Canzano strikes out in bike lane blame game
Posted by Jonathan Maus (Publisher/Editor) on September 7th, 2010 at 9:14 am
The Oregonian's John Canzano is sad that Portland's Triple A baseball team (the Beavers) played their final home game on Sunday; but instead of using his column to reminisce about innings past, he decided to take a few swings at bike lanes.
What do our bikeways have to do with baseball? Nothing. But that doesn't stop Canzano from blaming the inability of Portland to hold onto a professional baseball team, at least in part, to "those silly bike lanes."
Here's an excerpt from his column (emphasis mine):
"Guilty, too, is the visionless City Council... afraid to ask Portland to act like a major city.
Oh, we have an aerial tram, that ran four times ($57 million) the original budget. And we have those silly bike lanes and a $613 million Portland Bicycle Plan. But what Portland doesn't have after today is a Triple-A baseball team playing in a ballpark where you can bring your family. A piece of the infrastructure of a city just got ripped out.
I'll think about that every time I see the underused bike lanes and that blasted empty tram running overhead. And you should never forget the names of the politicians who were on watch the next time you go to cast a vote...
What kind of city does Portland want to be?"
What makes this so surprising is that Canzano isn't just another columnist, he's consistently named one of the best sportswriters in America.
Perhaps Canzano simply doesn't realize that tens of thousands of Portlanders rely on bike lanes every day (and many people take them to Beavers games!), or that, unlike baseball, providing safe and efficient non-motorized transportation infrastructure is an essential service our City is obligated to provide.
Unfortunately, Canzano is using bike infrastructure as a scapegoat when he's really just upset at Mayor Sam Adams. This is a common occurrence in Portland. Here's how it works:
Mayor Adams is closely tied to his "bike-friendly mayor" label and there are many people in this city who think he's nothing more than a pawn of the Bicycle Transportation Alliance and "a vocal pocket of elites" -- both of which are so untrue it's laughable. So, whenever someone gets upset at the Mayor's policies, they look around and find bicycles as a convenient and powerful whipping boy. Journalists have an added incentive to take a few swipes at bicycling because they know it's a surefire way to whip up emotions (Canzano's article had 189 comments at last check).
It's also worth noting that Canzano joins a legacy of negative, biased, and sensationalized reporting about bicycles in The Oregonian. In July of 2008, when criticized about a string of sensationalized "bike vs. car" stories, The Oregonian's Associate Editor Rick Attig admitted, "Maybe we overplayed this story, but it was compelling to readers..."
Back in June, when NW Examiner publisher Allan Classen went on his "bicycle zealots" diatribe, I shared the following thoughts:
"This is just the latest example of the culture wars around biking that persist here in Portland... Biking is a convenient scapegoat, a frequently tossed political football, and a common source of sensationalized reporting."
The BTA's new leader Rob Sadowsky has published an "open letter" to Canzano. A big baseball fan himself, Sadowsky writes that, "It is not now and should never be a choice between investing in baseball or investing in bicycling." Sadowsky then invited Canzano on a bike ride to show him, "the great things that are going on, talk about the challenges, and lament the loss of baseball."
Read Canzano's piece here.
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Wow, this guy is really original and creative, does he actually get paid to come up with such amazing journalist.
RecommendedIn Canzano's world an activity that does not involve a ball and/or a stick is not a sport.
I too am sorry to see the Beavers go, but c'mon tying bike lane rants to their departure is a real stretch
RecommendedYes - I too was surprised at his discussion of bike lanes and plans in the article yesterday.
It came out of left field. I usually enjoy his articles but I found this one a bit short on content once the raw emotions were dealt with. It seemed more of a tantrum commonly found on FOX or other newspapers.
RecommendedThe cure? The Oregonian should can Canzano--and replace him with Bob Roll!
RecommendedUnderused bike lanes? Sounds like he'd like to see more of us out there riding...
RecommendedMr John Canzano - the reason why Portland has bike lanes instead of minor league baseball is because this is the kind of town where people actually prefer to participate in sports instead of sit on their collective rear ends and watch other people play sports. That being said, go Timbers!
RecommendedI KNEW you were going to go off on this Maus. Too funny! He mentions bikes TWICE in his article and he's out to get bikes?
John Canzano is a troll. Not hyperbole, not rhetoric. I seriously think the guy just sits around dreaming up ways to breed contention. It's virtually his trademark. I absolutely cannot stand the guy. So, I'm certainly not defending him.
