DJ V Lawrence

You may be right. So then maybe some news is GOOD news.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headli...ro/6180023.html

Indeed, this is huge :-)

The proposal the commissioners sent the city late Monday states the money would have to be used to build the public amenities and infrastructure serving the stadium, rather than the physical structure itself, Garcia said. That might include the water and sewer lines for the stadium, or the parking lots and tree-lined plazas surrounding it.

Other conditions include guaranteeing that Texas Southern University will be allowed to play home games at the stadium and agreeing that 15 percent of the seats will never be sold for more than than the average price of a movie ticket.

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If the city and the Dynamo agree to the terms of the deal, Lee or Garcia would submit it for approval by the entire Commissioners Court as early as Jan. 13, Garcia said.

White spokesman Frank Michel said the offer is a "good, positive step."

"But it's just one of a number of steps that will have to happen before any final deal is done," he added.

This is by far the biggest trade in both Houston Dynamo and TFC's history. There's no question that TFC will be a threat next year. As for the Dynamo, they'll still be a threat, but they'll be faster on defense now.

Looking forward to seeing what other acquisitions the Dynamo make especially with all that allocation money.

So really we'll know by mid-December? Does anyone work past the 20th?

Hopefully, we'll know on December 9th.

One thing I do know as well is the fact that a new light rail is in the plans for the area (stadium or not). Also, the Minute Maid parking lot on the Dynamo stadium side would be used for Dynamo parking.

Here's an article on the press conference from Dynamo Planet

Also, here's some pics from the conference:

And here's a few of the proposed stadium area:

We bought a house at the beginning of the year right next to the proposed stadium site. We weren't given any indication about the stadium going in when we bought and did a search but didn't know that would be something to look for in the surrounding area. Our complex and a few others are not thrilled that they're building there - where are fans going to park? This stadium site is poorly planned!

But for those of you who are curious - they've posted TCEQ permit signs that read 'proposed dynamo stadium' and will be tearing down two warehouses soon.

Our small neighborhood does not want this stadium there!

Welcome to HAIF. I actually have quite a few friends that either live in that area, and others that own nightclubs or property there. The people I know there are quite supportive of a stadium in the area because they expect property value to go up, as well as expect road, infrastructure, and other development spurts in the immediate area. That being said, there are both positive and negative opinions on the issue from residents in the area.

I am not against the stadium. I am just concerned on how they are going to plan it out considering it is as close as it is to home complexes. It is parking I'm curious about. That area is overflow parking for the Astros during their games. If you know of a source to find details on what they're building it would be greatly appreciated

There's nothing official yet because talks are still ongoing. That being said, I do believe the current plans include turning the Astros parking lot on the Dynamo-Stadium side of the freeway into the Dynamo parking lot. I also believe that the rail plans in the area would have the stadium in consideration, so not all fans would have to directly park in the area on game day. My guess is that shortly after the stadium deal were announced, they'd release the renderings and the City would talk to residents about logistics and parking (at least that's from what I understood from some past news reports).

It was mentioned during he last Dynamo broadcast that the new goal is for the stadium deal to be finalized by the end of the year. Oscar De La Hoya also mentioned the same thing as well when he was asked about it shortly before the hurricane.

I do think the deal will get done, but god forbid the Dynamo win another MLS Cup title and the deal still isn't finalized by late November . Last year, the championship party at City Hall turned into a few thousand Houstonians chanting for a new stadium. Seeing how quickly the city's mostly back to business and how much the fan base has solidified even more this past year, I'm sure the party this year will see a few thousand more

Oliver Luck's DynamoPlanet interview

We had a couple questions on the possible stadium Downtown. Should the stadium deal go through, what are some of the developments you see happening in that area of Houston, and how much of an impact would the stadium have on local business in the immediate area?

The EaDo (East Downtown) area of Houston is poised to grow very quickly. The Metro rail lines will contribute to this as well as the new stadium. My sense is that the EaDo area will experience a real boom similar to what has happened to Midtown. I think that our impact will be very similar to the impact created by both Minute Maid Park and Toyota Center.

Dynamo Stadium Update:

Mayor White like to request Harris County to invest $10 Million for the new stadium

Also, expect to see a report on KHOU tonight. It looks like the $10 Million could be the final deal needed to be made for the Dynamo to get their new home downtown. Hopefully, by the end of next month we'll hear an announcement and see renderings.

Does any one know which side is holding it up? If I was the dynamo then I would tell the city of Houston no stadium no team. Houston keeps growing and a huge chunck of the population really like watching them. I am starting to think the city does not care for this team or their new stadium and it wont get built, or maybe we get more info for real in two more weeks.

