Pronounced with an "Umpty"

They've swept away the mess of empty Hennessy bottles and half-eaten crackers and licorice left by the owners in Philadelphia. Sadly, along with the departure of the owners comes the end of the media's intense interest on the plight of the Expos, DC, and Ryan. I was spoiled last week; there were newspaper articles every day, TV news reports, and even a report on Cold Pizza (I didn't watch it in spite of the presence of the reporter who tried to seduce Leon on Playmakers).

But I don't need no fancy-pants reporters to tell me what's going on! You can tell this by my authentic, gritty double negative. I'm checking in with the people, hearing the voice of the street. I don't know if either Duke Street or East-West Highway counts as the street, but they're streets nonetheless. I've got my finger on the pulse of DC, my stethoscope over the ribcage, and my glaucoma test pointed at the eyeball. You want to know what the people are talking about? Here it is: "JoeGibbsJoeGibbsJoeGibbsJoeGibbsJoeGibbsJoeGibbsJoeGibbs!"

Not everyone is talking about Joe Gibbs. No, I'm lying. Everyone is talking about Joe Gibbs, but some people are also talking about other things. Among them is Ralph Nader, the poor man's Ross Perot. Ralph is upset that the District is planning to spend a bunch of money to build a stadium for the Senators, as he details today in the Washington Times.

How did Mayor Tony Williams decide that D.C. government should get in the business of entertaining its citizens as opposed to educating them, and providing other essential public programs and services that benefit D.C. residents? Mr. Williams' plan for $383 million in public money to bankroll a stadium to lure a profit-motivated, monopoly entertainment corporation like Major League Baseball is corporate welfare run amok.

It goes on like this for a while; feel free to read it and let me know how it turns out. I only mention this because of this here idea: the more anti-ballpark types who come out of the woodwork, the better it looks for DC baseball. Ralph Nader wouldn't be bothering trying to end of the scourge public stadium financing if he thought it weren't going to be happen in his neck of the woods, and he's not the only one complaining. Plus I don't think he'll be any more successful in this endeavor than he was in trying to free us from the tyranny of the two-party system.

Another moderately good sign: the website of the Washington Baseball Club for months featured a Times article from May on its front page. Now, buoyed by the profile in the Post and the knowledge that the Loudoun Cabal is a national laughingstock, the Club is linking to all of the copious articles we've had in last week or so. Also, you can go there and vote for the team name. But if you don't vote Senators or Grays I call you names, so do the right thing.