Oregon: It must be a joke

Major League Baseball in Portland -- you have got to be kidding me. Is
this the time for Oregon to take financial risks, with record
unemployment rates and a social service system that is unable to provide
services?

The Expos are leaving Montreal because of low attendance. What makes
Portland any different?

With an unemployment rate of 8.1 percent, who in Oregon will be able to
afford to take their family to the ballpark?

The Philadelphia Phillies is a long-standing, one-name, one-location
team that is unable to support its fan base -- even after the citizens
of Philadelphia spent millions to build a new stadium.

After an initial surge in attendance, numbers leveled out and again, the
Phillies are unable to fill the stadium and are facing revenue
shortfalls.

If baseball fails in Portland, who will be responsible for the cleanup?
The taxpayers of Oregon and Portland would have to pay for a bailout,
NOT Major League Baseball or Portland's (soon to be retired) Mayor Vera
Katz.

In article <26326-3F4D8977-136 DeleteThis @storefull-2193.public.lawson.webtv.net>,
pjberg DeleteThis @webtv.net (Paul J. Berg) wrote:


> After an initial surge in attendance, numbers leveled out and again, the
> Phillies are unable to fill the stadium and are facing revenue
> shortfalls.

Not to disagree with the bulk of your post, but the new Phillies
ballpark doesn't open until next season.