People are perfectly justified in being a little nuts about this. It's a nutty direction about 5000 Californians are taking this ENTIRE city. He says as much. And about the time you get a mouth-breathing sports writer saying it, you owe it to yourself to listen. Or, write an entire article about two-dozen words from somebody else's work, instead, your choice I suppose.
RecommendedThe apparently unintended irony of Canzano's rant is that he skewers bike infrastructure as a silly, underutilized, expensive government funded boondoggle. These are essentially the same arguments that have been used against assisting the Beavers in any way, and have resulted in their leaving town for want of a place to play.
RecommendedCanzano is theatre. He is paid to rub our fur the wrong way, and he uses pretty hack, stale writing in doing so:
"More on that in a minute."
His job is to gloss-over, skew, ignore facts all while complaining and casting issues as black-and-white. As sports journalism goes, he is the poster-child for why a lot of people are turning to thoughtful, well-written, balanced sports blogs vs. Whiny and contrived sports columnists.
RecommendedAnother funny thing: you can call the tram a lot of things, but "empty" is not one of them. That thing is always packed.
RecommendedCanzano should put the Beaver's on the same playing field with the Portland Zoo or the Portland Symphony. Isn't this is a more appropriate league to play in?
RecommendedDon't like the slam against bike lanes in the sports section (Or anywhere) in the Oregonian?
Don't post here.
Call HERE:
The Oregonian's Newsroom: (503) 221-8100
RecommendedCome on guys, baseball is not really a sport. It hardly involves any cardiovascular effort, like golf.
Recommended9% of Portlanders commute on bikes. Do 9% of Portlanders go to Beavers games?
RecommendedWeren't there several bike to baseball nights at PGE Park this summer. If anything the bikeways and bike lanes increased the attendance of the baseball games. I don't even like baseball, but I can understand what a bummer it is to lose your local team. The way city funds are allocated, it is not like they are transferable from one item to another anyways.
RecommendedFunny, my girlfriend and I helped fill up some of the space in those 'underused' bike lanes on our way to the Beavers game yesterday. It's what we've done for ALL the games we've ever been to.
I wish I had a photo of all the racks & temporary barriers covered in bikes at the stadium yesterday...
RecommendedTo flip Canzano's analogy over, every time I think of the Beavers, I think of the under-utilized seats and stadium. Outside of "holiday" or special event games, they seemed lucky to get 1,500 - 2,000 people. I went to a game this summer, on a "Thirsty Thursday", with perfect evening weather, and it was laughable how empty the stadium was. If cheap beer and good summer weather can't draw crowds, I don't know what will.
I like baseball, but Portlanders are kidding themselves if they think the Beavers were so popular to be "worth saving". Not everything that is old is worth keeping of life support indefinitely, and it was very telling that no place else (Beaverton, Lents, etc) wanted to host the team. Paulson is a business guy, I'm sure he would have kept the team around if there was a way to actually make money from it.
RecommendedEmpty tram? I worked at OHSU for a period of time after the tram opened and rode it almost daily, with about 50 other people every single time. 100 people moving between OHSU campuses every 3-5 minutes. Troll is correct. It's all that the Oregonian has anymore, inflammatory statements and opinion pieces. It's not journalism, it is the local Enquirer.
Recommendedyes, another troll with a soap box at the O... *yawn*
I'd bet most bike haters are fans of violent sports so it's a good channel to use to get people riled up... why blame the real cause when bikes are so convenient...
RecommendedIf Canzano is one of the finest sportswriters the U.S. has to offer, wow. He writes in the faux-hokey, conversational style so popular among journalists these days, and he loves to manufacture controversy (i.e. Brandon Roy enjoying some alone time during the national anthem). Just *another* reason to boycott the daily zero.
RecommendedSounds like Canzano's upset about the Beavers, so he's lashing out at a bunch of successful transportation projects and a planning document that has no funding attached. Hmm..
RecommendedYour article also perfectly describes Vancouver, British Columbia as well when people want to attack our own bike friendly mayor.
RecommendedWe couldn't find any unused sewer money to build a ballpark?
I agree that blaming bike lanes is a dumb argument but get ready as bikes (and weak pro-bike Mayor Adams) will be blamed for EVERYTHING until the economy gets substantially better.
Schools cutting music? Blame bikes! Homeless people on streets? Blame bikes! Lack of jobs? Blame bikes! Biz moving to other places? Blame bikes! State budget shortfalls and cuts? Blame bikes! Crime rates up and not enough cops? Blame bikes!
