Bengals training camp has started!

Goodyear, Arizona approves funding for Reds move

Updated: April 7, 2008 10:45 PM

GOODYEAR, Ariz. - The City Council of Goodyear, Arizona unanimously voted to approve funding to build a spring training facility for the Cincinnati Reds.

The Reds and Goodyear have until June 30 to enter into a binding Use Agreement that includes a 20-year lease and two five-year team options. The ground breaking for the Reds' portion of the facilities tentatively is scheduled for February 1, 2009.

"We don't anticipate any problems completing the agreement," says reds' former chief operating officer John Allen.

The Reds' current lease at the City of Sarasota Sports Complex in Sarasota expires in October, though the team could remain there through 2011 by exercising three one-year options. The club has trained in Sarasota since 1998.

The plans for the $108 million Goodyear Ballpark and Recreational Sports Complex already include the Cleveland Indians, who are scheduled to move there in February 2009. A 38,000-square foot clubhouse will be the centerpiece of the Reds' 46-acre portion of the complex that will include 6 full practice fields and two half fields.

The main ballpark will seat 10,000 fans, including 500 premium box seats, 8,000 fixed seats and space for 2,000 spectators on a grassy berm in the outfield. It will be the centerpiece of Ballpark Village, a $1 billion mixed-use development featuring offices, shops, restaurants, housing, hotels and a conference center.

Goodyear is located 20 minutes west of downtown Phoenix. In 2007, nine Major League teams trained in the greater Phoenix area and three trained in Tucson. In addition to the Indians, next year the Los Angeles Dodgers are scheduled to move their spring training headquarters to Arizona.

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6-0 vote, Reds going to Goodyear, AZ!

After a nearly two hour meeting, Goodyear's City Council has approved financing to bring the Cincinnati Reds to Goodyear in 2010.

And I will be right there. Yes!!

Reds one step closer to Arizona

Goodyear city council votes April 7 on Reds spring funding

By Mark Sheldon / MLB.com

CLEARWATER, Fla. -- All that stands between the Reds holding Spring Training in Goodyear, Ariz., is a city council vote.

On Wednesday, the city of Goodyear identified funding for the estimated $33 million it would take to bring the Reds to the desert town to share a spring complex with the Indians. The deadline to identify the money sources was Thursday.

"We don't have a done deal yet but it's an important step," said John Allen, the former Reds chief operating officer, and the club's point man in the negotiations. "If they didn't come up with the funding by Thursday, we both could have walked away or try to find alternative funding."

The Goodyear city council must now approve the measure. It plans to take up the issue at its April 7 session. A 75-day exclusive negotiating period between the city and club expires on April 11.

The Reds have made it known that if the city funds the move, they will relocate from Florida. If the April 7 vote is positive, the franchise would leave Sarasota, Fla., in 2010 to join the Cactus League.

"We're going to say yes, assuming the memorandum of understanding is on parity with the Indians deal," Allen said. "I've met with members of the council and I'm optimistic, but I don't have a vote."

The exact breakdown of Goodyear's funding plan remains confidential while negotiations are ongoing.

"They showed me the funding plan for the entire project -- for the Indians and a second team," Allen said. "It was certainly enough for us to move forward."

Goodyear is already building a $75 million facility for the Indians. It will open in 2009 when the team moves its spring operations from Winter Haven, Fla.

The additional $33 million would provide the Reds with their own clubhouse, offices and practice fields, as well as a Minor League complex, while the main stadium would be shared with the Indians.

With the exception of a three-year period during World War II, the Reds have trained in Florida since 1923. The club has called Sarasota its spring home since 1998 but Cincinnati's lease with the city and county expires in October. The Reds hold three one-year options that can extend the stay.

Sarasota's County Commission recently approved $17.6 million in funding renovations of Ed Smith Stadium. But this measure came only several months after delays in approval, and by that point the Reds had already entered into exclusive negotiations with Goodyear.

Mark Sheldon is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Source.

TV Tickers from Hell - Stop the madness!

I was snowed in for most of the weekend so I watched a lot of TV. However a serious problem quickly arose that drove me to post and rant.

The never-ending tickers that have overwhelmed TV shows. Not just one ticker, not even two but up to three tickers at a time!

I have made complaints to local stations especially when my favorite show, LOST, was over run with evil tickers. My complaints fell on deaf ears. So I decided to out them.

WCPO.com is the biggest problem. They even have sponsorship for their tickers, which I plan to promptly boycott.

