Football in Los Angeles 2011...?

I'll give you a short answer and I'll give you a long answer. Short: I seriously doubt it. Long: Here we go.

Has anyone actually done a Google search for the following key words vis-a-vis the Roski Stadium project in the City of Industry?

• Ground breaking
• Ground breaking cerimony
• Construction starts
• Completion date
• Progress report
• Start Date
• Finish Date

I can tell you that I have. What did I find? Diddily squat. That's what I found. Do you want to know why? Because Ed Roski has not broken ground on the new Stadium yet. He has stated quitely, but in news print, that he will not begin construction until he has 1 NFL team inked to come play. Read about it here, my friends. This is a smart financial move, but this makes for hell in politics.

Consider the following key points:

• Roski would like a team to commit to come play football in a stadium not yet in construction 2011.
• He won't break ground until you sign.
• If he breaks ground in March or April of 2010, will the stadium be finished by August of 2011?
• If you commit now under the cover of a non-disclosure agreement, and Roski breaks ground, everybody knows that one of the 32 NFL teams committed to play in Los Angeles.
• Every investigative reporter in the Nation is going to beg, borrow, steal, bribe, and kill to find out just which team that was.
• If the NDA is broken before the 2010 season starts, or ends, your ticket sales in your present home go to shit.

This is a recipie for a late launch of the project. Key men are going to waiver because this is a monumentally huge decision. If the team is the Rams, you need to wait until their ownership situation is resolved. If the team is the Chargers, expect perturbations.

In either case, I do not believe that ground will be broken and the project finished in time for 2011. Don't expect football back in Los Angeles until 2012. So say I.

I want you to know, I say all this as a citizen of Los Angeles, and a staunch supporter of Ed Roski Jr. I just want you to know that I think his time-table is far to aggressive and unrealistic. I would love it if he were right, but I do not think he is. I think we need a little touch of realism mixed with excitement.