Bikes are an easy scapegoat and still a niche political bloc. No elected official seems brave enough to step up and say, "You're wrong!". Get used to it.
RecommendedNever let the facts get in the way of your bias and anger, right Canzano? What a joke. This guy calls himself a reporter?
RecommendedThe Oregonian? Do people still read that rag?
Recommendedempty tram, empty bike lanes, empty Beaver games...and empty sportswriting.
RecommendedDaily Zero? Brilliant!!!
RecommendedSomeone might have already touched on this but I've read Canzano's articles a total of maybe three or four times. From that limited experience, it seems to me that only things he values in life are the big name sports (baseball, football, and basketball) and clinging to those big name sports like a poser armchair quarterback wannabe. In the process, he has said some pretty bad things about Portland, although I'll admit that I don't like our mayor either.
The solution is simple. Gentle readers, if you don't like him, then ignore him. Mr. Canzano, if you're frustrated with the sports scene in PDX, then move. I'd rather ride the neighborhood bike lanes to the local ladies' roller derby, which is seriously quite a show, than help make rich Merritt Paulson even richer.
RecommendedWhat a lame argument. You don't hear people clamoring to get rid of any street that is not constantly loaded with cars, but the MAX, tram, and bike lanes are criticized by a certain sort if they are ever anything less than full to the brim at all times.
RecommendedI read the Canzano piece. In a 735 word piece, he uses the word 'bike', exactly twice. At most, it's a secondary reference. The city and its people need bike lanes more than they need pro baseball parks and pro soccer stadiums.
It's the leadership and vision of officials with the city that Canzano particularly takes issue with. Like a lot of people, he's probably right about that. Messing around with guys like Merrit Paulson (If something should happen soccer doesn't make enough money, I hope the city really can stay free of the debt Paulson is responsible for.)?
Allowing the Trailblazers to call the shots and create the building that is the Rose Garden Arena with its adjoining strip mall?
RecommendedCanzano writes dreck like this in order to drive up the hit count and comment count on his articles. Linking to what he writes is giving him exactly what he wants. If you send enough traffic his way he'll almost assuredly write another article about it.
On the other hand, I imagine your hit count goes up when you link to stuff like this, so I guess you don't necessarily mind of Canzano pops off like this every now and again.
Recommendedwhy couldn't they have just installed a giant escalator instead?
RecommendedJM:
All this troll bashing is fun and what not but you need to get a poll going like Consumerist did to select "The Worst Company in America" only we get to vot on Portland's most revolting anti-cycling activist/troll.
See http://consumerist.com/2010/04/congratulations-comcast-youre-the-worst-company-in-america.html
When this person or group is selected they can get a trophy of a SUV parked on top of several cyclist in anguish, sure to warm their sociopathic heart.
RecommendedSeems like he's thinking that if he's losing out, someone else must be winning. And that someone else must be winning because he's losing out. And he's gotta hate them for it. Possibly a misapplication of the philosophy of sport to the larger world.
#27 chelsea:
That's a really good point.
RecommendedI am sure he will milk this negative feed back on his radio show.
RecommendedLet Merritt Paulson pay for his own damn stadiums.
RecommendedEsther (#13): The average attendance of the Beaver's games is slightly under 5,000 a game. Less than one percent of the city's poulation.
cyclist (#30): Spot on! The only reason Canzano memtioned bike (2x) in his article was to increase his comment count and hope that this site would make reference to it. Someone from the Oregonian blaming bicycles is old news. I think we would be better to simply ignore it when it is as innocuous as Canzano's article is.
Recommended"What kind of city does Portland want to be?"
My answer: A place of active- not passive- entertainment where healthier people are out having fun exercising their bodies, not just watching professional athletes.
RecommendedWow @ 34
He can echo the rant in that empty room
RecommendedIt is exactly this kind of anti bike reporting that caused our family to cancel home delivery of the Oregonian after 35 years.
RecommendedBlame the sale on everything you can think of except the reason.....there wasn't enough people wanting to attend games. If customers (fans)wanted minor league baseball that bad they would have bought tickets.
RecommendedSure, it was the bike lanes.....right. It had nothing to due with the fact that baseball is boring, and Portlanders could care less.
Hello,
Am I wrong in thinking that Merrit Paulson made a business decision to bring soccer to portland and baseball was the sacrifice???? Why is Sam Adams being blamed when ultimately it is Paulsen that decided to switch to soccer. Sure he may say he did all he could to move the baseball team but if he really wanted to keep baseball he would have kept it and worked to find a place to build a soccer stadium. He made the choice and he is probably not going to lose $$$ on it but he can push the blame to our City leaders that is for sure!
