Paulson never, ever planned to keep the Beavers in Portland. His plan all along was to buy both teams, get the stadium, then eject the baseball team.

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/10_1/b4177080240738.htm?campaign_id=rss_topEmailedStories

That's a bad link.

Sorry:

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/10_19/b4177080240738.htm

If the Beavers had higher attendance I would see a need to fight for them. Portland just isn't a baseball town. This has nothing to do with Paulson, and everything to do with the state of the Padres' farm system. Sometimes you just need to let go.

Soccer has a chance to do well, with city rivalries existing with Seattle, and Vancouver, BC. Also being an MLS team, the prospects of signing a big name European player are high. Adding this to the buzz of the Blazers, Portland would have a vibrant sports culture year round.

Note: I am a huge baseball fan, and it will be sad to not have a team in Portland.

If the Beavers had higher attendance I would see a need to fight for them. Portland just isn't a baseball town. This has nothing to do with Paulson, and everything to do with the state of the Padres' farm system. Sometimes you just need to let go.

Posted this all over the place, haven't you? This is the fourth place I've seen it.

How, exactly, does one define a "baseball town"? Let me guess--by attendance figures. Somehow, the Beavers have survived in a "not baseball town" for nearly a century.

But you're thinking like a sports team corporation, not a sports fan. Which is exactly what Paulson likes to hear.

I got the feeling all the way through the article that it was a cheap attempt to still get Portland to pony up for a baseball-only stadium...

I think an American city this size should have a baseball team. I don't go to the orchestra either but I'm glad we have an orchestra. And let's not forget this is California revenue flowing north, so if the Beavers don't draw, let them play in a multi-use facility not really suited for the game and let them share it with other sports.
Oh, wait, that's what we had for decades and it worked.

I also love the way the linked article makes it appear like our media has hounded Merritt Paulson about TARP and his father - minority owner Henry Paulson. Give me a break.

In related news, those conspiracy nuts who believe European bankers are deliberately running America into the ground by charging us interest to borrow our own money through the Federal
Reserve, had an interesting week. Goldman Sachs admitted that yes, a lot of the bailout funds went to banks overseas.

So why not reward the people who helped do it by giving their kids a shiny new toy? By the way, I'm increasingly amused by the fact that Henry set Merritt up, but only for a share. What a guy. Business before family.

And thanks to all our Hall of Fame media talent who went after this story for what it really was: A microcosm of the destruction of the United States. All we have to do is get rid of Mom and Apple Pie now because Baseball is gone.

"But you're thinking like a sports team corporation, not a sports fan. Which is exactly what Paulson likes to hear."

Nope, this is first time I posted those exact words. Also, I'm a sports fan, but understand it is a business. Furthermore, as a sports fan, I like to see a good product. The Beavers were awful, and that is all the Padres fault for not building a strong farm system that actually draws people to watch.

Oh, Bill, everyone knows that stuff about the Federal Reserve funneling vast amounts of American taxpayer dollars into the paws of blue-blooded European banking families is a bunch of conspiracy theory hoo-hah !

Just repeat after me. "Conspiracy Theory Conspiracy Theory Conspiracy Theory." Wash, rinse, and repeat again. I mean, who are you gonna believe here anyway, me or your own eyes ?

I forgot to acknowledge the hard-hitting Canzano piece about Merritt coming to the door of his home with bare feet. Canzano immediately understood that this meant the Paulsons were just regular guys.
The rumor is that Canzano's piece combined with Henry Paulson's work with Washington Mutual to inspire one young man in Washington State to become the Barefoot Bandit.
And what's more noble than setting a good example for the children?

Randy Leonard screwed the pooch on this one. I hope everybody remembers that when he runs for office again. Randy Leonard drove a stake through the heart of Portland baseball.

There's always the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes. Conveniently located just off of I-5 at Exit 260 (that's just 40 miles south of downtown Portland).

Who knows, maybe somehow someone can figure it out that the Oregon Electric railway line passes just .4 miles west of their baseball stadium...one need build just a short spur, a platform...and you could ride WES there!

Bill: LOVE the Barefoot Bandit line.

I don't think you can accurately say that the team operated successfully at the stadium ... this is the third time Triple-A baseball has moved out of there in 38 years. Some might see a pattern there.

The "Remember What Randy Did" list is getting longer every day. Put this scam near the top.

Bill...as a great writer I see a "Barefoot Bandit" screenplay in your future. Plenty of local characters to choose from 'cause central casting grows in size every day.

Not sure how you make Randy the fall guy here if you're a baseball fan. He pushed loudly for the baseball-stadium-in-the-Rose-Quarter proposal, which Sam and the Blazers and the architects killed, He pushed hard for the Lents Park baseball stadium proposal, which stupidity killed.

I am a baseball fan and he sold us out. Leonard doesn't do anything without a plan that benefits him first. The Paulson Plan does it for him. The baseball deal at Lents was a scam and the Rose Quarter was just a way to provide a blank check for Water Bureau property to be sold. He is the fall guy, dishonest, and we will remember.