Don't cry for me, Salt Lake City: Real Salt Lake just shot itself in the foot by moving to Sandy

(by Jeremy Millsap dailyutahchronicle 10-25-05)

Well, it's official-our fair city lost the bid on the stadium for the soccer team that bears our name. The old Sandy mayor, Tom Dolan, now gets to move the mammoth stadium down into his neck of the woods.

So what if the $8 million Salt Lake City gave to Sandy to build a parking garage for the South Towne Expo Center goes to pay for the land on which the Sandy stadium will be built instead?

So what if we let Real Salt Lake use our football stadium? So what if RSL spent all season complaining that not enough people go to its stupid games, even though it lost 22 out of 32 this year?

So what if now, after all we did for RSL, it decides to stab us in the back and build the $75 million shopping, housing and soccer center in the place that will probably hurt Salt Lake commerce the most?

RSL has the nerve to skip town and head to Utah's suburban wasteland? Yes, but in the end, the team is destroying itself. It left an urban district with facilities, venues and easy commuter access for...well, 9400 South.

There is not much chance of the game catching on outside of Salt Lake City. The RSL management even acknowledges that the majority of its fan base is in the north end of the valley.

Had it been an actual football stadium that was going to be built, the farther south the better! They love that Americana stuff in suburban, any-town USA. Hey, if RSL officials let them bring in their hunting rifles, they might actually stand a chance of filling the 25,000-seat stadium.

But the fact remains: RSL is, unfortunately, a soccer team, which pretty much guarantees its demise in Sandy.

I was born and raised in Sandy, and I still love the place. But why does the Sandy City Council think this stadium is worth the $18 million financial strain on the city's taxpayers? My theory is that the city council bid for the stadium out of spite.

Tom Dolan's and his political allies' administration wants to do whatever it can to hurt Rocky Anderson's reputation-even if that means taking away something that we, in the north, genuinely enjoyed, just to make us feel bad. The behavior of taking a favorite toy from another child just because he or she has it is generally seen in infants and kindergarteners and is not usually expected of the mayor of a major city.

Sandy's economy is based upon residential districts and property values. How will a loud, noisy, violent stadium, complete with excessive drinking, help it?

If the stadium goes under-and I have a sneaking suspicion it will-no one will benefit. We are just going to lose out on a really cool opportunity to have something that we, as Utahns, can call our own.

Until then, try saying, "Go Real Sandy!" with a straight face.