Confirmed with Link: All-Purpose "Days of Our Meruelo" Talk

[Coyotedroppings]

I don't think he doesn't want the arena or is an enemy of the project.
What he is doing is what he should do for his city: Getting answers and saying what is possible and what not.
Nothing more, nothing less.
He just says that his city cannot give the water needed. That is only fair and valid.
And he asks about the influence on his local economy. Thats also valid.
But that does not mean that he is trying to stop this. We should not jump to that conclusion or antagonize the man for doing his job as mayor.

And in regards to water he is more than right. Its the desert and water is not that abundant. That also explains why he puts such focus on cutting down on water usage. Which to me is a good thing.

At the end the auction bid will include the answers to most of his questions and that should satisfy him. If it doesn't he will approach the group and ask more questions behind the scenes. He doesn't seem like the person who wants to do that in public, but more like a reasonable person. At least to me.

TLDR: Don't overthink this, the dude is just doing his work and asking questions regarding his town. And those will be answered by the bid.

Or, he could have done just a tad bito of research and discovered the water is not coming from Scottsdale. It's all economics and him trying to look good for his constituents.

 

[finkelsteinberg]

@hbk: Didn't the NHL say the escrow account was basically on track to be filled soon? Part of the reason the salary cap could go up?

I do think the SLC owner, Marty Walsh, Servalli and Gambo are somehow linked. The timing of the reporting seems incredibly suspect. Right before the auction date announcement and then the continued release of crap.

The NHL is not going to make some hush-hush deal to promise AM an expansion franchise. Who knows what the economics of it all looks like in 4-5 years? It would create risk just as much as it would alleviate some for the NHL. Additionally, the results of having an owner sell his team for relocation purposes and then awarding an expansion team later is a bad look. Forcing any owner to sell their team is a bad look. Especially when the team might finally be putting the arena issues to bed.

 

[Coyotedroppings]

First of all it's not his water, secondly, construction and big developments are happening all over the city and this shit head mayor hasn't made a whisper about those projects. Thirdly, we are not running out of water. I have a developer friend and he said it's the easy topic to talk about with all politicians. There are numerous ways to conserve water and the state is doing that and they will be doing more. Arizona wastes a lot of water, same as any metropolitan area.

Are those the same idiot politicians that you rant about, that your "developer friend" is talking to?

 

[finkelsteinberg]

Or, he could have done just a tad bito of research and discovered the water is not coming from Scottsdale. It's all economics and him trying to look good for his constituents.

Exactly. The guy knew what he was doing. He went on to take potshots at AM that weren't even factual.

The guy is worried Scottsdale is going to lose revenue and as we see in politics, the truth seldom matters. Luckily, I don't think the City of Scottsdale can derail this.

 

[TheLegend]

My only concern about Ortega is him being the first to make a stink and opening the floodgates for more from others.

They were already going to come. Ortega just wanted to be first in line.

 

[The Feckless Puck]

Can you imagine the response if the Coyotes were forced to move after years of failing to become a stable franchise and Bettman turned around and awarded AZ an expansion franchise (and nobody is going to get an arena build without a permanent tenant).

There would have to be a whole lot of behind-the-scenes machinations for this whole concept to ever be put in play, much less work with any level of success.

That said...

...Atlanta is at the top of the list for an expansion franchise after two NHL market failures, so...

 

[Edenjung]

Or, he could have done just a tad bito of research and discovered the water is not coming from Scottsdale. It's all economics and him trying to look good for his constituents.

I guess.
Well that just means that we should just ignore him.

 

[Coyotedroppings]

Gambo has never given a shit about the coyotes. A local media member should NEVER campaign for a local team, a big 4 team no less, to leave the market. He’s a disgrace

He said in another tweet that he plays here in AZ., I've never seen his sorry ass on the ice anywhere, but at this point I would consider any repercussion worthy, to plant his little shit self into the boards.