RecommendedNice that you all fell for this guys comment.
RecommendedThe comments about him being a troll are spot on and the fact that he works at the worst newspaper in the country helps him gain his status as just an a-hole.
His radio show is hilarious, just a little squeaky troll trying as hard as he can to get an audience to respond.
The same with his newspaper column. Who reads the "o" except senior citizens.
His baseball commentary was as stupid as his bike comment. Both designed to get an arousal.
I would bet he never went to the games.
Canzano is just one of many, many people frustrated with portlands frivolous spending habits. We don't have the money to operate as we should- yet we have money for pet projects, including bike stuff
Recommendedjim #42:
Canzano is arguing for public spending to build a baseball stadium, a stadium which would cost more than the total outlay for bike infrastructure spending in Portland in the last 20 years. Canzano's not frustrated with frivolous spending, he's frustrated that the city didn't spend its money on HIS pet project instead of somebody else's.
RecommendedAs Stadiums Vanish, Their Debt Lives On
What a timely article, as I said, the public shouldn't pay for stadiums for rich guys like Paulson, don't let the door hit you on the ass on the way out Merritt...
RecommendedOut of curiousity I tuned to Canzano's radio program on the way home tonight. (Had to drive-dental appointment) He was beating his drum blaming city council and the mayor in particular. After spending a good portion of time calling Sam Adams out, the mayor calls the show.
OUCH! Canzano hit him hard. Canzano kept bringing up a plan to build a park in place of Memorial Coliseum which Adams and the council all but approved before Adams decided the MC was an architectural treasure. Adams kept insisting there was a $30 million dollar gap that kept the plan from happening. Canzano then assails him with, "But you can find twice that for an empty tram! Twenty times that for bicycle plan! Untold sums for dubious mass transit and urban renewal."
The mayor stuck to his talking points but made the mistake of getting personal. He accused Canzano of not doing any research and that he should stick to "what your show is about".
Then it got ugly. Really ugly.
Canzano called him an "empty suit" and an "ineffective leader with no clout" due to scandal. He kept pressing the tram and the bike plan. Sam got angrier. Canzano brought up Beau Breedlove and flat out said, "You lied to the voters to get elected! You lost any clout you had! That's why you couldn't get a stadium deal done!" and it went on from there. Adams kept regurgitating his story about the money gap and if he tore down MC then the Winterhawks had nowhere to play, etc. Canzano then launched into a diatribe about, "Our schools are crappy and underfunded. Elementary kids have no P.E.. The tram for doctors ran four times over budget. You want $613 million bucks worth of bike lanes. You can find money for stuff that doesn't help the majority of Portlanders."
Canzano then continued baiting him with, "You lied! You can't get re-elected. You might have been thinking about getting to Salem but you've got no chance now!".
Wow! First off, that's the first time I have ever heard any local media personality go on the attack with such force against the mayor. I was stunned. That a sports guy had more cojones than "real" journalists. On that level, though I disagree with his POV, I was impressed.
Secondly, Adams blew it big time. He should have never called the show to begin with. But in doing so, Adams came off looking weak, whiny, and every bit the mealy mouthed politician Canzano painted him as. For someone who has made a career of maximizing his media exposure, he was completely ill prepared to defend himself against the ambush. I think he expected some softball questions about the topic and an invitation to say, "Go Blazers!".
Like most of you, I think Canzano is just using bikes as a scapegoat but I think the mayor's performance tonight is a huge set back for the bike cause. He couldn't articulate his case. He got upset and personal with the host. Yes, I know that most sports talk listeners are regarded as meatheads by many of you but the anti-bike movement just gained a new hero with broader appeal than a politically focused talker like Lars Larson.
RecommendedI can't understand why people keep bringing up the 57 million figure when they talk about the Tram, OHSU ended up paying for 85% of that figure, the city was on the hook for 15% (about 8 million). People just keep hammering on that $57 million figure as if that's the amount the city paid to fund the Tram, it's not. I can't understand why the mayor couldn't articulate that.
RecommendedCanzano is a big cry baby. As the Mayor put it, Canzano doesn't know much about anything. He should stick to talking about games and leave the talk about the economy and "real world" issues to adults.
RecommendedBlame bike boxes too.
RecommendedSam Adams....OWNED.
