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Geregistreerd op: 21 Mrt 2019
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 Geplaatst: 20-04-2019 04:35:55 Onderwerp: GLENDALE, Ariz. [url=http://www.pittsburghpiratesprostore.us |
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| GLENDALE, Ariz. Bill Mazeroski Jersey . - The entire world will be watching Glendale on Sunday as it hosts the Super Bowl and the legions of fans who are shelling out big bucks to see the big game.What may be not visible amid all the hoopla is a sobering reality about the Super Bowl host city: Glendale is suffering deep financial issues over its troubled effort to become a sports destination.Glendale bet big on professional sports in the last 15 years, spending millions of dollars on a hockey arena for the Arizona Coyotes and investing heavily in a spring training ballpark for the Chicago White Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers. Then the economy tanked, and the hockey team went through bankruptcy, with several different owners in recent years.The city has found stronger financial footing since then and its bond rating has improved markedly, but not without having to raise taxes, trim 25 per cent of the municipal workforce, cut back on paving projects, and reduce hours at municipal swimming pools and libraries. The 9.2 per cent sales tax that shoppers and diners pay in Glendale is among the highest in the state.To fiscal conservatives, Glendale serves as a cautionary tale for suburban cities across the United States that want to throw public money at professional sports projects.Overall, its a bad move for cities, said Kurt Altman, general counsel for the Arizona-based Goldwater Institute, which fought Glendale over its enticements to the hockey team. As much as they say its going to make the city a destination, it just doesnt.Glendale is a city of about 250,000 people in the northwest part of the Phoenix metro area. The location where the Arizona Cardinals stadium and the Arizona Coyotes arena were built had been a dusty farm area. The agricultural influence is visible to people driving to games when they pass tractors and farm equipment in nearby fields.As the Coyotes and Cardinals sought new facilities in the early 2000s and efforts failed to build them in other parts of the Phoenix area, Glendale stepped in. The city helped pay for the Coyotes arena with $167 million in bonds in 2003, and as the hockey teams finances began to fade during the recession, Glendale went all-in to keep the team in Arizona. The city dished out $50 million earlier this decade to keep the team and continues to make annual payments toward the arena, but the money it is getting in return has not met expectations.The football stadium was built in 2006, but Glendale was not on the hook for the costs of the $450 million retractable-roof facility. It was funded primarily with new taxes on car rentals and hotels in the Phoenix area, but that financing hit a snag last year when a judge ruled that the car rental tax was unconstitutional, leaving a major funding source for the Super Bowl venue in jeopardy. The issue is still being argued in the courts.Glendale is far from alone. Cities and states nationwide have long struggled with how much public money to spend on stadium projects. The effort to build a new stadium for the Minnesota Vikings became embroiled in controversy over a financial commitment by the state that opponents said was excessive. The St. Louis Rams are at the centre of a debate over whether to spend public money on a new stadium. Topeka, Kansas, is immersed in a fight over a motorsports track that has drawn comparisons to hockey in Glendale.As he navigates the financial situation, Glendale Mayor Jerry Weiers returns to a maxim he has repeated many times in his life: Im not living in the past. Im just paying for it.In the case of the Super Bowl, he believes the city is paying dearly. He said Glendale will actually lose a couple million dollars by hosting the event. Its spending huge amounts of money on overtime and police and public safety costs for the Super Bowl but not getting much back.Super Bowl visitors are mostly staying in Phoenix and Scottsdale and only showing up in Glendale on game day, meaning the city wont see much of a boost in tax revenue. And the city was hoping the state would reimburse Glendale for its police overtime costs, but lawmakers have scoffed at the idea.Weiers said it pains him that the city had to cut services and lay off workers, but the moves were necessary to ensure financial solvency. He said the outlook has improved in the last year, a far cry from a couple years ago when Glendale was in jeopardy of joining the likes of Detroit in the category of municipal bankruptcies.I have to believe that if 1 is perfect as things could be and 10 was bankruptcy, Id say we were a strong 8, Weiers said. We never had to go there, and I strongly believe we wont have to go there.___Follow Josh Hoffner at http://twitter.com/JoshHoffner. Dave Parker Jersey .Y. -- Cory Schneider has to make the most of his opportunities to guard the New Jersey Devils net to earn more playing time. Pittsburgh Pirates Jerseys . -- John Fox will coach the Denver Broncos from the sideline and not the booth upon his return Sunday five weeks after heart surgery. http://www.pittsburghpiratesprostore.us/Starling-Marte-pirates-jersey/ . According to a police report, Douglas is accused of grabbing his girlfriend by the neck and slamming her against the wall several times while he carried her from the elevator to their Hartford hotel room early Sunday morning.