership group, the attacking bad cop to Lew’s smiling good one. His letter lacks only the phrase nattering nabobs of negativism.
But there’s an important between the lines message being delivered here. “Dear Sen. Boxer: As you know my wife and I are quite wealthy and donate prolifically to you and your ilk. Bear in mind that we need not write those checks in the future, nor do our wealthy confederates who like San Jose a lot.”
Oh, two other sorta related notes:
1. Zennie Abraham’s knows people who tell him stuff, but has no filter for gauging what’s true or not, or when he’s being played. Zennie’s really a cocktail party presence whose only true goal is the promotion of Zennie. Badmouthing those who won’t let him into their game is his standard MO. Doesn’t mean he’s wrong, but it’s important to know where he’s coming from.
2. In the AN interview, Lew says Dellums “has a very good staff.” Lew is lying. No one…seriously, no one…believes that’s true. The mind-numbing incompetence of Dellums’ staff is a huge part of why he’s been such a terrible Mayor.
By the way, since I couldn’t play the labrador competition game from work, here’s my entry:
Parents’ guide dog breeder
All of her very young puppies.
Don’t you dare waste my time with your labrador picture shows you lying cheating son of a labrador, sneaky back door labrador nut labrador sucker.
Regarding the bellyaching about attendance:
Awhile back, monkeyball linked to the Forbes piece that placed the A’s near the top of the operating profit rankings. I assume a substantial chunk of this profitability derives from revenue sharing checks.
Absent a new stadium or any long-term desire to cultivate ties to the community they’re currently in, don’t the A’s have a pretty clear incentive to suppress local revenue, so as to widen the difference between their contribution to the revenue share pot and the check they receive when said pot is divvied up?
I (honestly) know Lew Wolff is a(n honest) Selfless Man of the People (honestly!), but I think people who take the “woe is us, Oakland fans hate the A’s, nothing we can do” lament at face value probably also buy lots of Ronco products and believe KSM will be strolling unfettered through suburban kiddie parks the moment we shutter Guantanamo.