Recommendedthe city did fund the 57 million +- with indirect contribution. they made it look like ohsu paid it
RecommendedPaying to go sit and watch a sport - any sport -seems a pretty antiquated model. Fascinating that people still do that. I have to think many Portlanders could not be less interested in professional sports of any kind.
The fact that some pro sports can't survive here is actually a good sign - shows that people have better things to do.
Recommendedthere's a new article up titled
Talk show host calls out mayor over losing baseball...
“I’m not anti-cycling, and I would hate for that to get muddled up in it,” Canzano said.
so it seems he got a lot of flak for his anti-cycling comment and now is just trying to corner Adams into something, but Adams just keeps say the guy can rant all he wants but his whining isn't going to bring the Beavers, or the $30 million required, back to Portland...
Canzano doesn't seem to understand that Portland doesn't want to be the city that he wants it to be... as others have commented, Portland has better things to do than sit and watch people try to be better than each other...
RecommendedAll the local TV outlets have picked up the story, 95.5 The Game is re-airing audio clips, and even MSNBC.com has this linked as "Local News" on their front page.
RecommendedI'm not anti-bike, I just go on the radio to say that bike lanes are silly, not used, and a waste of money.
I wish I had a nickel for every time I heard some yahoo say, "I'm not anti-bike, but [statement that obviously indicates disdain for cycling as transportation]."
I'd be rich.
The fact that Canzano is right about Adams is a shame, because it lends him credibility that he actually lacks.
Portlanders don't give a damn about AAA baseball. There is no reason to follow a team whose players change monthly. It is a developmental league, where team performance is sacrificed to get guys to the big leagues. That doesn't exactly lend itself to creating a loyal fan base.
And this is coming from a guy who loves a day at the ballpark. But you can always go see the Ducks, Beavers, or Pilots, where the players actually care about winning.
RecommendedDo we need a Sam Adams / John Canzano "beer summit" -- maybe Canzano's new wife, katu reporter Anna Canzano (formerly Anna Song) could play moderator?
In all seriousness, though, I guess that this is just one more symptom of the backlash against people who are gaining political power in our city. A formerly-marginalized group gets some support, and the coddled majority feels threatened. We who believe in non-motorized transportation just have to keep moving forward...
RecommendedBrad #46...thanks for your account of the show with Adams calling in. I never listen to radio talk, so I probably wouldn't have heard about the Adams and Canzano (almost sounds like Abbot and Costello) discussion otherwise.
I agree that Adams shouldn't have informally called up Canzano about the loss of the Beavers anymore than Beaverton Councilor Betty Bode should have appeared on Lars Larson's show in a discussion about the city funding a Mexican independence day celebration.
I've read Canzano from time to time in the O, but I wasn't aware that he was such a rhetorical flame fanning big mouth. At least so far, hasn't come up with something like 'Kill this Mayor', taking off on the big mouth bus driver's great idea that went bad.
Unfortunately though, the kind of issue discussion radio buzz heads like Canzano and Larson moderate, has little substance. They're not actually helping, with well thought out, viable suggestions and alternatives, to possibly solve the issues they talk about. The use they put their shows to (besides the simple priority of making money for the stations they work for), is histrionically ridiculing people they don't like.
RecommendedI don't what radio show you listened too but IMO Canzano came off like disrespectful a**. He would not let the mayor get in a word edge wise. And amazingly the commentary on the O is largely negative with even Adams haters attacking Canzano for his lack of ethics and human decency.
Recommendedi just listened to the interview.. and while I wish Adams would call Canzano out for trashing the "16 hundred 13 million bike plan" -- which is how Canzano kept referring to it -- I mostly felt like Canzano was just getting emotional because he's bummed that he doesn't have a Triple A baseball team to write and talk about.
I also wish Adams would have answered Canzano's question about whether or not he feels he still has the clout to get things done. there's obviously a lot of people in portland who are wondering about that and our city would be better off if Adams would just answer the question instead of ignoring it.
RecommendedThe real issue is that the stadium while under utilized with a resident baseball team will be even more under utilized with a soccer team in residence.
Remember we renovated this stadium for baseball, and the reason baseball is leaving is the greedy owner got city hall to cave in to another round of renovations to the stadium and demands for a new baseball stadium.
Whether baseball is there or not Adams and city council messed this one up.
RecommendedCanzano said: “But I think when you look at the (bigger) picture it just comes down to a simple question: what kind of city does Portland want to be?”
