It's been three years since commissioner Bud Selig set forth a committee to study what should be done about the Oakland Athletics and their stadium.
What you knew then is what you know now. The A's want to move to San Jose. The Giants are blocking that move. Nothing has changed. You're up to speed.
But Bud said this on the issue to some Associated Press editors on Thursday:
"We've had a lot of meetings, spent an enormous amount of time. I've just met with both clubs again and we'll continue along this process."
That says... almost nothing. Got anything to add, Commissioner?
"Time will tell. I'm always hopeful. I'm an optimist, and I really believe that every problem has a solution to it. The question is just finding the right one, and so far, I've been lucky on that score. And so I hope my string of luck will continue."
Lucky guy! But the A's aren't lucky. Commissioner, please tell us what you really think:
"The one given everybody believes is that Oakland needs a new stadium," Selig said. "The last time I was there, I probably shouldn't say this, but I'll say it anyway, it reminded me of County Stadium and Shea Stadium, and that's not a compliment, in either case. ...
"You can't ask people to compete if they have a stadium that doesn't produce any kind of revenue to give them a chance to compete. So that's a given."
Now we're getting somewhere, maybe. Craig Calcaterra has an idea:
But hey, if I’m running the A’s I take Bud’s suggestion and solve this problem myself. I purchase the land in San Jose and start building a stadium and dare Selig, the Giants and whoever else wants to do so to sue me to stop it. I bet then we’d see how quickly they move when forced to, as opposed to sitting around and waiting for their problems to go away.
Well, that would be interesting, anyway. Why not? At least it would move this process somewhere; it's been at a standstill for three years.