 

[Coyotedroppings]

I'd like to know if anyone actually believes that SLC would be anymore successful than PHX has been? See page six of attached. Utah is third from bottom in USA hockey registrations in the Rocky Mountain District and AZ is third, with over twice the registrants.

https://cdn1.sportngin.com/attachments/document/9a42-2970873/22-23_Final_Registration_Report.pdf?_gl=1*6m94qm*_ga*MTg2MDMzOTE1Ni4xNzEyNjg2NTc0*_ga_PQ25JN9PJ8*MTcxMjY4NjU3NS4xLjAuMTcxMjY4NjU

 

[Sinurgy]

I don't think he doesn't want the arena or is an enemy of the project.
What he is doing is what he should do for his city: Getting answers and saying what is possible and what not.
Nothing more, nothing less.
He just says that his city cannot give the water needed. That is only fair and valid.
And he asks about the influence on his local economy. Thats also valid.
But that does not mean that he is trying to stop this. We should not jump to that conclusion or antagonize the man for doing his job as mayor.

And in regards to water he is more than right. Its the desert and water is not that abundant. That also explains why he puts such focus on cutting down on water usage. Which to me is a good thing.

At the end the auction bid will include the answers to most of his questions and that should satisfy him. If it doesn't he will approach the group and ask more questions behind the scenes. He doesn't seem like the person who wants to do that in public, but more like a reasonable person. At least to me.

TLDR: Don't overthink this, the dude is just doing his work and asking questions regarding his town. And those will be answered by the bid.

Sure not everything he said is wrong and I appreciate your positive spin but nah this isn't the mayor being on the up and up here. This is a political stunt, a good 'ol fashion shit post. You don't use flowery language like "fantasy hockey project", "glitzy proposal", "rookie developer", etc. when you're being factual and not trying to sell something. This was gamesmanship, pure and simple, and he blasted it via the newspaper in an attempt to maximize the attention. Scottsdale never had any say here but he wants his voters thinking "Wow they were trying to take our water but luckily the mayor stepped in!!"

 

[JasonDemersWasOkay]

I'd like to know if anyone actually believes that SLC would be anymore successful than PHX has been? See page six of attached. Utah is third from bottom in USA hockey registrations in the Rocky Mountain District and AZ is third, with over twice the registrants.

https://cdn1.sportngin.com/attachments/document/9a42-2970873/22-23_Final_Registration_Report.pdf?_gl=1*6m94qm*_ga*MTg2MDMzOTE1Ni4xNzEyNjg2NTc0*_ga_PQ25JN9PJ8*MTcxMjY4NjU3NS4xLjAuMTcxMjY4NjU

But uhhhhhh their arena seats more. Yeah despite it being shitty and not built for hockey whatsoever creating an even more untenable situation than AMA was for the OG coyotes. And with a new arena build that, even though it’s going through legislation, isn’t any closer to being built than an arena in AZ.

 

[The Feckless Puck]

I'd like to know if anyone actually believes that SLC would be anymore successful than PHX has been? See page six of attached. Utah is third from bottom in USA hockey registrations in the Rocky Mountain District and AZ is third, with over twice the registrants.

https://cdn1.sportngin.com/attachments/document/9a42-2970873/22-23_Final_Registration_Report.pdf?_gl=1*6m94qm*_ga*MTg2MDMzOTE1Ni4xNzEyNjg2NTc0*_ga_PQ25JN9PJ8*MTcxMjY4NjU3NS4xLjAuMTcxMjY4NjU

Utah, IMO, would be a disaster for hockey unless they had Vegas luck in the roster and immediate postseason success. The metro area in the Utah Valley is smaller. There is less corporate support. Socially, it doesn't get exciting until you hit Sundance or the slopes. And past history for sports franchises does not lend any sort of bull-market feel to additional pro teams in the area.

The Jazz and BYU college football are the dominant sporting presences there. Real Salt Lake is surviving, but it's not anywhere near Jazz levels of general appeal as far as I know. Salt Lake barely maintains a status quo with their minor league teams, and they have gone through so many iterations that it's like they are turned over every five years (I do remember the Golden Eagles fondly, but not the Grizzlies).

But what Salt Lake has is an uber-wealthy Mormon owner - Ryan Smith - and a bunch of people who want to bring more legitimacy to the city in the face of a rash of publicity about the LDS Church's multi-billion-dollar slush fund and FTC violations. Not to mention, they're making a huge push for the Olympics again, and they just dropped a cool billion dollars in taxpayer money to build new venues for it with no vote or referendum. And when there's that much motivation, it's hard to stand in their way - particularly with weapons like Bonneville and other subsidiary companies under various shells, as well as their influentially-placed political allies.