An announcement is expected by the end of September (the end of summer), and according to the news, there's only one or two major issue left on the table until the deal is finalized. Though that hasn't been made public yet, more than likely the hold-up is deciding who will finance what for the stadium and how much. Both sides sound dedicated to trying to get the deal done though.

My suggestion is to not expect any announcements this month. Expect it to happen in September.

AEG's Tim Leiweke and Mayor White had a 1-2 hour meeting on the day of the soccer complex opening for stadium negotiations:

Dynamo exec says he's optimistic about stadium

DynamoPlanet.com mention on stadium talks

White also met with Leiweke for more than an hour as both sides work toward a stadium deal.

"We had a good meeting," Leiweke said. "Today was significant because I think we're down to one or two issues

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5785786.html

Entrepreneurs seeking to reinvent the Astrodome as an upscale convention hotel have reached a proposed lease agreement with the Harris County Sports and Convention Corp., county officials said today.

But before the deal can become a reality, the sports corporation will enter into what are expected to be thorny negotiations with the Houston Texans and the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo over whether the convention hotel would violate their rights.

"We expect that when the rodeo gets this, they will have questions, and there will be negotiating and compromising," said County Attorney Mike Stafford.

The proposed lease was expected months ago, but it took the sports corporation longer than expected to work out details because the county attorney's office has been reviewing it carefully, Stafford said.

"We were making sure that (Reliant Park's primary) tenants' rights were protected or observed," he said.

The Texans and the rodeo have opposed the 1,300-room, $450 million Dome convention hotel, saying it would hurt their operations and siphon off revenue.

Commissioners Court will have final whether the convention hotel goes forward.

In other words, it looks like talks are ongoing. Slow, but ongoing.

I agree that there's nothing wrong with football in soccer stadiums, especially when it means more revenue into the stadium. The only issue would be if the soccer field were covered in gridiron lines on game-day after so much money were spent on making it soccer-specific. I doubt that's going to happen in Houston though because Dynamo would be the majority owners of the stadium and would probably get first dibs on scheduling and groundskeeping.

According to Fox, TSU has moved even closer to a deal with the City and Dynamo within the past 48 hours:

TSU Moves Closer To Joining Dynamo Stadium Effort

"I had a meeting (Monday) with the City of Houston to discuss the opportunities for Texas Southern to be a part of the Houston Dynamo stadium," McClelland said.

"The meetings went well. I do need to have a follow-up meeting with (team president) Oliver Luck and the Houston Dynamo. I think things are on track. They are moving forward. I think the opportunities are great for Texas Southern University."

McClelland believes what the city and the Dynamo are offering is well within the school's reach.

"In Texas Southern's case, we will pay a portion of the stadium and have rights to be able to utilize it," McClelland said. "We are still trying to work out those dollar amounts. I don't have a clear cut amount yet but I can say, from all indications, it's within reason of something that we will be able to afford."

McClelland told FOX the city and the Dynamo both want his school involved.

"The city is basically with the Houston Dynamo and they are trying to bring Texas Southern in," McClelland said. "From my understanding it will be a shared facility, the Houston Dynamo and Texas Southern athletics."

I think if things work out in the next few days, financing may no longer be a question. The question then would be how they'd coordinate the games and events in the stadium to where there aren't any football lines on the soccer pitch during any soccer events. That would probably be taken care of by a strong grounds-crew I assume.

Take a look at minor league hockey and baseball and you will see salaries that exceed those of the MLS. WNBA, arena football and a few other minor leagues are in the salary vicinity of a lot of MLS. It is pretty factual. I think the three big sports have player's salaries that exceed an entire team in the MLS's salary cap of 2.4 million.

So yes....minor league soccer

If salary is what you base what makes a league major or minor league, then how many minor leagues do you know have any players with a salary of over $1 Million a year?

Tomorrow is the Dynamo's "drop dead" date for stadium negotations with the city and its a little too quiet on the news front.

Has ANYONE heard any news at all?

http://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com...rticleid=58570

Actually, yes:)

Icon Venue Group, the developer in charge of the project, issued a proposal March 24 requiring a quick turnaround time. Responses are due today, with finalists to be interviewed April 4 in Denver, site of Icon

There's an article today from the Chronicle that includes the input of multiple residents in that area:

"I'm OK with our tax dollars being used for it," said Greg Kusiak, general manager of Lucky's Pub on St. Emanuel, one block from the proposed site. "I think stadiums bring people and money, and we're one step closer to the Olympics."

