Los Angeles, Carson not worth it

Carson and Los Angeles are in the running to have the great fortune of receiving a professional football team (along with Houston). Looking at the past failures of professional football in the L.A. area, why bother?

When last checked, the Los Angeles Rams left to become losers in St. Louis while the Los Angeles Raiders ran their pathetic team off to Oakland. Al Davis' power-obsessed and just plain crappy management disturbed Los Angeles city council members so much that they put in writing never to deal with Davis or the Raiders again.

So while football owners cautiously proceed in deciding which city will receive the National Football League's 30th team, does it really make sense to have another L.A. area football team, be it L.A. or Carson?

The owners, as always, have greedy visions of the almighty dollar in their eyes.

L.A.'s massive television market and possible (read: future) Super Bowl site are terribly enticing. The money would be tremendous.

While having the team in L.A. would probably be better as far as a Super Bowl site, Carson's offering of a possible $180 million state-of-the-art-facility and shopping mall would work.

Even campus students generally seem to be in favor of football in the Golden State - as long as the goal posts are firmly set in sun-drenched Los Angeles, not Carson.

"[Los Angeles is] known for football. It would start our own identity [as opposed to the Raiders from Oakland]," said Edwin Evangelista, sophomore nursing major.

"Carson's too little. Football is one of the biggest sports and [Los Angeles has] more money than Carson," said Kimberly Savage, senior marketing major.

If Los Angeles does become the lucky winner of a high-priced football team, however, they would play in a revamped Coliseum. The same Raider Coliseum that had most of the audience disguised as empty seats.

A new team would also have to start with the cream of the crap, meaning expansion. I really do not see fans clamoring to see a losing team. For instance, look at the Lakers. OK, now try to look at the Clippers. Why else would they put both teams in the soon-to-be-built Staples Center? The Clippers do not deserve their own uniforms, much less an arena.

The 90,000 people who comprise Carson do not deserve a team either.

To finance Carson's new stadium (and shopping mall) it will cost $180 million. This works out to about $3,000 for every adult resident, according to the Nov. 1 Los Angeles Times. So where exactly does this money come from?

According to the Times, $100 million of it comes from tax-increment financing.

Evidently, increment financing is when "state law lets redevelopment agencies capture appreciation of property-tax revenue in designated project areas. So counties and cities subvert the law to subsidize projects such as auto malls, outlet centers and big-box retailers, accumulating an astonishing $15 billion in public debt statewide," according to the Times.

Nice. Instead of public agencies helping with job employment or housing, now they help greedy football owners.

Anything is possible when it comes to L.A. area football, I guess.

Wes Woods is a journalism major at CSULB.