 

[AZviaNJ]

All this bullshit is what motivates a guy like AM to win, so Gumbo is a motivational speaker and he doesn't even realize it.

Gambo and motivational speaker in the same sentence is pretty damn funny.

But you’re not wrong.

 

[The Feckless Puck]

Gambo and motivational speaker in the same sentence is pretty damn funny.

But you’re not wrong.

 

[TheLegend]

View attachment 848714

There went my lunch.

 

[The Feckless Puck]

There went my lunch.

He lives in a van down by the (Salt) River.

 

[Jakey53]

Are those the same idiot politicians that you rant about, that your "developer friend" is talking to?

I guess I should have clarified is that he works for a developer. He is in management though. No, I doubt very much he talks to these idiot politicians.

 

[Dead Coyote]

I guess it's not working.

Lol, I took you off right before responding to that message, obviously. But I had you on for months otherwise.

 

[BlazingBlueAnt]

The fact that AM is willing to fund the infrastructure costs is pretty crazy. It's insane people complain about funding billionaires and then complain about this deal. Even in the latest California arena/stadium deals, which were all "privately" funded there was public funding for the infrastructure.

 

[Coyotedroppings]

But what Salt Lake has is an uber-wealthy Mormon owner - Ryan Smith - and a bunch of people who want to bring more legitimacy to the city in the face of a rash of publicity about the LDS Church's multi-billion-dollar slush fund and FTC violations. Not to mention, they're making a huge push for the Olympics again, and they just dropped a cool billion dollars in taxpayer money to build new venues for it with no vote or referendum. And when there's that much motivation, it's hard to stand in their way - particularly with weapons like Bonneville and other subsidiary companies under various shells, as well as their influentially-placed political allies.

Sounds just sketch enough for the NHL alright!

 

[DustyDangler]

Sure not everything he said is wrong and I appreciate your positive spin but nah this isn't the mayor being on the up and up here. This is a political stunt, a good 'ol fashion shit post. You don't use flowery language like "fantasy hockey project", "glitzy proposal", "rookie developer", etc. when you're being factual and not trying to sell something. This was gamesmanship, pure and simple, and he blasted it via the newspaper in an attempt to maximize the attention. Scottsdale never had any say here but he wants his voters thinking "Wow they were trying to take our water but luckily the mayor stepped in!!"

If it is indeed a fantasy...why is he making noise about it? Says this is a rookie developer, yet the Google shows this is clearly not the case. <90% capacity was an obvious lie. Political stunt is one thing to call it...another would be a letter of lies.

 

[BAdvocate]

Always great when local media, the majority of which are a detriment to showing the legitimacy of AZ as a Hockey market, exacerbates the issues associated with those who would like to sabotage this deal.

Arizona Coyotes to Salt Lake City relocation speculation returns amid new arena roadblocks

Arizona Coyotes to Salt Lake City relocation speculation reignites after Scottsdale mayor's new arena statement, Utah Jazz owner's social media post.

www.usatoday.com

 

[DustyDangler]

Always great when local media, the majority of which are a detriment to showing the legitimacy of AZ as a Hockey market, exacerbates the issues associated with those who would like to sabotage this deal.

Arizona Coyotes to Salt Lake City relocation speculation returns amid new arena roadblocks

Arizona Coyotes to Salt Lake City relocation speculation reignites after Scottsdale mayor's new arena statement, Utah Jazz owner's social media post.

www.usatoday.com

There's no such thing as local media anymore.
Arizona Republic is owned by USA Today
USA Today is owned by Gannett
Gannet is owned by New Media Investment Group
New Media Investment Group is owned by Fortress
Fortress is owned by Softbank, a Japanese conglomerate and Mubadala Investment a UAE company

Thus, the article you cited is really an article from Japan and the United Arab Emirates

 

[BAdvocate]

There's no such thing as local media anymore.
Arizona Republic is owned by USA Today
USA Today is owned by Gannett
Gannet is owned by New Media Investment Group
New Media Investment Group is owned by Fortress
Fortress is owned by Softbank, a Japanese conglomerate and Mubadala Investment a UAE company

Thus, the article you cited is really an article from Japan and the United Arab Emirates

Unfortunately perception overrides facts these days.

 

[JasonDemersWasOkay]

Scottsdale mayor already walking back some of his bullshit today in a “clarification”