Want Metro to run during MLB Playoffs? Let the Students Pay for it.

Truth is usually stranger than fiction.  Today's exhibit?  American University has agreed to pay to keep the metro open late for the Nationals' playoff games this fall.  You can read all about in today's Washington Post.

That's right, a university (funded largely through tuition) is offering to pay an expense a corporate tycoon refuses to pay.  I'd say there's not only some entitlement in the air, but a whiff of desperation as well.

This isn't the first time the Nationals have refused to pay to keep metro open late.  It happened a couple of years ago when the team made the playoffs.  The company Living Social ended up picking up the tab.

To be fair, picking up the tab for extended metro hours during a major league sporting event usually isn't that costly.  In fact, all of the other major sports franchises in the city have agreements to pay the upfront costs.  Why?  Because metro agrees to refund the fee if ridership covers the expense, and it usually does.

So, given all that, why in the hell can't the Lerner family--the entitled tycoons at the center of today's truth is stranger than fiction drama--manage to cough up the cash?  It appears the Lerners, who didn't even pay for most of the stadium their team plays in, think the city should cover it.  Why?  Well, here's what the Nationals PR hack unitteam had to say by way of explanation:  "What matters is that our fans will be able to ride Metro to and from postseason games and not have to worry about missing a second of the action." 

Another interpretation is that what we have here is a classic case of a corporate welfare queen grown so fat and lazy that it's now looking for private largess to add to its government goodie bag.* 

FYI, you know you're in trouble when even the owner of Washington's football team agrees to cover expenses for his late night games.

What about AU's role?  Full disclosure--I teach at AU.  My initial reaction, when my husband read the headline to me this morning, was disbelief.  Why would AU--a university at the other end of town from the stadium--pay for that?  It's not like AU is a well known location for 'natitude.'  Sure, some of the students, staff, and profs like the team, but it isn't visibly noticeable in any way.  In fact, a lot of students are from other cities, and continue to root for their home teams when they come here.

Turns out, AU is a "higher education partner" with the Nationals.  According to the Washington Post article linked to above, the partnerhsip gives the university "high visibility inside the ballpark through signs, T-shirt giveaways and other promotional activities."  I wonder if my smiling face graces any of them? Sigh, a girl can dream. 

You could call this an innovative way to market a university.  Or, you could call it an own goal (sorry to mix my sport metaphors dear reader, but I simply could not resist).  None of the comments at the end of the article applauded AU for the move.  Most comments focused solely on the Nats (and none of them were good).  When AU did get a mention, the tone was blase at best (this is what all universities do) and scathing at worst.  At least two commentators saw a branding effort in backfire mode, as in AU just demoted itself to the amateur league where the community colleges** and for-profit universities play the advert game.   

We seem to have an advertising fail.  So, why don't we create a scholarship win instead?  Take the money and establish a scholarship for a local kid in the DMV who can't afford AU's tuition but wants to come here.  That's a positive way to build a brand in the city and region.          

* It is also possible that MLB is playing hardball, pushing the Lerner family to refuse to pay the fees so other teams in other cities won't have to agree to similar deals.  Even if this is the case, it doesn't make the Lerner's entitlement any better.  It just makes MLB look bad as well.  
** I wish community colleges did more advertising.  They are cheaper than for-profits and they have much higher graduation rates.  Check 'em out!

DC2024--A Rogue's Gallery of Supporters?

It is official--DC is under consideration to host the 2024 Summer Olympics.  There's even a webpage chronicling the effort. 

What a bad idea.  A bad idea on so many levels.  There will be multiple posts about this folly to come in the weeks ahead.  For now, let's just focus on who is supporting the bid.  If some of these 'civic-minded' folks have something to gain, it should give us pause.

When I looked at the DC2024 webpage 'boosting' the bid, one pattern was brick-through-the-window obvious.  Major league sports are behind the venture.  Specifically, Ted Leonis (who owns the Washington Capitals, the Vizards, and the Mystics), Mark D. Lerner (who owns the Nationals), and Paul Tagliabue (a former NFL commissioner).  The only major players missing are Dan Snyder and the DC United's Owners.  Given Snyder's level of toxicity, Tagliabue is most likely the NFL's stand in.  And, DC United is still focused on trying to get a stadium, meaning it doesn't (yet) have a dog in this fight.    

I know, at this point, some of you are unhappy with the direction this here tirade is going:

• "Paws off! I'm going to marry Ovi, and for that to happen, he needs to live here" 
• "Ladies Love Cool Mystics!" 
• "Natitude!" 
• "If George Will supports the Nats, then so do I!"  

Ok, just kidding on the last one.  Will's prolix (and tedious) fandom is reason enough to start rooting for, gasp, the Braves.  (I'd say the Orioles, but O's fans are far too loyal to have dropped their team when a newer stadium opened up closer to home--major props to them). 

But, I digress.  The role of Major Leagues sports give me a stop-me-in-my-tracks-can-I-get-off-this-train level of pause. 

Leonis and Lerner both have something to gain from having the Olympics in the city.  They respectively own and lease  the Verizon Center and National's Park.  And, though a successful Olympic bid would likely require building some new facilities, both venues are new enough to get some use (and as a result, to generate fees for their current lease holders).  The baseball stadium also has a view and looks great in photographs taken from the other side of the river.   

Although Leonis has been a fairly good corporate citizen, it would be hard to put Lerner in that category.  He's basically tried to shift the costs for his team onto the city since he first started negotiating for the stadium nearly 10 years ago.   

It started when he demanded the city pay for the full costs of his stadium.  Apparently, the owners of major league franchises are a lot like the former Governor and First Lady of Virginia--they think someone else should pick up the tab.  Since then, Lerner's been late on his rent to the city, and gotten fussy about paying the metro system to keep the system open for games that go late (even though the city will reimburse him if the ridership is high enough).

In my mind, these guys have too much vested interest in an Olympic bid to be viewed as reputable voices on behalf of the city or metro area.

Public investment should be for public, not private gain, and should be substantial rather than ephemeral.