ReAL Estúpido

Cross-posted at The World, According to Me, my political blog.

ReAL Salt Lake of Sandy made their decision: Sandy.

I feel like the girl who thought she had been invited to the prom by the star quarterback, only to have the fourth-string punter show up on her doorstep.

They say that the location appeals to soccer moms. It's too bad I didn't see that many families at the games I attended. Most of the kids I saw were the ones who were on the field for pre-game activities.

Politics won the day. But that's annother story.

We've heard it all before: Location, Location, Location. Well, I'll give you three reasons why this location sucks:

1) Location by the freeway. RSLoS seems to play several Wednesday Night games. I've gone to Jodan Commons (the movie theater right accross the street from the new stadium) several times for a 7:00 show. Traffic sucked getting off the freeway, trying to turn right onto State, and getting into the parking lot. Now, imagine throwing a 20,000 seat stadium into the mix. Anyone who has driven near the Delta Center on event nights can tell you that it makes for a terrible combination. And unlike the Delta Center, which has many parking options to lessen traffic congestion, the Sandy Stadium will have one.

2) Location by TRAX. Sure, eventually, UTA will get a station built behind Jordan Commons or the Southtown Expo Center, but then it's almost a two-block walk from there to the stadium (or more depending on where on the lot they stick the thing). As evidenced by people pay double or triple for parking within a block of the Delta Center versus a block away, people won't take TRAX in huge numbers, further pushing the traffic problems.

3) Ethnicities. I don't want to sound like a racist, but most soccer fans in Utah are not white. So, we stucj our new soccer stadium in one of the whitest cities in the country. I'm sure the three Latino families in Sandy will enjoy easy access to the stadium.

-Bob

tags: tags: Real Salt Lake, Major League Soccer, Utah politics, Salt Lake County, Sports