You already had your answer before this tirade even started Mr Canzano.
RecommendedI don't know anyone who is excited to have soccer at PGE Park. I know I will never go see a game, thats ok though.I understand the park was too big for AAA baseball and too small for major league. It is a good deal having Paulson spend a bunch of money on this thing.... I hope it works out ok for the city in the long run. I would have been more excited to see NFL come here, although that is just a pipe dream as there is no money for that....
RecommendedAdams was brave to go on the radio as he has a lot to answer for. Typical politician though dodges questions and issues. Not the same guy that was campaining to be mayor in the first place
I wish a staffer in the mayor's office had unplugged the mayor's phone before the call went through.
At least until the mayor had his talking points lined up, his rebuttals thought out, and his facts and ducks in a row.
Canzano probably thought it was a huge windfall for him when he heard the mayor was on the phone. And once it became clear the mayor was somewhat unprepared, I'm sure Canzano could hardly contain his glee.
Here's your clue, Canzano: Obviously, the people of Portland voted with their dollars about the baseball issue. If baseball was as beloved of this town as you make it sound, there would have been no question about keeping it.
Move on, Canzano. You should probably go attack racing at PIR, since you don't consider motorized racing a sport. Which it is, if you'd ever try it.
Recommended@Jim, #61: I'm excited about soccer, as is my whole family. We used to go watch the Timbers the first time around in the late 70s. We go watch the Timbers now, and my brother has season tickets.
So now you can't say that you don't know anyone who is excited to have soccer at PGE park.
Recommendedjim #51: Do you have any evidence to back that up? All the published articles I can find show that OHSU paid 85% of the construction costs of the tram, with the city picking up the other 15% (see this Mercury article or this Portland Tribune article). I've seen no evidence anywhere that suggests the city picked up the tab for the rest of the money, in fact when the city found out that OHSU fudged the original $15.5 million number, they threatened to pull the plug mid-project, which is when OHSU agreed to pick up 85% of the overall cost of the project.
It's fine if you don't agree with the 8.5 million the city paid out for the tram, but don't pretend that it was responsible for anywhere near the $57 million figure that is widely quoted.
RecommendedDoes the Tea Party movement use facts or do they utilize emotion and fear to feed their followers?
Canzano hit all the hot buttons (school funding, streetcars not many people use, the tram, bikes) and Adams couldn't mount a defense beyond his prepared talking points. Beau was brought up. Lying to voters was brought up. Adams danced around it and played right into Canzano's hands.
We better get a new champion at City Hall because, in my opinion, the local media just declared open season on Sam Adams after a sports talk guy kicked down the door.
RecommendedI agree with Brad in the sense that by not defending the bike plan or defending himself, it just gives confidence to people that don't like either of things to go after them more aggressively.
RecommendedHe's sounding more and more like that hack/crank/bike-hater Dwight Jaynes.
BTW, Canzano's column is receiving the media play he was hoping for, as I've listed below.
http://www.katu.com/news/local/102415964.html
Though it surely helps that his wife works for the station that broadcast this "story."
RecommendedWhat it truly all comes down to is this: People hate paying taxes.
People who don't ride bicycles see no reason for all these bike lanes.
People that don't have kids don't understand why they get taxed at the same rate as people that do.
Folks that don't use public transportation hate to see light rail.
And to be fair, many posters on this site (myself included) have lashed out on automobile funding we never or rarely use.
There are many other examples I could use. This is what something like the Tea Party thrives on. Bring up stuff that appears "wasteful" while ignoring all the things to them that are useful.
With all of my examples above, I could easily explain how irrational those thoughts are. But, people look at their pay stubs and see all these tax deductions, they will find a scapegoat for something.
Canzano is no different. He believes baseball is a viable option for Portland (or he is just trying to drum up controversy. I'll let you decide). However, he doesn't use the tram or bike lanes so they are an easy target.
The unfortunate thing that Canzano fails or refuses to recognize is that the people in this town have spoken on AAA baseball. Beaverton and the Lent's neighborhood both said no. Maybe Canzano is right in saying that Sam is just interested in getting re-elected and that is why the Memorial Coliseum didn't get torn down. Or maybe Sam is right in understanding that the people in Portland don't care too much about a minor league baseball team.
RecommendedTo me the most important point to be made about bike facilities is this: THEY BENEFIT DRIVERS!
In most cases, a bike on the road represents a car that ISN'T. Improving bike facilities actually reduces congestion by taking cars off the road. And it is generally more cost-effective to reduce congestion by adding bike facilities than by building new roads or adding car lanes.