Raul Casarez is building a nine-unit townhouse complex on Hutchins and McKinney. Two of the three-bedroom units already have sold for $350,000.

"I'm very excited," Casarez said. "Within a few years this is going to be better than Midtown."

One thriving business that would be displaced by the land purchase is JANCO Food Services, which supplies food and paper goods to restaurants.

"We've been here 10 years, and it's going to be difficult for us to move," said P. Alex Mousoudakis, one of three brothers who runs the business. "It's going to be expensive, too."

His brother said the city was making the right move.

"The Dynamo deserve it for what they did, winning two championships," Jimmy Mousoudakis said. "If they're going to clean it up and make it nicer to live around here, then I'm OK with tax money being used for it. But it's going to be a pain to move."

A stadium could create more noise and congestion for the nearby Lofts at the Ballpark rental complex, but residents did not seem concerned.

"I moved here because I want the social scene," said Crystal Poarch, 31. "It's always crowded here when the baseball games are going on and when there are conventions, so adding one more stadium to it is probably not going to even bother me."

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What they're reacting to is the possible plan the City may have for the area:

The city is in negotiations with the Houston Dynamo about constructing a stadium for the two-time national champions, but it is far from clear how much public money will be used. But an item on this week's City Council agenda offered a clue as to how the city plans to finance the purchase of the land.

The first item on the agenda for Wednesday is a public hearing on a plan to have a downtown special taxing district

Maybe I'm reading a little to much into this, but I think Shafer pretty much sums up the rodeo's feelings about the dome here. I for one will be boycotting the rodeo indefinately.

"As long as they do not violate the lease, we could care less about what they do with the dome," he said.

So here's a question: If they did come up with a plan for the Astrodome hotel that made profit for the County after all the money that's been lost so far, and the hotel committee came up with a plan to keep traffic and parking issues at a minimum (like, say, underground parking at the Reliant complex for hotel tenants, while Reliant Park attendees parked on the surface), would the Rodeo and Texans still oppose it?

Houston OKs purchase for Soccer Complex

Houston's City Council on Wednesday approved the purchase of over 80 acres of land near Texas Highway 288 and Almeda-Genoa for the development of an amateur sports complex -- the first of its kind in the history of the city.

The new complex will be of great benefit to Houston's amateur soccer community. It will not only provide 18 fields for local soccer organizations but will also afford the area the opportunity to host amateur tournaments of state, regional and national stature. Once completely developed, the complex is expected to attract well over 500,000 visitors per year.

"The entire Greater Houston soccer community congratulates Mayor Bill White and the City Council in taking this important first step in the creation of this complex. The development of this complex will serve as a motivation for tens of thousands of people to get fit and play soccer.

"Furthermore, the complex will generate a positive economic impact in the 288 corridor. Houston is now ready to attract some of the better national, regional, and state tournaments available," said Dynamo President Oliver Luck.

How big will the expected economic impact be?

"Events like these normally bring in about $8.5 million per year to the organizing city. Once built, this complex will allow us to compete with other entities in the country that normally organize important tournaments" said Ed Loucks, President of the South Texas Youth Soccer Association.

Houston currently has dozens of amateur soccer leagues. The development of this complex allows them to leave the fields they currently play in, many of them in very poor condition, to play in properly-maintained fields on a state-of-the-art facility.

"The Amateur Soccer Complex typifies the spirit of Houston -- opportunity. It provides adult male, female and coed soccer players with the opportunity to expand existing leagues and form new leagues. It will allow the adult soccer community to host championship competitions and attract international competitions to this unique, truly international city," said Pascal Piazza, President of Texas State Soccer Association South.

Mayor White has said before that he will "highly encourage the Dynamo to build a practice facility on that land and pay a fair rental rate." It's not been said in this article if that deal has gone through yet or not, so it's safe to assume that negotiations are still going on for that to happen. But it does look promising that a practice facility announcement will happen very soon.

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Another big story out of Philadelphia:

Philly/Chester has everything needed for a new stadium

It looks like Philly is about to become the next expansion city in MLS, and their new stadium in Chester will finally have a completion date. The question is if they'll start play next year or 2010.

Miami and St. Louis have also been in the news in the past two days with progress towards new stadiums, and looking to secure the 17th and 18th spots in MLS.

Someone shoot me and put me (and themselves) out of my misery.

note to self:

"You WILL get a flu shot next year."