I tried to watch my favorite NBA team, the Phoenix Suns, but ticker hell so overwhelmed the games I ended up switching to NASCAR! It was that bad.

Here's a for examples.



We still have to see a score so the game graphics have to go on TOP of those figgin tickers.


There's times when nearly half the screen is taken with graphics and those evil tickers.


Poor Shaq, he looks about five feet tall, thanks to those bastard tickers.


I call these the triple death tickers. The same two tickers that have been running 24hrs non-stop are now join with a third band of graphics. A quarter of my screen is gone! You would think when the news starts, the tickers would disappear, but noooo.


Why not, lets toss in a few more graphic elements.


Enough!

Heck with going to Mars. Google needs to sponsor a contest that allows consumers to remove the bane of my existence, tickers.

More details on Reds move to Goodyear

• Goodyear will pony up the necessary money.
• Have until Thursday (3/13) to submit its financial package of an estimated $32 million.
• "We are going to Goodyear," said Reds executive John Allen.
  
• Reds would have kicked in nearly $10 million in Sarasota, but in Goodyear, they would be required to pay an annual rental fee of $150,000, while pocketing all event revenue streams. - That is huge, what a potential savings and revenue making opportunity for the Reds.
  

There will be several free agent starting pitchers available in 2009. Jr's last year. The extra cash will come in handy. Full article below.

Goodyear's progress dampens fans' spirits

By Doug Fernandes

SARASOTA -- Friday, a splendid day for baseball was not matched in mood.

Fans ate their hot dogs and drank their beer, watching the Cincinnati Reds host the Pittsburgh Pirates, but for many, a sense of inevitability draped Ed Smith Stadium.

And sadness.

"This is a bad day, and look how nice it is," said Mike Wade, a former Cincinnati resident now living in Parrish. "It's a sad day for Reds fans, especially down here in Florida."

The question of the Reds remaining in Sarasota for spring training or bolting to the Arizona desert seemed answered Thursday with word that the city of Goodyear would pony up the necessary money.

Goodyear has until Thursday to submit its financial package of an estimated $32 million. Once in place, "we are going to Goodyear," said Reds executive John Allen.

"If Goodyear comes up with the money," said facilities manager Pat Calhoon, "I fully expect that the Reds will honor their commitment and not come back here."

For out-of-state fans who migrate to Sarasota for Reds spring training, and who might not otherwise visit, the news was not endorsed.

"I hate to see it," said Cincinnati attorney Hank Menninger. "I'm a traditionalist. All the teams should be in Florida.

"My understanding is the Goodyear package just blew this away. It was just a matter of whether Sarasota would do the little things it took to keep them here, and apparently they didn't want to do it."

Cincinnati's proposed deal in Goodyear, according to Calhoon, indeed is sweet. In Sarasota, the Reds agreed to kick in nearly $10 million toward the $41 million renovation.

But in Goodyear, they would be required to pay an annual rental fee of $150,000, while pocketing all event revenue streams.

"I'm still hopeful that the money piece of this is going to be difficult for Goodyear," Calhoon said. "If I were them, I'd do it.

"They're not going to have an opportunity like this to bring in another club, probably at the cost that they're looking at right now."

"Money talks, no matter what," said Dohn Wiley, a Reds fan from Wabash, Ind. "That's the sad thing."

Calhoon does not expect Cincinnati to use a Goodyear offer as leverage to pry a better deal from Sarasota.

But he wonders what a relocation would do to a Reds' fan base that has come to embrace Sarasota.

"I think the big question the Reds have to entertain," he said, "is perhaps some of the things you've been hearing from the fans down here: Is it worth it to go 2,000 to 3,000 miles away from their fan base and jeopardize the ability for their fans to see them?"

"Instead of driving one day," said Cincinnati resident Glen Wermuth, "it's going to be like 21/2 for us. But if we had to go to Arizona, yes, we would."

Ever the optimist, Calhoon now must face the real possibility of the Reds leaving Sarasota, taking with them an 84-year-old tradition.

"All the naysayers that were out there that wanted to see this thing fail," he said, "they may very well see it."

Source.

Reds move determined by March 13th

Mark this date in your calendar. Goodyear will have to have all it's financing in order by this date or the Reds can keep on looking for another spring training home.

The Reds are ready to sign on the dotted line. Will Goodyear have it together by then? We will find out soon.

My annual trip to spring training is just around the corner and I can't wait.