Instead of resenting bike facilities, the general population should be thanking us. But since we're a small minority, instead we turn into the whipping boy. Same as it ever was.
RecommendedWow, GlowBoy, that is just crazy talk. Can you imagine anyone like Canzano actually thinking through important issues like these?
You know, instead of using emotion and fake facts to whip people into a frenzy.
Canzano is a great example of what is wrong with politics in America. He is a dullard who does not deserve the pulpit given to him. He is a disgrace to journalism. And he is the emblem of the absolute crap that comes from the Boregonian.
Ironically, he is guilty of the same "special interest" insult he throws at Adams for funding bicycle infrastructure. Who benefits if baseball stays in Portland? Only a small minority, not the least of which is the dumb sportswriter.
RecommendedMindful Cyclist,
Sure we said no to AAA baseball, but did we say yes to professional soccer?
City Hall caved to Paulson, then couldn't deliver on the stadium so he walked with his baseball team and left us soccer.
RecommendedMerrit Paulson tried to get Beaverton and Vancouver, WA to build a stadium for the Beavers and they both declined as well. Who does he blame for that? It's not as if either city invests a lot of money on bike lanes, aerial trams or the like.
The bottom line is that Adams understood public sentiment was against using urban renewal funds, spectator funds or other funds to build a AAA baseball stadium. So, he responded to what his constituency wanted.
Personally, I would have loved to have seen the MC torn down and replaced with a new cozy baseball stadium. I love baseball and will miss the Beavers (yes, I actually went to the games over the last several years).
But I can look at the big picture and understand why things turned out the way they did and realize it is silly to blame Adams for not committing public money to build a ballpark.
RecommendedYou people just don't get it do you? He's perfectly correct. Look at London with £m being spent on cyclng superhighways, public bike hire, safety campaigns. Look at Amsterdam and Copenhagen, spending millions on cycling facilities.
RecommendedAnd not one of them has a professional baseball team and stadium. Just goes to show
Canzano is an ass. One of the best sportswriters in America? Puh-leazzz.
Wasn't this the guy who went on a rant about what a bad move Andre Miller was? Right before Miller saved the Blazers' season from the toilet. Canzano is a loudmouthed hack, and little more.
He started off this piece with a point, but quickly decended into an shallow, meat-headed tirade. The journalism bar is awfullly low these days.
RecommendedTook a quick look at the comments on his article ( a mistake I know)I noticed that a lot of people seem to think that the city has already committed to paying the full amount for the 20 Year Bike Plan. And they are getting all worked up about it.
Recommended@#74, don't confuse sports writers with journalists, ever.
Recommendedcyclist-
RecommendedIt would be hard to dig up that info now. As I recall from the news stories back at that time, the city had alloted some money to ohsu at that same time frame that wasn't directed at the tram but another project, all at the time when there was a lot of tension over the rising price of the project and fear of it not being completed. The money would have helped alleviate some of the tension at ohsu. I don't remember anymore what the money went to, but it was fairly obvious that it was all being done because of the tram, and in the usual low key manor that befits Portland...
#72: "Sure we said no to AAA baseball, but did we say yes to professional soccer?"
I was dead set against bringing in an MLS team if it meant we had to renovate a stadium that could only be used for soccer games. I think that was the sentiment of many people in this town. So, no. We did not say yes to MLS.
"City Hall caved to Paulson, then couldn't deliver on the stadium so he walked with his baseball team and left us soccer."
That's fair to believe that City Hall caved into Paulson. I would agree with that. However, don't ignore the fact that the average Timbers attendance is over twice as much as the average Beavers attendance.
Recommended"... However, don't ignore the fact that the average Timbers attendance is over twice as much as the average Beavers attendance. ..." Mindful Cyclist #79
Can't remember the numbers, but I seem to recall reading that there are fewer soccer matches scheduled to be played than there were Beaver Games...about half. Maybe someone can provide more exact info.
The two sports...soccer and baseball, use dramatically different shaped fields. Natural vantage points for viewing each respective sport are also dramatically different. I suppose nothing's impossible, but in this situation, it would not work well to try and have one field serve a dual purpose.
Recommendedwsbob: The Beavers play 72 home games a year compared to 15 that the Timbers will play. So, in total numbers, the Beavers have more attendees.
As far as the two sports and two different fields: The Beavers and the current Timbers made it work. PGE also hosted PSU football as well as high school football. This is why I was against getting bringing in the MLS. I would rather have the option of all those instead of just one.