<sniff>

That's jacked up, yo. I had the flu all week, too. Just gettin' over it. It's like a disease, man. It's an epidemic >

as i mentioned above, most people bring a set amount of money to the event. every $ spent at the hotel is a $ less spent at the rodeo or game.

and yes, i totally understand the flip side. we can debate trickle down economics all day but again, it is what it is.

as for the other items, ill gladly elaborate when i can.

edited to add: sweet, post #420. do i win a haif bong?

I don't understand how the trickle-down-economic effect would happen with Reliant Park if the hotel were there.

1) Most people that go to the Rodeo or to a Texans game are fans from the Houston area, so why would they want to spend any extra money sleeping in a hotel the night before unless they already have that money to spend?

2) The Rodeo and NFL football are not year-around events. The Texans play as much as 15 games at Reliant a year (if you include preseason and if they made the playoffs). The Rodeo is around three weeks long straight, so the chances are that most people traveling to Houston would probably be staying in the hotel in their complex, but they'd still be spending on Rodeo events because that's why they came in the first place. If anything, the hotel would probably help make the Rodeo even bigger than before.

And when events happen on non-football/rodeo days like concerts, international soccer, motorcross, etc., chances also are that the performers and athletes from those events, including the Texans opponents, would probably stay in that hotel as well. Why would they have spent any money on their own event in the first place?

I understand the greed-economic effect going on there, as in "they're making money, and we're not making money off of them, therefore it's not a good economic plan", but if you already spent money on a ticket, parking, and saved up for that $6 beer for your daughter Jamie Lynn, where would the hotel take away from that other than a stuffed belly at the beginning of the game that you probably would have had anyway from the tailgate parties in the parking lot? Chances are that if you ever watch your home team make a bad play, you're gonna wanna buy something that'll make you slur your words and forget everything that happened five minutes before. I know that because I've watched countless Texans games, and I still can't remember anything between 2002-2006...

the rodeo is pretty much running at maximum capacity (give or take) with the current facilities and events. why support something that will take money out of your pocket and add serious congestion.

Can you explain how the current concept of the Astrodome Hotel would take money out of the Rodeo or Texans' pocket?

Also, when I think of "serious congestion" at Reliant Park, I think of Reliant Park back when Astroworld was opened. To make things simpler, why not have the Dome developers pay for an underground parking garage strictly for those going to the hotel, while Texans and Rodeo spectators park on the surface lot directly above it? That wouldn't take up any parking spaces, and wouldn't effect the Rodeo carnival.

I haven't really been following this ... has Tejeda made a statement either denying, confirming, or keeping silent on the matter?

He doesn't have to. He's never actually been accused of ever "using" steroids or HGH; he's been accused of "purchasing" HGH from a teammate who's also on the Mitchell Report. I don't know if he's denied "purchasing" it yet, but he can make up any story that he wants to at this point and get away with it. Perhaps he bought HGH for his friend's birthday? Maybe he bought HGH to test it on Britney Spears to see if it would cause any damage to her hair? Perhaps he bought HGH because he thought it would save him 35% on his car insurance?

But the Mitchell Report doesn't state that someone actually injected Tejada like Clements is being accused of, and it doesn't name anyone that actually saw him use it, so he's basically a free man and the Astros have nothing but a little PR to worry about. That's about it. Unless Tejada were to do something dumb and confess that he's used before even though there's no one currently to attest to that...

So what do you think they'll do now?

What else can they do? They knew he was accused BEFORE the Mitchell Report came out, 'cause you wouldn't invest millions of dollars on a player without doing some research first, and Tejada possibly using questionable substances was all over the news a couple years ago when the subject first started to get looked into.

All they'll do at this point is downplay and ignore Tejada's past. Their goal will be to get Astros fans to forget about the Report since they have around 3-4 months to try to put out the HGH fire. To do that, they're still going probably going to make at least 2 more starter pitcher signings since they have their All-Star closer now. I'm pretty sure Mark Prior will be one of them,

The Astros have just traded Chris Burke and Chad Qualls to the Arizona Diamondbacks for pitcher Jose Valverde

Ahhhhhhhh! We're IDIOTS!

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5375472.html

What now? I guess just a slap on the wrist? Who's gonna want to cheer for him now? Does time help the forgiving process?

Tejada wasn't a surprise on the Mitchell report though. He was accused for being a steroid user for quite a few years now, so the Astros knew what they were getting, they knew the Mitchell report was coming up a few days after the trade, and the Orioles knew they wouldn't get that much for Tejada in a trade if they tried to trade him after the report. Neither team can lie and say they didn't see it coming.