(SportsNetwork.com) - If the Arizona Cardinals plan on getting involved in the NFC West race, its imperative they hold serve at University of Phoenix Stadium when the division-leading Seattle Seahawks arrive for "Thursday Night Football." The rough and tumble West could very well be the NFLs toughest division and is currently the leagues only one in which all four teams are at or above .500. This upcoming stretch could tell the tale of the Cardinals season. After playing four of their first six on the road, Arizona gets to spend the next month in the desert (three home games and a bye). The Cards, however, took a step back last week, dropping a 32-20 decision to rival San Francisco in the Bay Area when the 49ers converted four turnovers into 16 points. Arizona quarterback Carson Palmer threw for 298 yards and two touchdowns -- a 75-yard hookup with Larry Fitzgerald and a 10-yard pass to Michael Floyd -- but threw two interceptions that led to field goals for San Francisco. Andre Ellington added a 15-yard touchdown run in the loss. "It was tough, man," Cardinals star linebacker Daryl Washington said. "Once you get your back to the wall, you have to toughen it out. I thought we lost our energy that fourth quarter to end the game." In a scary moment Cardinals defensive end Calais Campbell was carted off the field late in the fourth quarter after going head-first into a pile at the end of a run by the 49ers Frank Gore but was able to move all his extremities. The 6-foot-8, 300-pounder, who has 31 sacks in six season for the Cardinals, was taken to Stanford hospital where he underwent a CT scan and MRI as a precautionary measure and things came back clean. So much so that Campbell was back at the Cardinals facility on Monday morning and was able to take part in team meetings. His status for this game is uncertain, however, especially with the quick turnaround. Seattle, meanwhile, is coming off a hard-fought 20-13 decision over the visiting Tennessee Titans in Week 6. Marshawn Lynch provided the majority of the Seahawks points in that one with a pair of rushing TDs. Lynch carried 21 times for 77 yards to help the Seahawks remain unbeaten at home in 11 tilts since Russell Wilson took over as the teams starting quarterback. "Its nice to learn while you are winning and I think thats where we are," Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said. "Thats what were hoping to continue. I dont know if well be able to reach the levels that we saw late last year where we were scoring points at a huge rate (including a 58-0 drubbing of Arizona on Dec. 9). That was an enormous run that we had." Wilson did not find the end zone against the Titans but carved up Tennessees defense for 257 yards on 23-of-31 passing and added 61 yards on the ground. Lynch also caught four passes for 78 yards. "It was a good win," Seattle wide receiver Sidney Rice said. "We worked hard, we believed and kept trying in the end we won." The Cardinals and Seahawks will be lining up for the 29th time with Arizona holding a slim 15-13 advantage in the series. Dating back to 2004, the Cardinals have won seven of thheir last nine home games against Seattle. Willie Stargell Jersey. The Cards and Seahawks have split the season series each of the last two seasons, with Arizona winning both in the desert, where they are 9-4 all-time against the Seahawks. WHAT TO WATCH FOR This weeks game features two of the NFLs premier cornerbacks in Arizonas Patrick Peterson and Seattles Richard Sherman. Both ball hawks are in their third NFL season and Petersons 10 INTs since 2012 are third in the NFL behind Sherman (11) and Chicagos Tim Jennings (12). Sherman may have the tougher task on paper because in 18 career games against the Seahawks, Fitzgerald has 107 receptions for 1,436 yards -- his most against any opponent -- and 10 TDs. Fitzgerald has a sore hamstring, though, and the short week wont help the All-Pro. "It gets a little better and then he plays on it and it gets worse," Cards coach Bruce Arians said when talking about Fitzgeralds health. "So hopefully we can continue to nurse it into the small open week and get it better." Despite possessing far more experience Palmer is more likely to play free and loose with the football than Wilson, who generally stays away from tight windows because he understands the Seahawks are a run-first team and everything plays off his own ability in the read-option as well as Lynchs tendency to draw an extra defender in the box and set up play action. Wilsons ability as a dual-threat also creates many headaches for an opposing defense and dont be surprised if Arizona commits Washington as a spy. Facing the NFLs fifth-ranked defense last week the Cardinals posted a season- high 403 yards of offense, averaged a season-best 6.4 yards per play, threw for 298 yards -- their second-best total of the season -- and piled up a season-high 109 rushing yards. But, those kind of numbers mean little unless they start taking care of the football better and Palmer has thrown nine of his 11 interceptions in the last four games. The Seattle defense, meanwhile, ranks second in the NFL with 290.2 yards allowed per game and third by giving up just 15.7 points a contest. The front seven is a little banged-up, however, and both defensive end Chris Clemons (elbow) and linebacker Bobby Wagner (ankle) may not be able to go. OVERALL ANALYSIS Seattle has been mortal away from the Pacific Northwest this season, rallying late to beat Carolina and Houston before stumbling in Indianapolis. Meanwhile, Arizona has the kind of defense that could make things difficult for the Seahawks running game and has the revenge factor after the ugly 58-0 setback in Seattle last season. "Theyre a brand new team to us," Carroll said referring to the new coach (Arians) and QB (Palmer). "There are things that look similar, but its not the same. All kinds of stuff has changed, so we have to look at them all over again. Its not like were just carrying it over, same ol same ol. Its not like that." The Cardinals come in here as the far more desperate team and have a history of handling Seattle in the desert, so that makes Arizona the prudent pick here ... if Palmer can play a somewhat clean game. And thats a big if. ' ' ' |
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