Recommendedre#37:
""What kind of city does Portland want to be?"
My answer: A place of active- not passive- entertainment where healthier people are out having fun exercising their bodies, not just watching professional athletes."
As long as it's not mountain biking in Forest Park, eh?
RecommendedI have no doubt that the Timbers will draw well since Portland does have an affinity for soccer. The sad thing is that MLS is financially underperforming with just two franchises, Seattle and Toronto FC, making a profit in 2009. My fear is that the city will put up big money to renovate, things will look great locally, and then the league will fold within a few years. We'll be left with an expensive stadium that can only be used for Portland State and high school football plus some summer concert events.
Portland could have had a fantastic 6000-7000 seat minor league ballpark where Memorial Coliseum now stands. If designed correctly (a "submerged bowl" below the existing Rose Quarter grade), an upper level could easily be added to accomodate MLB seating requirements. The Oakland A's and Tampa Bay Rays are two teams frustrated in their efforts to get new ballparks and could be had with the right inducements and a "ready to go in 12-18 months" big league park with already existing parking decks, mass transit, and easy access for bikes.
I agree with Canzano that the mayor and council blew it for their collective lack of vision.
Recommended"...MLB seating requirements. ..." Brad #83
About major league ball attendance, what I recall reading, is that what's required to allow those sports to turn a profit, is numbers in the area of 35,000-50,000. In addition to affording the cost of building the stadium or park, Portland would have to figure out how to handle those size of crowds traveling to and from the games.
Would having to handle such crowds be fulfilling Portland's wish to be what it wants to be (whatever it is people trying to phrase such an idea, have in mind)? Having to devise ways to handle huge numbers of people traveling to a single location for a specific time slot is where one of the true values of bike lanes...or bikes traveling together in great numbers, and welcomed to occupy main travel lanes...should become easier for people to appreciate.
Mindful Cyclist #81, thanks for coming up with those figures.
Recommendedmindful cyclist and wsbob. Working on a link. 21 Timbers games v. 76 BBall games. '08 was $342,000 to $140,000 in ticket sales, respectively. Plus, that's 76 times people come and maybe shop, or buy parking per year, as opposed to just 21.
Paulson wants the switch 'cause he can stick the city with the upgrade to MLS contractual standards, while getting to operate the venue approx. a third as much. Win win for him.
Sammy and the council went Soccer just to stick a sharp stick in the eyes of the area WASP males, and to reassert that we are now a weeny Ero-city. Period, end of story. Tearing down Old Town was similar gayvenge too. Who's surprised?
RecommendedDepending on payroll, revenue sharing, merchandising, TV and radio revenues, etc. a big league club generally needs about 23-28,000 average attendance for 81 regular season home games. Most weeknights would have crowds comparable to a Blazer game (about 17-18K) with bigger crowds on the weekends and when marquee opponents with large followings come to town (Yankees, Red Sox, Dodgers, etc.). In short, the transportation infrastructure already exists.
I think that Portland's leaders really need to embrace a "We CAN have it ALL!" mentality and work towards becoming a truly major city. We might not land a big league ball club but it serves the city to have a bigger vision of its future than just building on bioswales, bloggers,and bikes. I don't see our electeds daring to dream big and that is truly a shame.
Recommended"My fear is that the city will put up big money to renovate, things will look great locally, and then the league will fold within a few years."
BINGO!
As far as the transportation issue in the Rose Quarter area, I agree that the infrastructure is there. The question remains is how much will it be utilized. A pro baseball team will need to draw fans from places like Salem and SW Washington to make it work and their public transportation options are much more limited.
I have no doubt that baseball will be back evnetually. Some other guy with money will want it and will present an option that will work. It is a matter of time.
Recommended"ammy and the council went Soccer just to stick a sharp stick in the eyes of the area WASP males"
You say this like its a bad thing...
RecommendedLaurelwood BrewPub always seemed to be a very bike friendly type of Pub. They have supported many good bike causes and even support a racing team. I was very surprised to go in there Friday after work and see Canzano broadcasting live from their Sandy Blvd. location. Was I seeing things? Was tempted to turn around and walk out but I had biked there to meet my wife for Happy Hour dinner and a brew and she hadn't arrived yet. There are so many good brewpubs in PDX I don't believe I'll be going to Laurelwood on Friday afternoons any more. Maybe Laurelwood owners can get Canzona on bike ride around Portland.
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