I'm a baseball fan. I love baseball at every level, from t-ball to the World Series (Go Cards!). I was excited when the team formerly known as the Montreal Losers Expos made an outstanding showing their first year as the Washington Nationals.
All along, there's been speculation about where the Nats would call home. And now we know: "Landowners must yield to ballpark" (http://www.washtimes.com/national/20051006-120902-5838r.htm) -- DC officials.
Well pardon me for retracting my enthusiasm. Screw the Nationals.
To be fair, almost all professional sports teams have taken advantage of government power, except perhaps the Green Bay Packers; their 112,000 stockholders own the team, and Lambeau Field, and season tickets.
When Shreveport offered to let the New Orleans Saints play in the Independence Bowl without charge, I had to laugh. The Saints don't want to play just without rent; they want cash! The state of Louisiana has been paying the Saints millions (http://www.wwltv.com/sports/saints/stories/WWL060304Saintsnegotioations.226a3e7cb.html) per year to stay in New Orleans. The Saints have been wanting another market, and they'll probably be staying in San Antonio.
But since we have to fight new battles as they arise: boycott the Washington Nationals.
Kevin
That is one of the reasons it was good to be a Dodgers fan. O'Malley owned the stadium ..... he wasn't stealing from the taxpayers.